Japanese clans

This is a list of Japanese clans. The old clans (gōzoku) mentioned in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki lost their political power before the Heian period, during which new aristocracies and families, kuge, emerged in their place. After the Heian period, the samurai warrior clans gradually increased in importance and power until they came to dominate the country after the founding of the first shogunate.

Ancient clan names

There are ancient-era clan names called Uji-na (氏名) or Honsei (本姓).

Imperial Clan
Mon of The Imperial House

Four noble clans

Gempeitōkitsu (源平藤橘), 4 noble clans of Japan:

Mon of the Minamoto clan
Mon of the Taira clan
Mon of the Fujiwara clan
Mon of the Tachibana clan

Noble clans

Aristocratic family names

From the late ancient era onward, the family name (Myōji/苗字 or 名字) had been commonly used by samurai to denote their family line instead of the name of the ancient clan that the family line belongs to (uji-na/氏名 or honsei/本姓), which was used only in the official records in the Imperial court. Kuge families also had used their family name (Kamei/家名) for the same purpose. Each of samurai families is called "[family name] clan (氏)" as follows and they must not be confused with ancient clan names. The list below is a list of various aristocratic families whose families served as Shugo, Shugodai, Jitō, and Daimyo

Mon of the Akita clan
Mon of the Asano clan
Mon of the Hōjō clan
Mon of the Honda clan
Mon of the (Mino) Ikeda clan
Mon of the Itō clan
Mon of the Maeda clan
Banner with the Mon of the Matsumae clan
Mon of the Mori clan (森氏)
Mon of the Takeda clan
Mon of the Toki clan
Mon 'Mitsuboshi ni ichimonji' of the Watanabe clan

Zaibatsu

Zaibatsu were the industrial and financial vertically integrated business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II.

Sacerdotal clans

Ryukyu

Ryukyuan people are not Yamato people, but the Ryukyu Islands have been part of Japan since 1879.

Mon of the Ryukyu Kingdom

Ryukyuan dynasties:

Toraijin (渡来人)

Toraijin is used to describe migrants in many contexts, from the original migration of a Yamato peoples to more recent migrants. According to the book Shinsen Shōjiroku compiled in 815, a total 326 out of 1,182 families in the Kinai area on Honshū were regarded as people with foreign genealogy. The book specifically mentions mentions 163 were from China, such families from Baekje, 41 from Goguryeo, 9 from Silla, and 9 from Gaya. These families are considered notable, although not inherently noble.[4][5]

Baekje
  • Asukabe clan (飛鳥部氏) – descended from Buyeo Gonji, younger brother of King Munju of Baekje and son of King Gaero of Baekje.
  • Fuha clan (不破氏)
  • Funa clan (船氏) –
    Crown of Baekje found in the Tomb of King Muryeong
  • Hirota clan (廣田氏)
  • Ka clan (賈氏)
  • Kaguyama clan (香山氏)
  • Kazurai clan (葛井氏)
  • Kinunui clan (衣縫氏)
  • Kudara no Konikishi clan (百済王氏) – descended from Zenkō (善光 or 禅広), son of the last king of Baekje, King Uija.
    Kudara shrine of the Kudara no Konikishi clan
    • Mimatsu clan (三松氏) – cadet branch of Kudara no Konikishi clan.
    • Miyake clan (三宅氏) – cadet branch of Kudara no Konikishi clan.
      Mon of Miyake clan
  • Ōuchi clan (大内氏) – descended from Prince Imseong, third son of King Seong of Baekje.
    Mon of Ōuchi clan
    • Sue clan (陶氏) – cadet branch of Ōuchi clan.
    • Washizu clan (鷲頭氏) – cadet branch of Ōuchi clan.
    • Yamaguchi clan (山口氏) – cadet branch of Ōuchi clan.
  • Sakata clan (坂田氏)
  • Sugano clan (菅野氏)
  • Tsu clan (津氏)
  • Kawachinofumi clan (西文氏) – descended from the scholar Wani.
  • Yamato no Fuhito clan (和史氏) – descended from Prince Junda, son of King Muryeong of Baekje.
    • Takano clan (高野氏) – cadet branch of Yamato clan, famous for Takano no Niigasa.
  • Yamatonoaya clan (東漢氏) – descended from Achi no omi.
    • Akizuki clan (秋月氏) – cadet branch of Yamatonoaya clan.
      Mon of Akizuki clan
    • Haruda clan (原田氏) – cadet branch of Yamatonoaya clan.
    • Inoue clan (井上氏) – there is a branch of Yamatonoaya clan with the name Inoue; they are different from the Seiwa Genji Inoue clan.
    • Kawachi no Aya clan (西漢氏) – cadet branch of Yamatonoaya clan.
    • Ōkura clan (大蔵氏) – cadet branch of Yamatonoaya clan.
    • Sakanoue clan (坂上氏) – cadet branch of Yamatonoaya clan.
    • Tamura clan (田村氏) – cadet branch of Yamatonoaya clan.
    • Yamato no Fumi clan (東文氏) – not a branch of the Yamatonoaya clan.

Goguryeo

Silla
  • Hata clan (秦氏) – claims to be descended from Yuzuki no Kimi. The clan claimed descent from Qin Shi Huang, but recent Japanese research points this to be aggrandization and their true origin to be from Silla.
    • Chōshi clan (調子氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Chōsokabe clan (長宗我部氏) – descended from Hata clan (disputed); famous for Chōsokabe Motochika.
      Mon of Chōsokabe clan
    • Fujiki clan (藤木氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Hakura clan (羽倉氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Hirata clan (平田氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Kada clan (荷田氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Kawakatsu clan (川勝氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan, named after Hata no Kawakatsu.
      Mon of Kawakatsu clan
    • Matsumuro clan (松室氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Matsuo clan (松尾氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Matsushita clan (松下氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Mikami clan (三上氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Minami clan (南氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Mokusei clan (木星) – cadet branch of the Hata Clan.
    • Nishiōji clan (西大路氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Obata clan (小畑氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Ōkura clan (大蔵氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Ōnishi clan (大西氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Seo clan (瀬尾氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Tōgi clan (東儀氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
    • Tsuchiyama clan (土山氏) – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • Fushimaru clan (伏丸氏)
  • Hine clan (日根氏)
  • Itoi clan (糸井氏) – descended from Amenohiboko, a prince of Silla who came to Japan in the 3rd or 4th century.
  • Maki clan (真城氏)
  • Tachibanamori clan (橘守氏) – descended from Amenohiboko, a prince of Silla who came to Japan in the 3rd or 4th century.
  • Tajima clan (但馬氏) – descended from Amenohiboko, a prince of Silla who came to Japan in the 3rd or 4th century.
  • Unabara clan (海原氏)

Gaya
  • Arara clan (荒荒氏)
  • Hirata clan (辟田氏) – descended from Tsunugaarashito (都怒我阿羅斯等), a prince of Gaya.
  • Karabito clan (韓人氏)
  • Michita clan (道田氏)
  • Ōchi clan (大市氏) – descended from Tsunugaarashito (都怒我阿羅斯等), a prince of Gaya.
  • Tatara clan (多多良氏) – descended from Tsunugaarashito (都怒我阿羅斯等), a prince of Gaya.
  • Toyotsu clan (豊津氏)

China

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Japanese clans.

Notes
  1. Nelson, John K. (2000). Enduring Identities: The Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan, pp. 67–69.
  2. Cranston, Edwin A. (1998). A Waka Anthology, p. 513.
  3. Grapard, Allan G. (1992). The protocol of the gods, p. 42.
  4. Saeki, Arikiyo (1981). Shinsen Shōjiroku no Kenkyū (Honbun hen) (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. ISBN 4-642-02109-4.
  5. "渡来人と赤穂". The KANSAI Guide - The Origin of Japan, KANSAI (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-09-14.

References
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