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 warrior clans (Samurai) gradually increased in importance and power until they came to dominate the country.

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

Immigrant clans (Toraijin, 渡来人)

According to the book Shinsen Shōjiroku compiled in 815, a total 326 out of 1,182 clans in the Kinai area on Honshū were regarded as people with foreign genealogy. The book specifically mentions 163 were from China, 104 such families from Baekje, 41 from Goguryeo, 9 from Silla, and 9 from Gaya.[1]

Baekje

Goguryeo

Silla

Gaya

China

Grand 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 Grand aristocratic families, Shugo, Shugodai, Jitō, Daimyo, warlords.

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 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

Other clans and families
Logo of Mitsubishi

Zaibatsu:

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:

See also

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

References
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