Japanese clans


This is a list of Japanese clans. The old clans 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.
Japan traditionally practiced cognatic primogeniture, or male-line inheritance in regard to passing down titles and estates. By allowing adult adoption, or for men to take their wife's name and be adopted into her family served as a means to pass down an estate to a family without any sons, Japan has managed to retain continuous family leadership for many of the below clans, the imperial family, and even ordinary family businesses.
The ability for Japanese families to track their lineage over successive generations plays a far more important role than simply having the same name as another family, as many commoners did not use a family name prior to the Meiji Restoration, and many simply adopted the name of the lord of their village, or the name of their domain, and may not necessarily have been a retainer to the clan. Other clan names are based on common geographic features or other arbitrary words that didn't necessarily indicate clan membership.
Many families also adopted sons from other families or married their daughters into other families to cement ties with a larger kin group outside of those with the same name as the main family line, called keibatsu, a clan or family relationship built around both blood and maternal relations. Tokugawa Ieyasu himself had adopted two dozen children of allies in addition to his 16 acknowledged children.
The Meiji Restoration sought to dismantle the clan structure, giving clan leaders titles of nobility to inspire loyalty to the emperor rather than individual clans. However those familial relationships built over multiple generations still maintained their ties, first as monbatsu, then with industrialization, evolved into the pre-war zaibatsu, which were formed by these same inter-clan relationships. With the abolishment of the kazoku in 1947, they reverted to their unofficial keibatsu, and elements of which can be seen today in political families such as the Satō–Kishi–Abe family, with family ties to Marquess Inoue Kaoru, Viscount Ōshima Yoshimasa, and pre-war Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka, all descendants of lower ranking Chōshū samurai families who benefited from the clan's outsized influence in the Meiji era government, and effectively created their own new clan, despite the lack of official title.

Ancient clan names

There are ancient-era clan names called Uji or Honsei''.

Imperial clan

Four noble clans

Gempeitōkitsu, 4 noble clans of Japan:Minamoto clan – also known as Genji or Genke ; 21 cadet branches of Imperial House of Japan.

Noble clans

Abe clan – descended from Prince Ōhiko, son of Emperor Kōgen. The Tsuchimikado family, descendants of Abe no Seimei, assumed leadership of this line during the Sengoku period. It is disputed whether the Ōshū clan is related.Abe clan of Ōshū – descended from Abe no Yoritoki, were considered a separate clan from the above during the Edo era. It is now believed they are distant relatives. Shinzo Abe has claimed descent from this line.' – According to the Kojiki descended from Prince Takekaiko, grandson of Emperor Keikō.

Aristocratic family names

From the late ancient era onward, the family name 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, which was used only in the official records in the Imperial court. Kuge families also had used their family name for the same purpose. Each of samurai families is called " clan " 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 DaimyoAbe clan of Mikawa – descended from Emperor Kōgen and the ancient Abe clan ; no direct relation to the Abe clan of Ōshū.Adachi clan – descended from Fujiwara clan.Akamatsu clan – descended from Murakami Genji.Akechi clan – cadet branch of Toki clan who descended from Seiwa Genji; famous for Akechi Mitsuhide.Akita clan – descended from Abe clan of Ōshū.Akiyama clan – cadet branch of Takeda clan who descended from Seiwa Genji.Akizuki clan – descended from Prince Achi no Omi of the Yamatonoaya clan.Amago clan – cadet branch of Sasaki clan who descended from Uda Genji.Amakusa clan – descended from Ōkura clan.Anayama clan – cadet branch of Takeda clan who descended from Seiwa Genji.Andō clan – descended from Abe clan of Ōshū, by Abe no Hirafu.Asakura clan – descended from Prince Kusakabe son of Emperor Tenmu.Asano clan – cadet branch of Toki clan who descended from Seiwa Genji.Ashikaga clan – descended from Seiwa Genji; famous for Ashikaga shogunate; no direct relation to the Fujiwara-descent Ashikaga clan.Ashikaga clan (Fujiwara) – descended from Fujiwara Hokke; no direct relation to the Genji-descent Ashikaga 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.Iwasaki family – founder of Mitsubishi; descended from Takeda clan from Seiwa GenjiMitsui family – founder of Mitsui; descended from Fujiwara Hokke. However, Mitsui Takatoshi's great-great-grandfather's father was originally from the Rokkaku clan and had married into the early Mitsui family.Sumitomo family – founder of Sumitomo; descended from Kanmu Heishi

Sacerdotal clans

Abe clanKamo clanNakatomi clan
  • '''Urabe clan'''

Ryukyu

Ryukyuan people are not Yamato people, but the Ryukyu Islands have been part of Japan since 1879.
Ryukyuan dynasties:Tenson Dynasty – legendary dynasty Shunten Dynasty – first dynasty of Ryukyu Eiso Dynasty – second dynasty of Ryukyu Haniji Dynasty – kings of Hokuzan Ōzato Dynasty – kings of Nanzan Satto Dynasty – kings of Chūzan First Shō Dynasty – kings of the Ryukyu Kingdom Minshi Kameya family – descended from Shō Toku, last king of the First Shō Dynasty.Second Shō Dynasty – kings of the Ryukyu Kingdom

Immigrant clans

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 encompasses immigrants from ancient Korea and China and that these families are considered notable, although not inherently noble.
Despite the book being highly regarded by many, there are certain claims that are under scrutiny by modern historians, and some corrections and revisions have been made over the recent years with certain clans of specific origins being classified differently.

Paekche (Korea)

Asukabe clan – descended from Buyeo Gonji, younger brother of King Munju of Baekje and son of King Gaero of Baekje.Fuha clan Funa clan Hirota clan Ka clan Kaguyama clan Kazurai clan Kinunui clan Kudara no Konikishi clan – descended from Zenkō, son of the last king of Paekche, King Uija.

Goguryeo (Korea)

Kifumi clan – descended from King Yeongnyu of Goguryeo.Koma clan – descended from Jakkō, son of the last of Goguryeo, King Bojang of Goguryeo.Kuwabara clan Sena clan – descended from Sena no Fukutoku, son of King Yeongnyu of Goguryeo.Toyohara clan Yasaka clan
  • '''Yahamara clan'''

Silla (Korea)

  • Hata clan – claims to be descended from Yuzuki no Kimi. The clan later 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 – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Chōsokabe clan – descended from Hata clan ; famous for Chōsokabe Motochika.
  • * Fujiki clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Hakura clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Hirata clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Kada clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Kawakatsu clan – cadet branch of Hata clan, named after Hata no Kawakatsu.
  • * Matsumuro clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Matsuo clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Matsushita clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Mikami clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Minami clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Mokusei clan – cadet branch of the Hata Clan.
  • * Nishiōji clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Obata clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Ōkura clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Ōnishi clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Seo clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Tōgi clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • * Tsuchiyama clan – cadet branch of Hata clan.
  • ** Koremune clan – lateral branch of the Hata clan.Fushimaru clan Hine clan Itoi clan – descended from Amenohiboko, a prince of Silla who came to Japan in the 3rd or 4th century.Maki clan
  • Ōtomo clan – claims to be descended from Mantoku no Omi of Goguryeo. The clan later claimed descent from Emperor Gaozu, Ling, and Xian of Han, but recent Japanese research points this to be aggrandization and their true origin to be from Silla; no direct relation to the native Ōtomo clan or feudal Ōtomo clan of the same name.
  • * Shiga clan – cadet branch of Ōtomo clan through Ōtomo no Suguri.Tachibanamori clan – descended from Amenohiboko, a prince of Silla who came to Japan in the 3rd or 4th century.Tajima clan – descended from Amenohiboko, a prince of Silla who came to Japan in the 3rd or 4th century.
  • '''Unabara clan'''

Kaya (Korea)

Arara clan Hirata clan – descended from Tsunugaarashito, a prince of Kaya.Karabito clan Michita clan Ōchi clan – descended from Tsunugaarashito, a prince of Kaya.

China

Asatsuma clan – descended from Tsuru no Omi of the Karakuni no Hito family. Due to the family name "Karakuni no Hito" meaning "Korean people", it may be under the wrong category.Mamuta clan – descended from Sun Hao.Nishigori clan – descended from Hanoji of the Karakuni no Hito family. Due to the family name "Karakuni no Hito" meaning "Korean people", it may be under the wrong category.Wakae clan – descended from Emperor Ling of Han; originally have come from Paekche.Yako clan – descended from Emperor Yang of Sui.