Fujiwara no Kamatari

Fujiwara no Kamatari (藤原 鎌足, 614 – November 14, 669) was a Japanese statesman, courtier and politician during the Asuka period.^[1]

Kamatari was the founder of the Fujiwara clan in Japan. His birth clan was the Nakatomi. He was the son of Nakatomi no Mikeko, and his birth name was Nakatomi no Kamatari (中臣 鎌足). Just before his death, he received the surname Fujiwara from Emperor Tenji.

He was a friend and supporter of the Prince Naka no Ōe, later Emperor Tenji. Kamatari was the head of the Jingi no Haku, or Shinto ritualists; as such, he was one of the chief opponents of the increasing power and prevalence of Buddhism in the court, and in the nation. As a result, in 645, Prince Naka no Ōe and Kamatari made a coup d'état in the court. They slew Soga no Iruka who had a strong influence over Empress Kōgyoku; thereafter, Iruka's father, Soga no Emishi, committed suicide.

Empress Kōgyoku was forced to abdicate in favor of her younger brother, who became Emperor Kōtoku; Kōtoku then appointed Kamatari naidaijin (Inner Minister).

Kamatari was a leader in the development of what became known as the Taika Reforms, a major set of reforms based on Chinese models and aimed at strengthening Imperial power. He one of the principle editors responsible for the development of the Japanese legal code known as Sandai-kyaku-shiki, sometimes referred to as the Rules and Regulations of the Three Generations.^[2]

During his life Kamatari continued to support Prince Naka no Ōe, who became Emperor Tenji in 661. Tenji granted him the highest rank Taishokan and a new clan name, Fujiwara, as honors.

His son was Fujiwara no Fuhito (or Fubito). Kamatari's nephew, Nakatomi no Omimaro became head of Ise Shrine, and passed down the Nakatomi name.

Three unifiers of Japan were related to the Fujiwara:

• Oda Nobunaga's great-grand niece married into the Fujiwara.
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi's second wife was distantly related by marriage to the Fujiwara.
• Tokugawa Ieyasu's heirs married into the Fujiwara.

Among his descendants were Fumimaro Konoe the 34th/38th/39th Prime Minister of Japan and Konoe's grandson Morihiro Hosokawa the 79th Prime Minister of Japan and is also a descendant of the Hosokawa clan via the Ashikaga clan of the Minamoto clan. {Tokugawa Ieyasu first wife was also related to the Minamoto clan}.

In the 13th century, the main line of the Fujiwara family split into five houses: Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujō, Nijō and Ichijō. These five families in turn provided regents for the Emperor, and were thus known as the Five Regent Houses. The Tachibana clan (samurai) also claim descent from the Fujiwara. Emperor Montoku of the Taira clan was descended through his mother of the Fujiwara. {Oda Nobunga also claimed descent from the Taira clan}.

Until the marriage of the Crown Prince Hirohito (posthumously Emperor Shōwa) to Princess Kuni Nagako (posthumously Empress Kōjun) in January 1924, the principal consorts of emperors and crown princes had always been recruited from one of the Sekke Fujiwara. Imperial princesses were often married to Fujiwara lords - throughout a millennium at least. As recently as Emperor Shōwa's third daughter, the late former Princess Takanomiya (Kazoku), and Prince Mikasa's elder daughter, the former Princess Yasuko, married into Takatsukasa and Konoe families, respectively. Empress Shōken was a descendant of the Fujiwara clan and through Hosokawa Gracia of the Minamoto clan. Likewise a daughter of the last Tokugawa Shogun married a second cousin of Emperor Shōwa.

See also

• Tōshi Kaden, a bibliographic record

Notes

References

• Brinkley, Frank and Dairoku Kikuchi. (1915). A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era. New York: Encyclopædia Britannica. OCLC 413099
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691

Fujiwara family tree                                             Kamatari                                                                                                     Fuhito                                           NANKE branch                         HOKKE branch                                           SHIKIKE branch                   KYŌKE branch                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Muchimaro                       Fusasaki                                           Umakai                   Maro                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Toyonari   Nakamaro   Nagate   Kiyokawa   Matate           Uona   Kaedemaro   Hirotsugu   Kiyonari   Yoshitsugu   Momokawa   Kurajimaro   Hamanari                                                                                                                   Tsuginawa   Asakari                   Uchimaro           Fujinari   Sonondo           Tanetsugu           Otsugu                                                                                                                           Fuyutsugu           Toyozawa                   Nakanari                                                                                                                   Yoshifusa   Yoshisuke   Yoshikado   Murao                                                                                         Mototsune                   Hidesato                                                                                                     Tokihira   Nakahira   Tadahira                                                                                                                               Morosuke           Saneyori                                                                                                                     Tamemitsu   Kinsue   Koretada   Kaneie   Kanemichi   Yoritada                                                                                                               Michinaga   Michikane       Michitaka   Kintō                                                                                                             Yorimichi   Norimichi   Nagaie   Korechika                                                                       Morzane   Nobunage   Tadaie                                                                                     Moromichi           Toshitada                                                                               Tadazane           Toshinari                                                                                             Yorinaga     Tadamcihi     Sadaie                                                                                                         Kanezane     Motofusa     Motozane                                                                     In the 13th century, the main line of the Fujiwara family split into five families or houses: the Kujō, Nijō and Ichijō (descendants of Kanezane); and also the Konoe and Takatsukasa (descendants of Motozane).

Persondata
Name	Fujiwara no Kamatari
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	614
Place of birth
Date of death	669
Place of death