Japan's history, social structure and socio-cultural background, compared to Europe, seen and experienced through the eyes of a Daimyo Lord family for more than 2,650+ years
Executive Summary
Several families of Daimyo - sheriffs have left their mark on Japan's history and development, but never more than a few hundred years at the most. Among others, we can mention: Nitta, Hatakeyama, Ikeda, Takeda, Mori, Shimazu and others. The same applies to leading powerful noble families, such as the Fujiwara, Taira, Hojo and others.
But with the exception of the Japanese Imperial House and the three Shogun – royal houses; Minamoto, Ashikaga and Tokugawa, there are no other feudal lord houses which, continuously for more than 1,000 years, have left such a powerful mark on Japanese history and development as the Daimyo - the feudal lord families; Hosogawa and Yamana-Itotani have.
What the three Shogun - royal house families and the two powerful sheriff families have in common is that they all come from the same family; The Japanese Imperial Family.
Later, they all shared the same Seiwa Genji ancestor; Hachiman Taro Minamoto no Yoshiie (1041-1108).
Yoshiie's son, Minamote Yoshikuni (1082-1155) is the direct common ancestor of the Shogun royal houses Ashikaga and Tokugawa, and the two fiefdoms, and his son Minamoto Yoshishige (1135-1202) is the direct common ancestor of the Shogun royal family (1600-1868) Tokugawa and the Yamana-Itotani fiefdom. This was the reason why these two princely families had a special attachment to each other during the Tokugawa shogunate.
The image shows the hierarchical structure of Japanese feudal society.
The two sheriff families; Hosogawa and Yamana-Itotani, were continuously intermarried for more than 1,000 years, as in other prominent sheriff families and the imperial family, they fought with and against each other throughout Japan's history.
Both sheriff families participated as generals, admirals, senior officers and officials, ministers and prime ministers in all of Japan's wars after the transition to the modern age; First China War 1894-1895, Russia 1904-1905, Korea 1910, Second China War 1931+ and Second World War 1941-1945.
Even in modern times, they leave their mark on Japan, mostly in the discreet way, but also the public way, e.g. Morihiro Hosogawa, titular Marquis and Duke, who was Prime Minister of Japan in 1994-1995.
Both sheriff families have lived and died for Japan, serving Japan for more than 126 generations and more than 2,600 years of history.
That is why all school children, teenagers, adults and old people know these genera through teaching in elementary school, high school and university. And if, contrary to expectations, they had not understood the story here, they can do so through countless Japanese and Western computer games, comics, books, countless TV film series over the past 70+ years, countless cinema films with unknown and world-famous film directors such as Akira Kurosawa.
The image shows where the warrior class was in the hierarchical structure of Japanese feudal society.
The Yamana-Itotani Sheriff family has throughout the ages been Daimyo Sheriffs over more than 20 of Japan's 66 provinces and for more than 200+ years Daimyo Sheriffs over 8-12 provinces at the same time. It is between 1/6 and 1/5 of Japan, corresponding to Denmark, Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Schleswig-Holstein and much more. No other Daimyo family has achieved this in the history of Japan, apart from the Shogun family; Tokugawa (1601-1868).
In line with the increasing Japanese self-understanding and pride since the 1990s, the ancestors and samurai virtues have been highlighted and cultivated to a greater and greater degree, and thus also the Japanese imperial family, the old shogun royal families and the ancient Daimyo princely families before the Tokugawa shogunate (1600 -1868).
A significant revolution has already taken place as the 125th Emperor of Japan, 85-year-old Akihito will retire in favor of his son Naruhito on April 30, 2019, who will become Japan's 126th Emperor. Japan has regained its old pride after the Second World War and only the future will show how Japan has learned from the political mistakes of the past and whether Japan will step out of the shadows on the world stage and once again assume a more visible and significant role.
(Akihito th. and Naruhito tv.)
Before the Reformation in Europe, 16 noble ancestry was considered ignoble and particularly fine. In the East, 30+ noble ancestry is the minimum requirement for national recognition and 70+ noble ancestry is the minimum requirement for national recognition as non-nobility (Koryu Kazoku).
Therefore, the new highly political Shin-Meiji nobility from 1884-1947 was never nationally recognized and regarded as something special, but was merely a historical part of a politically turbulent era.
When the noble ancestry goes back more than 126 generations, it suddenly makes great demands to limit oneself to the significant historical and family decisive eras in the history of the Yamana-Itotani family of Daimyo.
Title-wise, the first two eras are most interesting as "divine" emperors or imperial princes, but historically, the last three eras as sheriffs are most interesting and therefore they will take up the most space.
Japanese – European comparison of hierarchy.
5 eras in family history
House of Yamana-Itotani
Era 1
The Imperial Family 660 BC – approx. 960 AD
Epoch 2
Imperial Princes Minamoto Seiwa Genji c. 960-1185
Era 3
Daimyo Viscount Yamana 1185-1582
Epoch 4
Daimyo fief Yamana-Itotani under the Tokugawa Shogun, 1582-1868
Epoch 5
The Imperial Family 660 BC – approx. 960 AD
It is not so historically interesting that the first 56 generations of the Yamana-Itotani family were emperors of Japan. The first many emperors functioned as warrior emperors, but later took on a far more ceremonial role, handing over the rule of Japan to the Kuge court nobility. Much the same way as in Europe.
The big difference was that the European kings and princes were "by the grace of God", meaning that it was God's will that they were kings and princes. If we ignore approx. 500 years when the Roman emperors were "living gods".
In this way, all of Japan's emperors have been "divine popes" right from the beginning, which was very convenient for the court nobility, as they could then "proclaim" the divine emperor's will, - through the will and leadership of their princely family.
This led to prominent kuge-noble families fighting to be the divine emperor's advisors and ministers, which were very powerful positions, simply because they were the real power holders. Unbelievably many emperors were "rubber stamps", - HOWEVER, if they hit the table, then everyone corrected, unless they staged a coup and installed another emperor.
Most often a son or brother of the existing one. However, some emperors were so powerful that they were real emperors. This story is very similar to the Roman emperors and the various European kings.
So the first 1,500-1,600 years of genealogy is pretty much uninteresting, except if you get hung up on the fact that the genealogy is like the emperors of Japan - which is also very fine, status and prestigious in the ears of many.
The first many emperors functioned as warrior emperors, but later took on a far more ceremonial role, handing over the rule of Japan to the Kuge court nobility
Imperial Princes Minamoto Seiwa Genji c. 960 – 1185
Only around 800-900 after the birth of Christ (AD) does something really interesting begin to happen. The role and power of the Imperial House continues unchanged, but a gradual splitting of the nobility into two separate functions begins; The Kuge court nobility and what became the Shugo Daimyo warrior nobility.
The square takes place over 3 overlapping eras:
- There are Emperors, princes and Kuge court nobility who perform both court and warrior functions.
- There are Kuge court nobles who mainly perform court functions, and imperial princes who perform both court and warrior functions.
- There are Kuge court nobles who only carry out court functions, and imperial princes who gradually become only warrior nobles.
The Japanese emperors, like all other emperors, kings and princes throughout the ages, had several wives, official mistresses/concubines and alternating mistresses. The advantages for these women were that they became the mothers of future emperors, imperial princes and princesses who could marry into the powerful Kuge court nobility and Shugo Daimyo vassal families. It meant securing and centralizing the family's survival and power. Here, the women's families are especially thought of, who most often came from the powerful kuge families, where three kuge families in particular stood out; Fujiwara, Taira Heiki and Hojo, who came from Taira Heike.
First around 800-900 AD. something really interesting starts to happen:
The 3 overlapping eras.
Their methods were very different. Fujiwara preferred to have his daughters married to the future emperor(s). Fujiwara at all then ensured that the emperor was basically always a minor, so that his grandfather could rule in his name with the title of Shikken or Kwampaku. So did Taira. Hojo played a more open game and took hereditary patent as the emperor's first minister Shikken from 1200-1333.
The Hojo later became a very powerful sheriff family - right up until 1590 when they were largely leveled off the face of the earth and completely disappeared from Japanese history. Kwanto which consisted of 8 provinces were all taken over by the later shogun; Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hojo kept a minor fiefdom and kept an ultra low profile for the next 400 years.
The Fujiwara Kuge family has almost always managed to get back to prestigious positions with the emperor right up to today, despite periodically having to leave the most powerful positions to other Kuge families such as the Taira Heike, Tachibana and not least the kuge and Daimyo family; Whoa.
Fujiwara preferred to have his daughters married to the future emperor(s).
Taira Heike is immortalized through "The tales of Heike and Genji" and many other books. And then there is the Gempei War (1180-1185), which was a civil war that changed Japan's history forever, when the emperor and his Shikken totally lost power to the "warrior king"; The Shogun.
However, the Gempei Civil War is always remembered as Japan's national flag from 1870 reflects this. The colors red for Taira Heike and white for Seiwa Minamoto Genji, and the red sun as a symbol of the emperor's origin from the sun god Amateratsu, who is also a woman.
Precisely the emperor's problem with many wives and official mistresses/concubines led to many legitimate children, some of whom later became emperors. Here was the big difference to the European nobility, where children born out of wedlock could not be entitled to inherit as emperor, king or prince after the 13th and 13th centuries, - until then it could easily have happened as in Japan (there is, for example . also Danish examples of).
If the kings recognized their children out of wedlock, they became legitimate royal children, but not heirs to the throne. They often received the country's highest titles of nobility, power, estates, gold and parts of their royal father's coat of arms. It also happened in Denmark and several of these count families are alive and well and have a rank above the "normal" county counts, as they are royal counts after all.
In Japan, they were legitimate children, and if you had no sons, you could adopt your daughters' husbands as sons, making their blood children eligible for inheritance. That's how it was in the Japanese Imperial House, like all other Japanese princely and noble families, and it still is.
Since the emperor had limited income, he had to do something. His children were Imperial Highnesses and Princes of Japan. So were his grandsons, while his great-grandsons, etc., were highnesses and princes of Japan.
It is largely the same principles that also apply in all the European royal houses in the past. Today, however, most great-grandchildren "fall out of the royal family's appanage" and receive the country's highest title of nobility, such as in England and Spain it is a duke, while in Denmark it is a count, after which they have to fend for themselves financially, just like the rest of us.
Therefore, the Japanese emperors in the 8th century began to offer their great-grandsons, who were their highnesses and princes of Japan, that they could step out of the imperial house and establish their own princely princely house under the names Taira or Minamoto, with their great-grandfather's imperial name in front. This had the advantage that they were no longer bound by a very strict protocol and could seek their own happiness, career and financial earnings. They could not do that as a member of the Imperial House.
This is how the two "semi-divine" families became; Taira and Minamoto to, both of whom had direct family origins in the Japanese Imperial House.
Most of the Taira and Minamoto imperial branches quickly died out or disappeared from the wings of history. But not the Taira of Emperor Kwammu and the Minamoto of Emperor Seiwa. Their descendants were all immortalized in one of the most celebrated civil wars in Japanese history: the Gempei (1180-1185).
Emperor Seiwa
(Emperor 56, Seiwa-tennō, May 10, 850 – January 7, 881)
It largely led to the extinction of the Kuge Taira princely family and they then appeared only sporadically in Japanese history through its side branches as Shugo Daimyo fiefdoms.
'But it certainly wasn't like that until the outcome of the Gempei War became clear. Just 25 years before, the Taira kuge sheriff family was the most powerful in all of Japan. They had outmaneuvered the Kuge Fujiwara vassals and virtually completely wiped out the Seiwa Minamoto vassals in war, and were de facto the most powerful vassals in all of Japan, including the Emperor.
How could things go so wrong for the most successful and powerful Minamoto prince/Lieutenant branch, Seiwa Genji?
Seiwa Genji is descended from Japan's 56th Emperor Seiwa's son, His Imperial Highness Prince Sadazumi-Shinno (874-916). His son, the Imperial Highness, Prince Tsunemoto (894-961) was granted in 961, as the grandson of a Japanese emperor, the right to establish the semi-divine Imperial Prince and Count Prince lineage; Seiwa no Minamoto – Seiwa Genji, which means "from the original divine source", i.e. the emperor.
His son Mitsunaka (912-997) became the first of a total of 8 Seiwa Genji Chinjufu-Shoguns, who were warrior-kings over half of Japan until 1190. There were two Chinjufu-Shoguns, one in the north and one in the south. Only in 1190 after the Gempei War, the Shogun title and the job of Warrior King over all of Japan, were united under one hat: Seiwa Genji Minamoto. The imperial rule became that ONLY princes and sheriffs from Seiwa Genji Minamoto could be appointed by the emperor as Shoguns – warrior kings over the whole of Japan, and that was the case right up until 1868 – approx. 650 years.
Prince Tsunemoto (894-961)
Mitsunaka, who was both a prince and a warrior prince, was a wise and pragmatic man. He found that the transition from imperial prince and kuge court nobility to self-acquiring was a very difficult transition. They failed for most and only succeeded for the few after a few generations.
Mitsunaka had noticed that the Kuge Fujiwara family had largely gained a monopoly as Imperial Shikken or Kwampaku, who was the Emperor's first minister and thus "Kuge Nobility King of Japan". Since at the same time it was the case that the Kuge court more and more stuck to politics and leadership, rather than military craftsmanship, Mitsunaka saw a good opening and opportunity for cooperation here. He and Seiwa Minamoto became the military arm of the Fujiwara Shikken, and did so with great success.
He actually became Japan's richest man and was the Shugo Daimyo Sheriff of 1/6 of Japan – 10 provinces. The collaboration and the division of labor between Fujiwara and Seiwa Minamoto lasted over 200 years, - until 1153, when Taira until 1185 became the first "warrior king" of Japan, without having the title of Shogun.
For Seiwa Genji, the deal with Fujiwara was extremely lucrative, and Seiwa Genji handled most of the war missions with great bravura, spawning some of Japan's most celebrated legends and role models today.
For Fujiwara, the agreement was also extremely lucrative, as Fujiwara's 5 families - intermittently - got a patent on the imperial job as Shikken - Kwampaku right up until 1868, and yet. One of the five Fujiwara Shikken lineages; Konoe, became Japan's prime minister several times before and during World War II, and was also the grandfather of: Japan's prime minister 1994-1995, Morihiro Hosogawa.
As you have probably seen through, all three families became; Fujiwara, Taira, Minamoto intermarried and not only that, also into the imperial family. This was also the case in Europe's royal and imperial families - it was a matter of alliances and survival.
This has been the case for all 2650+ years of Yamana-Itotani lineage, first as Emperors, then as Imperial Princes and Seiwa Minamoto, and then again as Daimyo Counts Yamana and Yamana-Itotani.
Minamoto Mitsunaka (912-997)
But before we end the second era of Yamana-Itotani's genealogy, let's just round off this era with the last 100 years that led to the lineage; Shoguns – warrior kings of Japan. Cooperation with the Fujiwara Shikkens as their military arm went smoothly and Seiwa Genji shoveled provinces under their rule. One of the ancestors to be mentioned is one of Japan's most celebrated heroes, legend and warlord; Minamoto no Yoshiie (1041-1108), also called Hachimantaro – son of the god of war. Already at a very young age he mastered all the arts of war and already became a much feared gentleman warrior on the battlefield at the age of 23. The stories about him are countless and even today he is one of Japan's absolute greatest folk heroes.
Minamoto No Yoshiie (1039 – 4 August 1106) Hachiman-taro
Minamoto No Yoshiie (1039 – 4 August 1106) Hachiman-taro
His son Minamoto no Yoshikuni (1082-1155) was the first to settle in the province of Kózuke, when he was given this as a county seat.
Yoshikuni became the progenitor of a total of 30 shoguns; 15 Ashikaga (1333-1570) and 15 Tokugawa (1603-1868), and to the Daimyo fief families Yamana-Itotani and Hosogawa. But also the Daimyo Count families; Satomi and Nitta, who left their mark on Japan's history for several hundred years.
Yoshikuni secured his fiefdom by dividing it between his two sons; Yoshishige (1135-1202) and Yoshiyasu (1127-1157).
Seiwa Minamoto no Yoshishige again secured his subprovincial county area by dividing it into districts, each with its own capital city. The estate's district capitals were: Yamana, Tokugawa, Nitta and Satomi. Seiwa Minamoto no Yoshiyasu also secured his subprovincial county area by dividing it into districts, each with its own capital city. God's district capitals were named: Hosogawa and Ashikaga.
Seiwa Minamoto no Yoshizumi and his eldest son, Yoshinori, were allowed by the emperor to establish their own family clan, and as was customary at the time, they took the name of the capital of their estate's county district: Yamana.
The same imperial decree permission was given to the establishment of the two later Shogun – warrior king lineages; Ashikaga and Tokugawa, as well as the Daimyo feudal families; Hosogawa, Satomi and Nitta.
The same thing happened to other side branches of Seiwa Minamoto in the slipstream after the victorious Gempei Civil War and the head of the Seiwa Minamoto clan was now: Shogun – Japan's warrior king and de facto absolute ruler.
Minamoto no Yoshikuni (1082-1155)
Minamoto no Yoshishige was one of the 5 supreme princes and barons of Seiwa Genji and all his sons were successful generals and barons during the Gempei War, so permission from the emperor came quickly so that Yoshishige's sons could seek their own success and happiness.
The two brothers Yoshishige and Yoshiyasu had probably not dreamed of how great a success and how great a mark their sons and their families would leave their mark on the history of Japan for the next 800 years.
Minamoto no Yoshishige (1135–1202)
The Yamana-Itotani family through the ages
Over the years, the Yamana-Itotani Daimyo Prince family has been on the modern communication platforms throughout the ages. At first it was hundreds of films, including famous film directors such as Akira Kurosawa, and George Lucas. Kurosawa's film and universe about Yamana's conquest of the Akizuki family's county area in the 1540s inspired George Lucas to create the Starwars films. Later it became a TV follow-up and this continues to apply, as Japan is once again finding its way back to the "Yamato spirit" after the Second World War. With the arrival of the Internet, the family is now also involved in several different and very popular computer games, such as Shogun 2: Total War. Only the imagination sets the limits here. Here are some examples of family characters in the games
The game Shogun 2
Pictures from the game Shogun 2
Total war
Pictures from the game Shogun 2
Shogun 2 map
Pictures from the game Shogun 2
End game
Pictures from the game Shogun 2
Yamana Toyosada
Historical Yamana figures from the game
Yamana Toyokuni
Historical Yamana figures from the game
Yamana Suketoyo
Historical Yamana figures from the game
Yamana Toyoyori
Historical Yamana figures from the game
