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
The Yamana-Itotani family overview of the last 870+ years of history

It must be noted and assumed that the content is no better than the sources on which the chronology is based, many of which are contradictory, politically motivated and flawed. Or at worst written by Westerners after 1868 who were extremely knowledgeable and competent, but depended on various Japanese sources and history professors, resulting in many misunderstandings, untruths and politically motivated angles. But one knock on the bag is that more than 95 % is historically fact-based and correct, but can be challenged where there have been subjective interpretations in the many different sources. An analogy can be drawn to our own early history through Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1160 – c. 1220), who was employed by Bishop Absalon to write "History of the Danes". So the correctness is enough to pass a PhD.

Executive summary
Introduction of the Yamana-Itotani Daimyo fiefdom – theory to practice

Until now, we have mainly transferred power practices from a large part of Japan's history (approx. 800-1947), and all high-nobility families into one unified practical overview. This overview with explanations is of the various power structures from all the Japanese, as well as the rest of the world's emperors, kings, sheriffs, lords, warriors, etc.

This was to introduce the readers to how and which power holders throughout history have had and have, so that the possibility of a better understanding can be achieved.

Now we want to do it the other way around on a real living Daimyo sheriff's family over a time period of approx. 870+ years, from approx. 1160 to 2019+. In addition, this will be historically correct and experienced through one family's eyes, through 36+ generations for this selected time period, despite the family historically having more than 126 generations in a straight line.

This Daimyo Sheriff family is; Seiwa no Minamoto no Nitta no Yamana-Itotani

Introduction – the eternal struggle for survival for a distinctive Japanese Daimyo family
Alliances, breeding and family relationships and a short lesson in how to hold on to power - and life
What other Daimyo lord families are the Yamana-Itotani primarily related to for more than 1300+ years?

Just as the European kings, emperors and sheriffs needed allies to carry out their policies and ensure the survival of their dynasties, so of course it was also the case in Japan and the Far East. This is also the case today through the democratic political elections that are held in all democratic countries. There is just one very big and significant difference when a top political leader loses an election and when a princely dynasty is overthrown. The politicians get time to see the family, pursue hobbies and their other interests, and as the opposition they just have to remember to be against everything that the new democratically elected leaders propose, just like the others did when they were in power. It is a relatively harmless Polish game for all the "livelihood politicians", and the politicians who are not this, usually find another job that they can vouch for. 

If a princely house is overthrown, this usually results in death, destruction or, conversely, a reign of terror for them and their family. Most must live in fear in their exile - if they and their family, supporters and allies were allowed to survive with their lives intact. It is a significant and decisive difference for most people, almost the difference between video games and being in a real war. You can lose your life and everyone around you can lose their life as a sheriff. You don't do that as a politician. You know there will be a next time – a new choice and thus a new chance.

Therefore, it was paramount for a sheriff to ensure the survival of his family and those closest to him, and this required help in the form of strategic alliances, which were often extremely uncertain and changing, as this was often in the nature of declarations of intent. But if there were hostage exchanges between the parties, then there was a completely different risk for everyone and thus a greater incentive to comply with the agreement. But the best alliance guarantee was marriage with "production of children", which were, after all, the grandchildren of the sheriffs. These arranged marriages took place at all levels of society, but princely marriages were paramount to the whole society, and therefore one had to choose correctly in the divination ball. When a Daimyo lord family like the Yamana-Itotani has more than 2,650 years of history, including top positions in society such as emperors, imperial princes, lord kuges and Daimyo for almost 130 generations, - it goes without saying that a lot has been done alliances and marriages at the top of society. But it also says that when the family, as one of the few sheriff families, has survived for so many years, the choice of alliances, marriages and leadership has been extremely successful - but perhaps also lucky. 

Yamana-Itotani Sensei is generation 37 from the ancestor Minamoto no Yoshishige (1135-1202.08.02), who was Kozuke no Kami (Daimyo Sheriff of the province of Kozuke).

Minamoto no Yoshishige's older brother was Minamoto no Yoshiyasu (1127-1157), who was the progenitor of 15 Ashikaga Shoguns (1333-1570) and Hosogawa vice shoguns and Daimyo fiefs for 800 years.

His cousin was Minamoto no Tameyoshi (1096-1156), who was the grandfather of Minamoto no Yoshitomo (1147-1199), who became Japan's first shogun (1192-1199) after Minamoto had won the Gempei Civil War (1181-1185).

Minamoto Yoshitomo's brother was one of the most celebrated heroes in Japanese history; Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189).

Minamoto no Yoshitomo was the first of three direct Minamoto Seiwa Genji shogun's warrior-kings (1192-1221) and a total of 30 Bunke – side lines; Minamoto Seiwa Genji shogun's warrior kings from 1333-1570 and 1601-1868.

Minamoto no Yoshishige's children founded some of Japan's most influential and powerful Daimyo lords, vice-shoguns and shogun families from the mid-12th century to the present day.

The Honke line The Nitta Daimyo lords who greatly influenced Japan's history from the middle of the 12th century to 1338.

Nitta Bunke line Satomi Daimyo lords from the middle of the 12th century until 1622, when they died out.

Nitta Bunke line Matsudaira Tokugawa Daimyo lords from the middle of the 16th century and Shoguns from 1601-1868.

The Matsudaira were until the middle of the 16th century prominent large landowners and after the 16th century minor Daimyo lords until the 1580s, and ended up as the Shogun's warrior kings and great Daimyo lords until the abolition of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868.

The last Speaker of the Japanese House of Lords in 1947 was a Tokugawa Daimyo Count.
Nitta Bunke line Yamana Daimyo fiefs from the mid-12th century until the abolition of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, after which the family became a member of the House of Lords until 1947, participated in all of Japan's wars as generals, admirals and higher officers, ministers, government officials, large landowners and large industrialists .

Yamana Sozen

Yamana

Today, Honke is the main lines; Yamana in Tajima and Yamana-Itotani in Inaba and main Bunke side lines in Bingo, Hoki, Echizen, Kyoto and Tokyo.

There are also several noble families elsewhere in Japan with a different noble name, which derives from either Yamana in Tajima and Yamana-Itotani in Inaba.

All Daimyo families in Japan always tried to maintain the family's power and influence through marriage.

It was well known that "Blood is thicker than water", but there were still no guarantees that this was enough to "keep the family together".

This was also the case in the families of the European emperors, kings and sheriffs - and this is also the case today in most families.

The only difference is that back then and at that level of society, it could not only cost you your life, but your entire family and clan. There was no room for so many mistakes.

But the probability of survival, securing power bases and expanding these, increased with the following marriages;

Family Tree – The Yamana Clan

Yamana Suketoya

Yamana Toyokuni, Inaba

Yamana Toyosada, Inaba

Yamana Toyoyori

Yamana Yoshimichi

Marriage and adoption
  • Marriage and adoption within one's own Extended family - clan, so that "the bond of blood and the Yamana-Itotani blood did not become too thin";
    • Honke – the family head of the main line took the daughter of a Bunke-Honke "competitor" as his wife, so that the main branch and side branches were linked more closely together. This typically happened every 3-4 generations to avoid the "inbreeding problem".
    • Honke - the sons of the main line took a daughter of a Bunke-Honke "competitor" as a spouse, so that the main branch and side branches were tied closer together.
      • If this son became head of the Yamana-Itotani family, this meant a merging of the main line and a Bunke-Honke line. This typically happened every 3-4 generations to avoid the "inbreeding problem".
    • If the main Honke line had no suitable heirs, Soryo could even adopt a brother, nephew or great-nephew from one of the Bunke-Honke side lines, as his son, with the aim of being the future head. In this way, the main line was united with a Bunke-Honke side line and the "blood bond" was intact.
    • Bunke-Honke family sidelines intermarried not only in the main line, but also in other Bunke-Honke sidelines such as Bunke sidelines, whereby a closer association or fusion could take place.
Why is it so important?
  • In order to secure the family's holdings through the power structure, people must be used - and preferably the right and competent leaders.
    Remember that each province approx. accounts for 1.5 % of Japan's total land area.
    In terms of size, it corresponds to approx. 13-14 % of Denmark's current area.
    It is slightly smaller than Zealand, approx. 6,000 km2 and 15 municipalities.
    Sum this up a bit and then imagine if this area with high nobility, landowners and population included 2 provinces? 5 provinces? 8 provinces or 12 provinces? which is 20 % of Japan's current area or almost twice that of Denmark.
    • Let's play around with some calculations; 1st generation, 23 years, 5 sons. 2nd generation, 23 years, 5 sons. 3rd generation, 23 years, 5 sons.
    • This means without deaths, 125 uncles, nephews and grandchildren of almost 70 years, actually a little more as there will be an overlap for the 4th generation. Due to deaths, – illness, war and leader suitability, then there are maybe 25-30 left. Then try to "occupy the top positions" according to the foreword in point 2. Yes, right? Therefore, point 1 is vital for the family's survival, but so is point 3.
  • Marriage and adoption to other Daimyo sheriff families on both the short and long run, the main line of the Shogun Honke sitting at all times, as Bunke side lines and not least to the imperial family and the kuge (court nobility) sheriff families who traditionally provided the honke and bunke imperial family with spouses and official mistresses (concubines)
    • Kanrei – Vice shogun Daimyo Count families; Hosogawa, Hatekayama and Shiba, all of whom had the same origin as Yamana-Itotani through a common ancestor and were therefore related.
    • Since the Hosogowa Daimyo lord family practically had a monopoly as Kanrei in Muromachi in the period 1336-1560, and the Yamana-Itotani Daimyo lords for long periods were the most powerful or at least in the top 10 of all Japan's Daimyo lords, the tradition continued between the two families with intermarriage Honke and Bunke main lines approx. every other generation. This close family connection and tradition has lasted for 800 years.
    • The family also intermarried with the other Daimyo Prince families throughout the changing times in order to ensure and increase the probability of the family's survival and development. This means that there is also Yamana-Itotani family blood in e.g. other branches of Seiwa Minamoto, Fujiwara, Taira, Hojo, and honke as pile in Hatakeyama, Shiba, Toki, Takeda, Uesugi, Ouchi, Mori, Ishikki, Amago, Ikeda, Kikkawa, Konoe, Kyogoku, Shimazu and quite a few other princely families.
    • When the Seiwa Minamoto were Shoguns from 1185-1220, Yamana-Itotani followed the point 1 rule and also served as senior ministers, closest advisors, generals, etc.
    • The 15 Ashikaga shoguns from 1336-ca.1560 were something of a handful - to say the least. It went well in the beginning also with marriages and mistresses (concubines). But it developed more and more into "Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer!". But the Yamana-Itotani sheriff family also served as high-ranking ministers, closest advisers, generals, etc.

    • Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) was the first of Japan's great "Unifiers". The other two were his top vassals and Daimyo fiefs, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616).

      Clan head and Daimyo sheriff of the provinces, Tajima, Inaba, Hoki and Bingo, Yamana Suketoyo (1511-1580) and Oda Nobunaga, knew each other despite the age difference and rank difference throughout their lives and were good friends.

      This benefited Suketoyo as Nobunaga experienced a superstar rise to Japan's most powerful Daimyo in just 8 years, installing the 15th and last Ashikaga shogun in Kyoto – and adopting him as his son!

      After which he turned his attention to conquering all of Japan, which had been in civil war more or less since 1550-1568.

      Then in 1569 Yamana Suketoyo's Tajima was attacked by Oda Nobunaga's brother and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He lost, became the Daimyo Sheriff's vassal of Oda Nobunaga, had a daughter sent as official Nobunaga Maitresse – concubine, had some grandchildren and you can hear the rest of the story later.

  • Taiko (KING - but Shogun without the title) Hideyoshi Toyotomi both married Daimyo Lord Yamana Toyokuni's (1548-1626) daughter, Minami no Tsubone in 1580, but also took her sister in 1582 as official Maitresse!

    It resulted in children and one Yamana-Itotani was the grandfather and his son, cousin, minister and closest adviser to Hideyoshi's son and heir; Hideyori (1593-1615). They died together during the 1615 Winter and Summer wars at Osaka castle, where grandfather was on the other side, as the closest adviser and friend to Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.

    And with their joint intervention, Yamana-Itotani's son was allowed to be adopted into the Shimizu (Matsudaira) Daimyo lineage as the new family head.

    Only in the year 1700, the Shimizu clan head was forgiven and recognized by the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, that this branch was also closely related by blood to the Yamana-Itotani.

    The sixth Shogun, who was the great-great-grandson of the first Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, had a son who became the seventh Shogun Ietsugu, who established the Gosankyo Tokugawa Bunke-Honke lineages, as a counterpart to the traditional Tokugawa Bunke-Honke lineages; Gosanke.

    The Gosankyo became quite influential in the last 100 years of the Tokugawa Shogunate, as shoguns were chosen from one of these lines. The three Tokugawa Daimyo sheriff lines were; Hitotsubashi, Tayasu and Shimizu.

Osaka Castle

  • Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) was the third and last of Japan's "Unifiers", where he established a Tokugawa dynasty of 15 Shoguns from 1600-1868, which was the most peaceful and cultural period in Japan's history.

    Until 1567, the Daimyo sheriff's name was Matsudaira, after that it was called Honke - the main line; Tokugawa.

    The Yamana-Itotani family and the Shogun family share the same ancestor, which benefited Yamana-Itotani "in the darkest hour of time" for the family from 1582-1586, which in this Ninja persecution period changed its name from Yamana to Itotani, and until 1868, when the Yamana-Itotani Daimyo family were Daimyo vassals of Tokugawa Honke and several Bunke Tokugawa and Matsudaira side lines.

    One of Tokugawa Ieyasu's best friends and advisors was – Yamana Toyokuni, who was also one of shogun number 2: Hidetada's closest advisors.

    In addition to being Daimyo vassals and vassals of the Tokugawa shoguns, Yamana-Itotani also participated in the shogun administration, as they have also done with the Minamoto, the Ashikaga shogunate and now also the Tokugawa shogunate - so approx. 800 years in the service of the state.

    Where BEFORE the Tokugawa shogunate had been as "puppet masters", war and prime ministers" and among the most powerful Daimyo fiefs with the largest fiefdoms and armies, the peaceful times had now changed the tasks.

    The Yamana-Itotani Daimyo family now functioned in the Tokugawa administration as responsible ministers for "infrastructure, construction and construction" - which they actually do today, in addition to being farmers (landowners) and other industrial investments.

    In addition to continuous intermarriage into side branches of the Tokugawa dynasty and the Matsudaira clans, Yamana-Itotani also gained very high Fudai Daimyo family relation rank in relation to the Tokugawa Shoguns.

    This meant that Yamana-Itotani was considered and treated as "Extended family" and belonging to the Tokugawa/Matsudaira clan.
    This also meant that the family was allowed to use the name Matsudaira, as a kind of "middle name".

    Incidentally, the same also happened with the Ashikaga name and, as previously mentioned, "Forever until doomsday" for the emperor's personal coat of arms, which today is also the coat of arms of the Japanese prime minister.

How could this revolution happen?

This meant that the Yamana-Itotani Daimyo Sheriff family changed their coat of arms, and others of the Yamana Tajima Honke and other Bunke families have different coats of arms, as previously mentioned.

  • Shi-ten -The four pillars of the house of Yamana-Itotani; Otagaki clan with headquarters; Takeda Castle founded in 1441 by 5th generation Otagaki Mitsukage, Kakkiya clan with headquarters: Toyooka Castle, Yagi clan with headquarters; Yagi castle, Tainosho clan after Tainosho castle.
    Then also through time; Nakamura clan, Morishita clan, Yoshioka Clan, Nakamura clan, Takeda Wakasa clan, Akiba Clan, Shinomiya Clan, Nakashima Clan and many other clans through time from Daimyo to Shomyo rank.
    Next, there are quite a few of the well-known Honke and/or Bunke families, who have been vassal lords of Yamana-Itotani for one period or another.

  • The oldest vassal families such as Shi-Ten had been vassals of the Yamana-Itotani family as "Marquis - Vice Daimyo" for many hundreds of years. Otagaki and Kakkiya since the beginning of the 13th century. The "career" of these families followed the "career" of their lord; Yamana-Itotani.

The ruins of Takeda Castle.

  • This meant that many of these families also enjoyed the status of Daimyo lords throughout the ages and were therefore also quite powerful.

    Over time, this meant disloyalty and eventually outright treason for parts or all of these vassal families.

    Eg. parts of the Otagaki and Kakkiya clans committed direct treason and enlisted under the banner and as vassals of the Yamana-Itotani clan's main enemies at the time: Mori and Oda, due to their own economic and political interests in 1580.

    Some of these vassal families came to fight among themselves, such as e.g. Kakkiya and Tainosho, which developed into a blood feud over two generations.

    In order to unite the common interests and proposals in the massive and large fiefdoms of the Yamana-Itotani family, less important members of the Yamana-Itotani were intermarried into these families, most often with the aim of effectively taking over the fiefdoms, castles and army of the vassal family, as the newly adopted vassal chief.

    It succeeded fairly often and it was something all Daimyo families did.

    The same thing happened in Europe's princely houses.

    This also means for the past 400+ years, the heads of these vassal clans have been buried in the Yamana-Itotani Daimyo family's Buddhist family temple located in Tottori. That is why it is called "Shomyo - Baron and Count temple" internally in the family.

    The members of the Honke family carry out a ritual in the 400+ year old Buddhist temple, where the family's abbot with one or more Buddhist priests invokes the family's ancestors, who must approve and record the family members in the family's 2600+ year history. After completing admission, you will be entered in the family's annals and will receive rank and rights as a member of the sheriff's family.

    The Yamana-Itotani family's most important Shinto family temple is located in the Tottori mountains and dates from the 1180s, and is reserved for the male titled members of the family. There is a tradition that some of the ashes are buried in the temple, as the temple contains the entire "Spirit and Soul" of the sheriff's family for more than 800 years.

  • The same also happens in the Shinto 800-year-old temple, which is incredibly beautiful up in the mountains with a mountain stream running under the main room, where the titled members of the family have been initiated into the family for 800+ years by the family's Shinto abbot and several assistant priests. The ritual is significantly different here than in the Buddhist temple.

    The rituals have been the same through all the centuries and are something you never forget, as it is so unique, personal and special. You feel that you can feel all your ancestors welcoming you, accepting you and "passing the torch".

    Over thousands of years, the family has built and sponsored thousands of temples.

    Hundreds have survived and many of these are open to Japanese tourists. But these two temples are usually reserved for the family only.

    The official family temple since 1556 is located in Myoshin-in in Kyoto and is called Torin-in.

Kyoto Torin-in

It must be noted and assumed that the content is no better than the sources on which the chronology is based, many of which are contradictory, politically motivated and flawed. Or at worst written by Westerners after 1868 who were extremely knowledgeable and competent, but depended on various Japanese sources and history professors, resulting in many misunderstandings, untruths and politically motivated angles. But one knock on the bag is that more than 95 % is historically fact-based and correct, but can be challenged where there have been subjective interpretations in the many different sources. An analogy can be drawn to our own early history through Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1160 – c. 1220), who was employed by Bishop Absalon to write "History of the Danes". So the correctness is enough to pass a PhD.

End - Chapter 23

Game Education - Countess

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Association chairmen, chronologically since 1988

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