The Kazanin Family (花山院家)
The Kasannoin family was directly descended from the Northern House of the Fujiwara clan-Morozane branch (Kazanin branch). The family was ranked as Seiga family, a type of family status in the court nobility.
Established in the late Heian period by Ietada KAZANIN, the second son of FUJIWARA no Morozane, the family was named after the Kazanin palace (Higashi ichijo in) which Ietada inherited from his father, Morozane. The family status of Seiga family was secured after Tadamasa KAZANIN, Ietada's grandson, became the Grand Minister of State, and his son, Kanemasa KAZANIN who was a trusted vassal of the retired Emperor Goshirakawa, was promoted to the Minister of the Left.
In the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (Japan), the direct descendants of the family served the Northern Court, but Moronobu KAZANIN and his son, Morokata KAZANIN, who belonged to a branch family, were close aides of Emperor Godaigo, and their descendents served the Yoshino Court. One direct female descendant, who served at Court of Emperor Gokomatsu, won the Emperor's favor and gave birth to a child, later known as Sojun IKKYU.
The hereditary stipend in the Edo period was about 715 koku. The family vocations were calligraphy and Sho (a type of reed pipe). From the Meiji Restoration onwards, starting with Tadato, the head of the family held the rank of marquis.