The Seiga Family (清華家)
The Seiga Family was one of the kakaku (family status) of court nobles or nobility, which is the kakaku above the daijinke (Daijin Family) and was next to the sekke (Setsu Family). The family concurrently served Konoe Taisho general and was thus promoted to grand minister of state (however, since the requirement for taking the position of grand minister of state in the Edo period was the person who had served as regent or chief advisor to the Emperor, the highest official rank the Seiga family could attain was that of minister of the left). It was also called the Eiyu Family. The children of Sekke and Seiga Family were called Kindachi. Before the Meiji period, new nobility meant this family. According to the Nobility Act implemented in the Meiji period, the Seiga Family was, in principle, entitled to the title of marquess; however, thanks to the achievements during the Meiji Restoration, the Sanjo Family was entitled to the title of duke, while the Saionji and Tokudaiji families, which were formerly entitled to the title of marquess, were later entitled to the title of duke by means of shosyaku (attaining higher rank based on achievement).
Ultimately, the Seiga Family comprised the following nine families:
Although the Toin Family of the Fujiwara Hokke-Kanin group also produced grand ministers of state from the Kamakura era through the Muromachi era as frequently as the Seiga Family did, since the family line of the Toin Family failed in the early Sengoku period the Toin Family did not have kakaku corresponding to that of court noble, such as the Seiga Family or other families established during the Edo period.
Seven families
The Koga Family
The main branch of the family of Murakami-Genji (Murakami Gen clan), the originator of which was minister of the right MINAMOTO no Morofusa (1008 to 1077), who was the son of Imperial Prince Tomohira, the eighth prince of Emperor Murakami. Morofusa was Mido Kampaku FUJIWARA no Michinaga's daughter's husband (Morofusa's wife was Michinaga's daughter Takako), and became an adopted child of FUJIWARA no Yorimichi, the heir of Michinaga; additionally, the descendant of Morofusa built a deep relationship through intermarriage with the Sekkan Family (Sekkanke).
Naidaijin (minister) MINAMOTO no Michichika (1149 to 1202), who was Morofusa's fifth-generation grandson, expelled the chief advisor to the Emperor Kanezane KUJO in a conspiracy with TAKASHINA no Eishi, and was a person who flaunted his power, thereby earning the nickname 'Gen Haku Riku.'
The main branch of the Koga Family had long served concurrently as the leader of Genji and chief of both the Junnain Palace and Shogakuin College, but such a position was removed by Shogun Yoshimitsu ASHIKAGA of Samurai-Genji (the Gen clan as samurai families) during the Muromachi period. The Koga family name comes from the fact that there was a villa 'Koga Water Castle' in Koga, Otagi-gun Yamashiro-no-kuni, in the southwest of Kyoto.
There were nine branch court noble families: the Nakanoin Family of Daijinke, the Rokujo, the Iwakura, the Chikusa, the Higashikuze, the Kuze, the Umetani, the Otagi, and the Uematsu of the Urin Family.
Family business: flute; karoku (hereditary stipend) in the Edo period: seven hundred koku; crest: the Itsutsu Rindoguruma (five gentians annulet)
The Sanjo Family (Temporin-Sanjo Family)
The Fujiwara Hokke-Kanin group (descended from Grand Minister of State FUJIWARA no Kinsuke)
The first generation was Grand Minister of State Saneyuki SANJO (1080 to 1162), who was the eldest son of Chief Councilor of State FUJIWARA no Kimizane. To further distinguish the Ogimachi-Sanjo Family (renamed 'Saga' at the time of Sanenaru SAGA) of Daijinke, which was descended from the Sanjo Family, the Sanjo Family is most often referred to with the prefix Temporin.
The numerous branch families included the Ogimachi-Sanjo Family and Sanjonishi Family of Daijinke, as well as the Shigenoi Family and Anegakoji Family of the Urin Family.
Family business: flute and shozoku (costume)
Karoku (hereditary stipend) during the Edo period: 469 koku; crest: the Karabishibana crest (Chinese rhombic flower)
The Saionji Family
The Fujiwara Hokke-Kanin group
The originator was Chunagon (vice-councilor of state) Michisue SAIONJI (1090 to 1128), the second son of Kimizane. Michisue was made an heir because his mother FUJIWARA no Mitsuko was a lawful wife, but due to his early death he did not attain an official rank equal to that of his brothers. The fourth generation, that of Grand Minister of State Kintsune SAIONJI (1171 to 1244), held the reins of power as a pro-shogunate group after the Jokyu-no-ran War, thereby seizing the position of maternal relative and the hereditary job position of Kanto Moshitsugi from the Sekkan Family. Kintsune built the ujidera (a temple built for praying for clan glory), Saionji, in Kyoraku (Kyoto) Kitayama, thus originating the family name.
The branch family included the Toin Family (which died out), Imadegawa Family (Kikutei Family), Shimizudani Family, Yotsutuji Family, Hashimoto Family and Omiya Family of the Urin Family.
Family business: Biwa Japanese lute
Karoku (hereditary stipend) in the Edo period: 597 koku; crest: Hidari-mitsudomoe.
The Tokudaiji Family
The Fujiwara Hokke-Kanin group
The originator was Kimizane's third son, Minister of the Left Saneyoshi TOKUDAIJI (1096 to 1157). Saneyoshi's grandchild, who became heir to the family, Minister of the Left Sanesada TOKUDAIJI (1139 to 1191), was FUJIWARA no Toshinari's younger sister's son and FUJIWARA no Sadaie's cousin, and was a gifted poet. This family nearly dominated the kokyu of the palace during the period of cloister government by the emperors Toba and Goshirakawa, but the power of the family dwindled somewhat after the Kamakura era. The Tokudaiji Family had a strong kindred connection to the Saionji Family; for example, in the Meiji period Kinmochi SAIONJI was born into the Tokudaiji Family and subsequently adopted by the Saionji Family (as an act of nyushi (joining the family to become an heir)).
Family business: flute; karoku (hereditary stipend) in the Edo period: about 410 koku; crest: Mokko-Hanabishi-Fusenryo crest (rhombic gourd flowers in a circle)
The Kazanin Family
The Fujiwara Hokke-Morozane group (Kazanin group)
The originator was Minister of the Right Ietada KAZANIN (1062 to 1136), who was the second child of the regent, Grand Minister of State FUJIWARA no Morozane. The family name came from the fact that Ietada had inherited Higashi-Ichijoin (Kazanin), the Imperial Palace of Emperor Kazan. Because the third generation, Tadamasa KAZANIN (1124 to 1193), was familiar with the Emperor's politics in the Imperial Palace and was a relative of TAIRA no Kiyomori, he was exceptionally promoted to be the grand minister of state. The various schools included the Nakayama Family, Nonomiya Family and Imaki Family of the Urin Family.
Family business: sho flute and art of calligraphy; karoku (hereditary stipend) in the Edo period: about 750 koku; crest: the Kakitsubata-hisi (rhombic Japanese iris).
The Oinomikado Family
The Fujiwara Hokke-Morozane group (Kazanin group)
The originator is Tsunezane OINOMIKADO (1068 to 1131), who was also a child of FUJIWARA no Morozane, like the Kazanin Family. The house was located north of Oinomikado and east of Made-no-Koji street. Tsunezane was promoted only up to supernumerary chief councilor of state, but his son Tsunemune OINOMIKADO (1119 to 1189) held the reins of power as the maternal father of Emperor Nijo and was promoted to minister of the left so as to ensure the kakaku (family status) of the Seiga Family (Tsunemune's mother was Kimiko, a daughter of Kinzane KANINRYU).
Family business: calligraphy, waka (yamatouta), thirteen-string koto, Japanese harp, flute, shozoku (costume); karoku (hereditary stipend) in the Edo period: about 400 koku; crest: the Hishi ni Katabamiso (diamond and cuckooflower)
The Kikutei Family (Kikutei Family)
The Fujiwara Hokke-Kanin group, a branch of the Saionji Family
Minister of the Left Kanesue IMADEGAWA, who was a son of Sanekane SAIONJI, a grand minister of state during the Kamakura period, started a branch of the Saionji Family and resided in Imadegawa-dono palace; accordingly, they called themselves Kikutei (Imadegawa). After the Restoration the family name, Imadegawa, was changed to another name: Kikutei.
Family business: Biwa Japanese lute
Karoku (hereditary stipend) in the Edo period: about 1355 koku; crest: the Mitsukaede (three maples)
The Nine Seiga
(The following two families are added to the above-mentioned seven families.)
The Daigo Family
The Fujiwara Hokke-Sekkan group
A branch of the Ichijo Family, Gosekke (Gosetsu Family), which started during the Edo period
The first generation was Chief Councilor of State Fuyumoto DAIGO (1648 to 1697), the second son of the regent, Akiyoshi ICHIJO.
Hereditary stipend: about 312 koku; crest: the Sagarifuji
The Hirohata Family
Ogimachi-Genji (Ogimachi-Gen clan)
Tadayuki HIROHATA (1623 to 1669), a son of Hachijo no Miya (Prince Toshihito), who was an imperial descendant of Emperor Ogimachi, underwent shinseki koka (demotion by Meiji Constitution whereby the Imperial Family lost its rank to become common people), started the family. Initially, Tadayuki went to ｔhe domain of Owari to become a samurai family, but upon his return to Kyoto he became Dainagon (chief councilor of state).
Hereditary stipend: about 500 koku; crest: the Juroku Hauragiku (16 leaves of reversed chrysanthemum)