Mikami Kagefumi (三上景文)
Kagefumi MIKAMI (October 16, 1789 - date of death unknown) was a government official who lived during the Edo period. His real surname was Sukune HATAUJI. He was a Jigenin (a lower rank of ancient Japanese nobility) and belonged to the Hokumen no bushi (The Imperial Palace Guards for the North Side). His last historically proven official rank was Yamato no kami (The Governor of Yamato Province) of Jushiinoge (Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade).
He compiled the Jigekaden (A Record of Family Trees of Jige, Lower Rank Court Officials)
Backgrounds
He was born as the second son of Yoshikiyo AWAZU, a low rank official serving the Arisugawanomiya family, on October 16, 1789 and had a childhood name of Takesaburo. On June 25, 1802, he was adopted by Kagehiro MIKAMI, a Hokumen no bushi, who was on his death-bed. On the death of Kagehiro, who passed away three days after the adoption proceedings, Kagefumi took over as head of the Mikami family at the age of 12.
His Achievements
While in middle age, Kagefumi decided to compile the family trees of lower rank court officials, which no one had ever embarked on before. In October 1842, he started writing after collecting resources and, one and a half years later on June 16, 1844, finished writing the book under the name of the Jigekaden (A record of family trees of Jige, lower rank court officials), which covered the names of successive family heads and their parents, their dates of birth and death, and the investiture history of lower rank court officials in Kyoto.
According to the 'Heian Jinbutsushi,' a directory of well-known people in Kyoto of the Edo period, Kagefumi lived in Koromonotana Shimochojamachi (present-day Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City) and well-versed in the Emondo (the traditional technique of dressing up for Junihitoe [a ceremonial Robe of a court lady]).
His Later Years
He and his wife, Nanigashi KIKKAWA, had one son and six daughters but his whereabouts, including the date of his death, after publishing the Jigekaden is unknown. In the revised edition of the Jigekaden published by Atsuo MASAMUNE during the Showa period, there is some record about Kagefumi in 1849, which implies that he was at least alive at that point. There is another description in the book that Shitago YAMAMOTO (later changed his name to 恭随, a Gotenni [a doctor working for the shogunate]), who was a son-in-law of Kagefumi's older brother, Yoshiki, succeeded to the Kagefumi's post of Yamato no kami during the Keio period, which implies that he might have died before that.