Murakuni no Komushi (村国子虫)
MURAKUNI no Komushi (year of birth and death unknown) was a figure who lived during Japan's Nara period. His name is also read the same way when written with the the old kana orthography. His kabane (hereditary title) was Muraji. In 740, he accompanied Emperor Shomu on his imperial sojourn to Ise Province.
The Murakuni clan was the most powerful local family in the Kakami district of Mino Province, and thanks to MURAKUNI no Oyori winning distinction in the fighting during the Jinshin War (of 672), their fame appears to have grown enough to be known to the Imperial Court. Komushi is thought to have been a descendant of Oyori's, but his actual genealogy remains unknown.
In the first month of 739, Komushi was promoted from Shorokuinojo (Senior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade) to Ge-jugoinoge (Jugoinoge [Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade] given to persons outside Kyoto). One other member of the Murakuni clan, namely Oyori's son MURAKUNI no Shigamaro, was also a court official and appears before Komushi in the historical sources; the final mention of Shigamaro is an article in the "Shoku Nihongi" which notes that he was promoted to Jugoinojo (Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade) in 731. In the historical record, Komushi appears to have taken Shigamaro's place at court.
In 740, in the middle of FUJIWARA no Hirotsugu's Revolt, Emperor Shomu suddenly made an imperial sojourn to Ise Province. MURAKUNI no Komushi accompanied the Emperor, and separately from the promotions given out to the Emperor's attendants on the occasion of the Emperor's departure on the eighteenth day of the twelfth month, Komushi was promoted to Ge-jugoinoge. Nothing beyond these few facts is known of Komushi.