Omiya Nagaoki (大宮長興)
Nagaoki OMIYA (1412 - December 5, 1499) was a government official (of low to medium rank) in the late Muromachi period. He was a family head of the Omiya-Kanmu family, the line of Otsuki clan. His original name was Tokishige. His pseudonym was Kiyaken, and later Bunketsuken. His Buddhist name was Jukan. He was a son of Tameo OMIYA. One of his sons was Tokimoto OMIYA.
In 1431, he was appointed Sadaishi (First Secretary of the Left), head of "shi" (an officer who recorded and made official documents) of the Ritsuryo system (a system of centralized government based on the ritsuryo code). He objected and made a direct appeal to the Muromachi Bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) that the Mibu-Kanmu family exclusively possessed the official position of kanmu and, despite his superiority, he had not been appointed. As a result, he was appointed the kanmu, Uji no Choja (a common clan chieftain) of the Ozuki clan on March, 1445. However, Asateru MIBU of the Mibu-Kanmu family strongly this appointment; accordingly, in November Nagaoki was deprived of his position of Uji no choja and the kanmu. From then, Nagaoki and Asateru continued to antagonize each other for a long time. Nagaoki tried to oppose the Mibu-Kanmu family by serving the Konoe family and the Ichijo family as Keishi (household superintendent) and maintaining a relationship with the Muromachi Bakufu.
Thereafter, the kanmu was handed from Asateru MIBU to Nagaoki OMIYA, and then in 1465 it was handed from Nagaoki OMIYA back to Asateru MIBU. At that time, in 1456, he was appointed Shoshiinojo (Senior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade).
In the Onin War, Kanbunko (a library of the clan) of the Omiya family, which had been in Tsuchimikado Omiya, was burnt down. Moreover, ancient documents which had been moved to Byodo-in Temple, Uji City for evacuation were missed amid the confusion of the war. The duty of the kanmu had been mainly to carry out ceremonies and public affairs and to investigate the required precedents; therefore, the loss of archives and ancient documents that could be the source of precedents concstituted critical damage for Omiya family.
In 1478, Nagaoki was appointed to the Jibusho (the Ministry of Civil Administration). He became the first member of the Otsuki clan to become kyo (minister). In 1486, he became a priest and called himself Jukan, titled Bunketsuken, and assisted Tokimoto OMIYA, his son. However, the disparities between the Omiya family and the Mibu family, which had managed to reserve their own archives after the Onin War, had widened more and more. He died at the age of 86.
He was very knowledgable about Yusoku kojitsu (court and samurai rules of ceremony and etiquette) and his diary titled "Nagaoki sukuneki" has been handed down up to date, although almost of his writings were lost in the Onin War. After his death, the Omiya-Kanmu family declined rapidly and disappeared 52 years later.