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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Japanese (no longer common); an important priestly, noble clan in ancient Japan, and the ancestral name of the greatest clan of classical times, the <xref>Fujiwara</xref>. Listed in the Shinsen shōjiroku, the name originally was Naka-tsu-omi : ‘minister of the center’, denoting an ancient, hereditary office as intermediary between men and deities. The clan claimed descent from Ame no Koyane, a son of the deity Takamimusubi and a companion of the mythical hero Ninigi. Nakatomi no Kamako (mid 6th century) was a leader of the faction opposing the importation of the Buddhist religion, which was sponsored by the Soga clan. Kamako’s great-grandson, Kamatari, was a key figure in the downfall of the Soga and, as founder of the Fujiwara clan, the principal architect of his family’s greatness.

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