, in Japanese, refers to powerful regional families. In historical context, it can refer to powerful non-royal families regardless of their area of influence, in contrast to the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

. The most powerful ''gōzoku'' families of the Yamato period included the

Soga clan The was one of the most powerful aristocratic kin groups Uji (clan), (''uji'') of the Asuka period of the early Japanese state—the Yamato period, Yamato polity—and played a major role in the spread of Buddhism in Japan. Through the 5th and ...

, Mononobe clan and Katsuragi clan.

History

In the Yamato period prior to the ''ritsuryō'' system, the powerful clans based in Yamato Province and

Kawachi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in th ...

were referred to as the ''chūō gōzoku'' (central ''gōzoku''), while the term ''chihō'' ''gōzoku'' (regional ''gōzoku'') referred to powerful clans outside the immediate vicinity of the capital who served as '' kuni no miyatsuko'' and '' agatanushi''. The central ''gōzoku'' held '' kabane'' titles such as '' omi'' and '' muraji'', while the regional ''gōzoku'' held titles such as ''atai'' and '' kimi''. The most powerful ''daigōzoku'' ("great ''gōzoku''") included the Katsuragi clan, Ōtomo clan, Mononobe clan, and

. After the implementation of the ''ritsuryō'' system, the central ''gōzoku'' became ''kizoku'', the aristocracy, and took part in central politics. The regional ''gōzoku'' remained practically unchanged and took part in regional politics. Under the ''ritsuryō'' system, ''gōzoku'' referred to powerful regional families holding a court rank of Sixth Rank or below or who were unranked, in contrast to the royals and the aristocracy, who held a court rank of Fifth Rank or above. Under this system, the ''gōzoku'' typically served as district governors or as junior officials in provincial governments, and thus took on the duties of local administration. In the Middle Ages, ''gōzoku'' referred to a class of regional officials such as '' jitō'' (territory governor), ''shōkan'' (manor administrator) and ''geshi'' (junior official at a manor). However, after

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, the term ''gōzoku'' fell out of use and was replaced by the term ''dogō'', which referred to ''

jizamurai The were lower-ranking provincial samurai that emerged in 15th-century Japan Muromachi period. The definition was rather broad and the term ''jizamurai'' included landholding military aristocracy as well as independent peasant farmers. They alt ...

'' (provincial peasant-warrior in charge of a small rural domain), ''kumon'' (official at a manor in charge of official documents) and ''satanin'' (official at a manor in charge of executing orders and judgements on behalf of the lord). During and after the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, neither the terms ''gōzoku'' nor ''dogō'' were used. The terms '' gōnō'' and ''gōshō'' replaced the previous class distinction following the rise of wealthy farmers and wealthy merchants during the Edo period.

References

Japanese historical terms Kofun period Asuka period Japanese nobility Ancient Japan {{japan-history-stub

History

See also

References