The Kibi clan was a Japanese clan centered in

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

descended from the son of Emperor Kōrei.

Kibi no Makibi was a Japanese scholar and noble during the Nara period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Kibi no Makibi"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 512. Also known as . Early life Kibi no Makibi was born in Shimotsumichi County, Bitchu Province (present- ...

, the founder of Hiromine Shrine was a famous member. They had navigational authority over the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

. They had a prominent Iron manufacturing apparatus. They alternatively may descend from Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto who roughly ruled

. Kibidera in Sakurai is the clan temple of the clan.

Association with Kibitsu Shrine

The Kibitsu Shrine's rites are closely to the clan. The shrine's gods are the Kibi clan's ancestors who have become gods. These ancestors protect the Kibi area. The shrine started as a place for the Kibi clan. It has the clan's ancestors as gods. This gives the shrine a pure and protective feel. The ancestors are seen as good and helpful spirits. This is how the shrine connects with mizuko. Mizuko means the souls of babies who died early or were not born. The shrine places the mizuko shrine next to the ancestor shrine. It also uses running water. This setup has several meanings: # The water purifies the souls of mizuko. Mizuko is linked to water. # Being near the ancestor shrine suggests these souls become kind and protective spirits. # As protective spirits, the mizuko guard those who remember them. This way, the Kibitsu Shrine uses its ties to the Kibi clan. It creates a respectful place for mizuko. It links them to the shrine's ancestral and protective gods.

Harima Fudoki

The story of

Emperor Keikō , also known as and , was the 12th legendary Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the ''Kojiki'', and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Keikō's all ...

and Inami-no-Wakiiratsume in the Harima Fudoki shows the relationship between the Kibi clan and the

Yamato Kingship The was a tribal alliance centered on the Yamato Province, Yamato region (Nara Prefecture) from the 4th century to the 7th century, and ruled over the alliance of Nobility, noble families in the central and western parts of the Japanese archipe ...

. It suggests that the Inami area was once a border between the Yamato and Kibi regions. Inami-no-Wakiiratsume, a woman from Inami, is mentioned in several ancient texts. She is thought to be the younger sister of Oiratsume from the "Kojiki,". She might have been a queen in Harima. The Harima Fudoki does not mention Otarashihiko/Keiko as an emperor. Instead, Otarashihiko might have been a local leader in the Inami district of the Harima coast.

Kibi clan rebellion

The from 463 was a revolt against the

Yamato state The was a tribal alliance centered on the Yamato region (Nara Prefecture) from the 4th century to the 7th century, and ruled over the alliance of noble families in the central and western parts of the Japanese archipelago. The age is from th ...

on the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

, involving two brothers from the Kibi clan: Tasa and Oto. . The revolt was triggered when Tasa learned that the Japanese

Emperor Yūryaku (417/18 – 479) was the 21st Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. According to the ''Kojiki'', this Emperor is said to have ruled from the Thirteenth Day of the Eleventh Month of 456 ( Heishin) until his death on ...

had moved him to the Japanese post at

Mimana Mimana (), also transliterated as Imna according to the Korean pronunciation, is the name used primarily in the 8th-century Japanese text '' Nihon Shoki'', likely referring to one of the Korean states of the time of the Gaya confederacy (c. 1st– ...

on the Korean Peninsula in order to seize his beautiful wife. The incident falls into Japan's proto-historic period and is recounted in the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

''.

Decline

In 713, at the suggestion of ''Bizen-no-kami'' Nanten - and ''Bizen-no-suke'' Kamitsukeno-no-Kenji the Eita, Katsuta, Tomata, Kume, Mashima, and Oba districts of

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

were separated into a new province, and, and Kamitsukeno-no-Kenji was appointed as the first governor of

Mimasaka Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is northern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan. Mimasaka bordered Bitchū Province, Bitchū, Bizen Province, Bizen, Harima Province, Harima, Hōki Province, Hō ...

. This separation was the final stage of the disintegration of the former Kingdom of Kibi, and was intended to further weaken the Kibi clan by putting its iron resources directly under the control of the

imperial government The name imperial government () denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521, in the Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes. Both were composed of the empero ...

In Popular culture

The Kibi clan features in

Age of Empires ''Age of Empires'' is a series of historical real-time strategy video games, originally developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. The first title in the series, ''Age of Empires'', focused on events in Europe, Afri ...

as an enemy faction alongside the Izumo clan.

Genealogy

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* {{Kibi clan Japanese mythology Kibi clan History of Okayama Prefecture