{{Infobox Japanese clan , surname nihongo = 西園寺家 , home province =

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the '' Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyoto it ...

, parent house =

Northern Fujiwara The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.

, titles =

Rokuhara Tandai was the post of the chiefs of the Kamakura shogunate in imperial capital Kyoto whose agency, the , kept responsibility for security in Kinai and judicial affairs on western Japan, and negotiated with the Imperial Court in Kyoto, imperial court. ...

Genrō
Kantō Mōshitsugi

Udaijin was a government position in Japan during the Asuka to Meiji era. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 701. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the ''Udaijin'' in the context of a central administrat ...

Sadaijin The ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, was a government position in Japan during the Asuka to Meiji era. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the ''Sadaijin'' in the context of a cent ...

, founder =Saionji Michisue , final ruler = , current head = , founding year =12th century , ruled until =1871 (

Abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

) The Saionji family (西園寺家, ''Saionji-ke'') was a Japanese ''

kuge The was a Japanese Aristocracy (class), aristocratic Social class, class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th ce ...

'' (court aristocrat) family related to the

branch of the

Fujiwara clan The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

and the Imadegawa clan. The family's name was taken from that of the family's formal residence in

, and its '' kamon'' (crest) was a '' tomoe''.

History

The family was descended from Saionji Michisue (1090–1128), son of Fujiwara no Kinzane. In the time of Michisue's great-grandson Saionji Kintsune (1171–1244),

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

's niece was married into the Saionji family, thus giving the Kamakura ''shōguns'' of the

Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...

some influence in, and protection from, the Imperial Court. Members of the Saionji family began to be appointed '' Kantō Mōshitsugi'', acting alongside the ''

'' to manage communications and relations between the shogunate and the Court. This began the family's rise to important Court positions, including posts as high as '' dajō-daijin'' (Chancellor of the Realm). Ever since Kintsune's time, the family, with the support of the Kamakura shogunate, could exert influence over even the Imperial regents, the

Sesshō and Kampaku In Japan, was a regent who was named to act on behalf of either a child emperor before his coming of age, or an empress regnant. The was theoretically a sort of chief advisor for the Emperor, but was in practice the title of both first secre ...

. The family made its formal residence in the Kitayama (northern mountains) area of Kyoto; the residence was likewise called Saionji, meaning "Western Garden Temple". Thus the family came to be sometimes known as the Lords of Kitayama; when

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the third '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu ...

became ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'' in 1368, he co-opted the site for his Kinkakuji, thus laying some claim to a connection to the Saionji and to their prestige as Lords of Kitayama. Saionji Sanekane joined the family to the Daikaku-ji line of the Imperial family, having become involved with the daughter of Emperor Go-Daigo or Emperor Kameyama and siring a son, Saionji Kinhira. Several decades later, in the time of Saionji Kinmune, the Kamakura shogunate came to an end, and the Saionji were dismissed from their post as ''Kantō Mōshitsugi''. Kinmune helped hide the persecuted Hōjō Yasuie and, in the wake of the death of Emperor Go-Daigo, helped plot to set Emperor Go-Fushimi on the throne. His schemes revealed by his younger brother Saionji Kinshige, Kinmune was arrested and executed. During the

Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...

(1336–1392) which followed, in which the two Imperial lines jousted for power, Kinmune's son Saionji Sanetoshi served the

Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. Even though the present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the ...

as Minister of the Right (''

''), restoring the prestige of the family's name. A Saionji family is known to have existed in

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 ...

(1600–1868) Kyoto, as producers of ''

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime durin ...

''. Saionji Saneharu was made Minister of the Left (''

''), and gained influence and some financial support through connections to the Hosokawa and Nagaoka clans. Towards the end of the Edo period,

Saionji Kinmochi Kazoku, Prince was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1906 to 1908, and from 1911 to 1912. As the last surviving member of the ''genrō'', the group of senior statesmen who had directed pol ...

was adopted into the family from the closely related Tokudaiji branch of the Fujiwara clan. Kinmochi lived through the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, becoming one of the '' genrō'', or elder statesmen who were a part of the original Meiji government at its beginning. He subsequently held a number of Cabinet posts, becoming

Prime Minister of Japan The is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

in 1906. As members of the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (''Daimyo, daimyō'') and court nobles (''kuge'') into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distin ...

'' (Western-style system of

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

), the Saionji maintained a considerable degree of prestige, and continued to be close to the world of politics, through the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when the ''kazoku'' were dissolved. The family continues today, and Saionji remains now an uncommon Japanese surname.

Family members of note

* Saionji Michisue (1090–1128) * Saionji Kintsune (1171–1244) * Saionji Kinuji (1194–1269) * Saionji Sanekane Saionji Kinhira - Heart Sutra of the Divine Incantation of Amoghapasa - Google Art Project

Saionji Kinhira - Heart Sutra of the Divine Incantation of Amoghapasa - Google Art Project

* Saionji Kinhira (1264–1315) * Saionji Reishi (1292–1357) * Saionji Kinmune (1310–1335) * Saionji Kinshige * Saionji Sanetoshi * Saionji Sanemitsu (1510–1565) * Saionji Kinhiro (1537–1587), ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' * Saionji Saneharu (1601–1673) *

(1849–1940, adopted in 1851), statesman * Saionji Saneuji

Empresses from the Saionji family

During the 13th and 14th centuries, 5 or 6 female members of the family became the Empress of Japan. * Saionji Kisshi (1225–1292) - consort of

Emperor Go-Saga was the 88th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This reign spanned the years Kamakura period, 1242 through 1246. This 13th-century monarch, sovereign was named after the 9th-century Emperor Saga and ''go-'' (後 ...

(88th) * Saionji Kinshi/Kimiko (1232–1304) - consort of Emperor Go-Fukakusa (89th) * Saionji Kishi/Yoshiko (1252–1318) - consort of Emperor Kameyama (90th) * Saionji Shōshi (1271–1342) - consort of Emperor Fushimi (92nd). She was a poet of the Kyōgoku school. * Saionji Kishi/Sachiko (?–1333) - consort of Emperor Go-Daigo (96th). She was a poet of the Nijō school. * (A daughter of Saionji Kinshige?) (?–?) - presumably consort of

Emperor Chōkei was the 98th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned from 1368 through 1383. His personal name was Yutanari (寛成) and his regal name roughly translates to "Long Celebration". Genealogy His father was ...

(98th). She was a poet of the Nijō school.

References

*Sansom, George (1958). ''A History of Japan to 1334''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp405-6ff. *Sansom, George (1961). ''A History of Japan: 1334–1615''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Kuge Kazoku Japanese merchants