The was a cadet 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 ...
of Japan.
History
It was founded by
Fujiwara no Umakai
was a Japanese statesman, courtier, general and politician during the Nara period.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Umakai" in ; Brinkley, Frank ''et al.'' (1915). The third son of Fujiwara no Fuhito, he founded the Shikike ...
, i.e., one of the four great houses of the Fujiwara, founded by the so-called , who were sons of
Fujiwara no Fuhito.
The
epithet
An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
derives from the fact that the founder Umakai held the office of , or the head of the .
[Brinkley, ; excerpt, "Muchimaro's home, being in the south (''nan'') of the capital, was called ''Nan-ke''; Fusazaki's, being in the north (''hoku''), was termed ''Hoku-ke''; Umakai's was spoken of as ''Shiki-ke'', since he presided over the Department of Ceremonies (''Shiki''), and Maro's went by the name of ''Kyō-ke'', this term also having reference to his office."] Thus, ''Shiki-ke'' may be translated the "Ceremonials House."
The other branches were the
Fujiwara Nan-ke (the eldest brother
Muchimaro's line),
Fujiwara Hok-ke (
Fusasaki's line), and the
Fujiwara Kyō-ke (
Fujiwara no Maro
was a Japanese statesman, courtier, and politician during the Nara period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Umakai" in ; Brinkley, Frank. (1915). Maro established the Kyōke branch of the Fujiwara clan.
Career
Maro was a m ...
's line).
[
Umakai's son mounted a ]rebellion
Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
named after his name in 740, which ended with suppression and his death, spelling ill-fortune for the Shikike. The Nanke then gained hegemony again (back from the non-Fujiwara Tachibana no Moroe) until Nakamaro mounted his own uprising.
Shikike came into ascendancy with Fujiwara no Momokawa.[ The notorious who enticed and held sway over ]Emperor Heizei
, also known as ''Heijō-tennō'', was the 51st emperor of Japan, Emperor Heizei, Yamamomo Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional order of succession. Heizei's reign lasted from 806 to 809.
Traditional nar ...
is also of the Shikike clan.
See also
* ''Gosanke
The , also called simply , or even , were the most noble three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan: Owari, Kii, and Mito, all of which were descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu, and Yorifusa ...
''
Notes
References
* Brinkley, Frank and Dairoku Kikuchi. (1915). ''A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era.'' New York: Encyclopædia Britannica
OCLC 413099
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 58053128
Fujiwara clan
Japanese clans
{{Japan-hist-stub