The is a Japanese aristocratic family, a branch of the Minamoto clan that traces its descent from

Emperor Murakami was the 62nd emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 村上天皇 (62)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Murakami's reign spanned the years from 946 to his death in 967. Biography Before he ascended to ...

. The Koga lineage was classified as ''

kuge The was a Japanese aristocratic 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 century until the rise of the Kamakur ...

'' prior to 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, then as a ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' lineage.

Name

The name Koga is composed of the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

meaning 'long time' (久) and 'I/self' (我). 'Koga' is the on'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading) of the kanji. But actually 久我 is the ateji (当て字; phonetic-equivalent cv characters) for 陸 (koga; an obsolete word for ''land''). The name is recorded as having originated with the grandfather of the family's founder,

Chancellor of the Realm Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Minamoto no Morofusa ( :ja:源師房), who owned a manor in the south-western suburbs of Kyoto at Koga (modern Fushimi-ku). As a result, he was referred to as the Koga-Chancellor. After the family's apparent founding, however, neither Minamoto no Masazane's ( :ja:源雅実) son nor his great-grandson were referred to by the name Koga. Strictly speaking, therefore, the 'Koga family' refers to the lineage descended from Minamoto no Masazane's great-great-grandson,

Koga Michiteru Koga Michiteru (久我通光, ''Koga Michiteru'', 1187 - 1248) was a ''waka'' poet and Japanese nobleman active in the early Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially esta ...

, whereas those before should be considered as members of the Nakanoin section of the

Murakami Genji was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...

branch of the Minamoto clan.

Overview

The

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...

of the Koga is an artistic representation of the roxanne Autumn Bellflower (''

Gentiana scabra ''Gentiana scabra'', the Japanese gentian, is a species of flowering plant in the Gentian family (Gentianaceae Gentianaceae is a family of flowering plants of 103 genera and about 1600 species. Etymology The family takes its name from the gen ...

'' var. buergeri). During the

, the head of the Koga family was given the title of marquis (侯爵 kōshaku) as part of the

, the hereditary peerage that combined the

and the ''

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 n ...

''. One of the responsibilities of the Koga family was to be the protectors of the

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

at court.''Japan: A Short Cultural History'', p.362, G. B. Sansom, 1931 The Koga family was highly regarded as one of the most successful clans throughout the Meiji period. There is still a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

shrine named Koga jinja (久我神社) in Fushimi district,

Kyoto City Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city ...

. The present master, Tomomichi Koga (久我誠通), is the owner of an art salon in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Notable members

Minamoto no Michichika was a Japanese noble and statesman of the late Heian period and early Kamakura period. Serving in the courts of seven different emperors, he brought the Murakami Genji to the peak of their success. He is also commonly known as , and in Sōtō Ze ...

, twelfth century statesman *

, eleventh–twelfth century '' waka'' poet *

Lady Nijō (1258 – after 1307) was a Japanese noblewoman, poet and author. She was a concubine of Emperor Go-Fukakusa from 1271 to 1283, and later became a Buddhist nun. After years of travelling, around 1304–07 she wrote a memoir, ''Towazugatari'' ("An ...

, thirteenth century author * Yoshiko Kuga, actress

References

Notes

Works cited

*{{cite book, last=Okano 岡野, first=Tomohiko 友彦, title=中世久我家と久我家領荘園, language=Japanese, trans-title=The Medieval Kuga family and the Kuga family manor, publisher=Zokugunshoruijū kansei-kai, date=2002, isbn=978-4-7971-0738-8 * Takie Sugiyama Lebra, ''Above the Clouds'', 1993 * Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, "Imperial Sovereignty in Early Modern Japan", ''Journal of Japanese Studies'', Vol. 17, No. 1 (Winter 1991), pp. 25–57

External links

Koga Kamon
– the emblem (kamon) of the Koga family Japanese clans Minamoto clan