, also read as "kokuzō" or "kunitsuko", were officials in

ancient Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new invent ...

at the time of the

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

court.

Yamato period

Kuni no miyatsuko governed small territories (), although the location, names, and borders of the provinces remain unclear. Kuni no miyatsuko were appointed by and remained under the jurisdiction of the Yamato Court, but over time the position became hereditary. Kuni no miyatsuko carried

kabane were Japanese hereditary noble titles. Their use traces back to ancient times when they began to be used as titles signifying a family's political and social status. History As the national unification by the Yamato imperial court progressed ...

honoric names bestowed by the Yamato Court, commonly "kimi" (君) or "atae" (直). Prestigious Kuni no miyatsuko were called "omi" (臣).

Taika Reform

The office of kuni no miyatsuko was abolished in the

Taika Reform The were a set of doctrines established by Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting Japan ...

s in 645 and the former administrative ‘’kuni’’ provinces were formally reorganized under the

ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' (� ...

system. The provinces became ruled by new officials called kuni no mikotomochi, or more commonly, . The kuni no miyatsuko continued to be appointed after the Taika Reform, generally to the office of . Gunji were appointed from powerful regional kuni no miyatsuko families, appointed for life, and the position became hereditary. The Kuni no miyatsuko were now in charge of spiritual and religious affairs, specifically the

Shintō 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 ''Shintoist ...

rites of each province. These religious officials became known as , or "new" kuni no miyatsuko. The kuni no miyatsuko, now in the office of gunji, often sided with peasants against the ruling kokushi elite. The gunji position, however, was abolished with the establishment of the shōen system in the early Heian period. A few kuni no miyatsuko clans retained influence after the Taika reform, such as the of

Izumo Province was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent an ...

in present-day eastern

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

References

Ancient Japan {{Japan-hist-stub