Nanbu clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan originating in northern Japan, specifically Mutsu Province (the northeast coast of Honshū). The Nanbu claimed descent from the Minamoto clan, and its members first enter the historical record as residents of Kai Province during the Kamakura period. The clan later moved to Mutsu. In the Sengoku period, the clan frequently clashed with its neighbors, including the Tsugaru clan, one of its branches which declared independence. The Nanbu clan was on the winning side of the Battle of Sekigahara, and entered the Edo period as the lordly (daimyo) family of the Morioka Domain. Over the course of the Edo period, several branch families were established, each of which received its own fief.

During the Boshin War of 1868-69, the Nanbu clan and its branches fought on the side of the Ouetsu Reppan Domei, the northern alliance of domains. After the collapse of the alliance, the Nanbu clan had much of its land confiscated, and in 1871, the heads of its branches were relieved of office. In the Meiji era, they became part of the new nobility. The main Nanbu line survives to the present day; its current head, Toshiaki Nanbu, is the chief priest of Yasukuni Shrine.

Origins

The Nanbu clan claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji, via the Takeda clan of Kai Province. Minamoto no Mitsuyuki, the great-great grandson of Minamoto no Yoshimitsu, was the first to take the Nanbu name, after the...
Read More