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Everywhere in Japan, there are prestigious families known as " local celebrities ." It is not uncommon for people to say, "We are just an ordinary family," but if you trace their ancestry closely, you will find that they are actually descended from a distinguished samurai family.
In this article, we look into the surnames of famous families in Fukushima Prefecture. If you have ever had a classmate with a surname like that, it's possible that they actually come from a good family.
30 Surnames Connected to Distinguished Families in Fukushima Prefecture ( in Alphabetical Order)
Fukushima Prefecture's noble families include the Ashina clan, the Date clan, and the Satake clan of Hitachi Province (present-day Ibaraki Prefecture), who were powerful feudal lords during the Sengoku period, as well as the Aizu clan and the lords of small domains scattered throughout Fukushima Prefecture during the Edo period.It seems that many of the families have their roots in the samurai.
Akita
The lord of Miharu Domain. He is said to be a descendant of the Ando clan, a feudal lord in the Mutsu and Dewa regions during the Sengoku period, and also Abe Sadato, , but the truth of this is unknown.
Originally a powerful clan in Tsugaru, they skillfully used sea routes to control what is now Akita, Aomori, and the area around Hakodate in Hokkaido, and also had a pirate-like side. They were separated into the Hiyama Ando clan and the Minato Ando clan for a time, but during the reign of Ando Yoshiki, the two families were reunited and renamed the Akita clan, with .
After the Battle of Sekigahara, he moved to Shishido, Hitachi Province (present-day Kasama City, Ibaraki Prefecture), and was transferred again to Miharu, Mutsu Province (present-day Miharu Town, Fukushima Prefecture) in 1645. He is also famous for creating the Miharu doll,
The Miura clan originated in Ashina, Miura County, Sagami Province (present-day Ashina, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture), and was a member of the Miura clan. The clan began when they were granted a fief in Aizu in recognition of their meritorious service in the Oshu Wars under Minamoto no Yoritomo. During the reign of the 16th head of the family, Ashina Moriuji, they came to dominate the entire Aizu region, establishing the Ashina clan's largest territory.
During the time of the 20th head of the family, Ashina Yoshihiro, he was defeated by Date Masamune in the Battle of Suriagehara and took refuge with the Satake clan in Hitachi.He then briefly obtained territory in Hitachi and returned to being a daimyo, but after the Battle of Sekigahara his territory was confiscated and he followed Satake Yoshinobu to Dewa (present-day Akita Prefecture).
As a retainer of the Satake clan, he was given 16,000 koku of land in Kakunodate Castle in Dewa Province, but the family line became extinct when the last head of the family, Ashina Chizurumaru, died in an accident at the age of three.
Later, the Hariu clan, a branch of the Ashina family, served the Date clan and reverted to the Ashina surname.
The lord of Tanagura Domain (present-day Higashishirakawa District, Fukushima Prefecture). The family served the Tokugawa Shogunate for generations, and the 16th lord, Abe Masakiyo, was transferred from Mutsu Shirakawa (100,000 koku) to Tanagura (100,000 koku) in 1866.
During the Boshin War, the clan participated in the Oshu-Uetsu Alliance, but was defeated. It was temporarily abolished, but was re-established in Tanagura in 1868 (with its fief reduced to around 40,000-60,000 koku).
Ando
Lord of the Iwakidaira Domain. A member of the Ando clan, descended from the Tsushima no Kami clan, who were transferred from the Mino Kano Domain in 1758.
The most famous of all the feudal lords was the fifth lord, Ando Nobumasa , who led the shogunate government as a senior councilor after the Sakuradamon Incident.
During the Boshin War, he joined the Oshu-Uetsu Alliance and fought against the new government forces. He was defeated in the battle for Iwakidaira Castle, which was burned down. After the Meiji Restoration, Nobumasa was forced to undergo house arrest, but was released from permanent house arrest in 1869 (Meiji 2) and became a viscount in 1884.
Ishikawa
He was a feudal lord in Ishikawa County, Mutsu Province (present-day Ishikawa County, Fukushima Prefecture) for many years, but was stripped of his title in 1590 during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Oshu Shioki. He became a senior retainer of the Date clan, and during the Edo period held the top position within the Sendai domain
After the Meiji Restoration, he attempted to develop Hokkaido but failed. He later served as the mayor of Kakuda Town (present-day Kakuda City, Miyagi Prefecture).
Since the Sengoku period, generations of the Itakura clan have served the Matsudaira clan, and during the Edo period, the four Itakura families served as fudai daimyo, becoming lords of the Bitchu Matsuyama (Takahashi) domain, the Kozuke Annaka domain, the Mutsu Fukushima domain, and the Bitchu Niwase domain, respectively.
In 1702, the Itakura clan of Shigemasa lineage became the lord of Fukushima Domain with 30,000 koku of land. During the time of the 14th head, Katsumi Itakura, the clan joined the Oshu League of Feudal Domains, but was defeated by the new government forces and was transferred to Shigehara in Mikawa. Later, in 1884, the clan was made a viscount.
Ibuka
A prestigious family of the Aizu domain known as the Nine Aizu
Ibuka Shigemitsu, a senior vassal of the Hoshina family since the Sengoku period and a chief retainer of the Hoshina family, was one of the seven people allowed to attend the burial ceremony at the time of Hoshina Masayuki's funeral. Another Ibuka Takuemon Shigeyoshi, who .
Masaru Ibuka, one of the founders of Sony, is said to be a descendant of the Aizu Ibuka family.
Inawashiro
The family was a branch of the Aizu clan and a branch of the Ashina clan. It began when Tsunetsugu, the eldest son of Moritsune Sahara of the Sahara clan, a branch of the Miura clan, lived in Inawashiro and called himself the Inawashiro clan. In the Battle of Suriagehara, in which the Ashina clan was defeated by the Date clan, Morikuni, the father, sided with the Date clan, while Moritane, the son, sided with the Ashina clan, and the two fought against each other.
After being defeated, Moritane fled to Hitachi with the Ashina clan, and his father, Morikuni, served the Date clan as a samurai of the Sendai domain until the end of the Edo period.
There is a theory that the paternal family of Hideyo Noguchi, a famous physician and bacteriologist, the Kohiyama clan
Iwaki
A Sengoku period daimyo from Iwaki County, Mutsu Province (present-day Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture).
During the reign of the 11th head of the Iwaki clan, Tsunetaka, the clan became subordinate to the Satake clan, and during the reign of the 15th head, Shigetaka, conflicts with the neighboring Soma and Tamura clans intensified. Shigetaka married his daughter, Princess Kubo, to Date Harumune, and adopted Date's eldest son, Chikataka, as his heir.
The 17th head of the family, Tsunetaka, participated in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Odawara Campaign and survived the Oshu Shioki, but later died of illness. His son, Masataka, was still a child, so Satake Yoshishige's third son, Sadataka, succeeded the Iwaki clan.
Later, Masataka, the heir to the Iwaki family, served the the clan, taking the name Iwayado Date . Sadataka, who inherited the Iwaki family, was stripped of his title for not participating in the Battle of Sekigahara, but was reinstated as a minor feudal lord in Nakamura, Shinano Province, with a fief of 10,000 koku, and later became the lord of Kameda Domain in Dewa Province (present-day Iwaki Kameda, Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture), with a fief of 20,000 koku.
A wealthy merchant who called himself Omiya in Segamijuku, Shinobu County (present-day Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture). The eighth head of the family, Nagatoshi, handed over the family headship at an early age of 40 and went to study in Wakayama. After returning to Japan, he founded the Michinoku Shachu and became active as a scholar of Japanese classics.
Ouchi
A local lord from the eastern part of Adachi County, Mutsu Province (present-day Adachi County, Fukushima Prefecture). Ouchi Sadatsuna, .
After gaining independence from the Tamura clan, he repeatedly submitted to and betrayed the neighboring powerful forces due to his small power, but eventually returned to the Date clan. When Date Masamune was transferred to Iwadeyama Castle, he became the lord of Maesawa Castle in Isawa County (present-day Iwate Prefecture) and was given a fief of approximately 10,000 koku.
During the Battle of Sekigahara, he served as the caretaker of the Date residence in Kyoto, and was later granted family status as a member of the Date clan
Kaketa
They were local lords from Date County, Mutsu Province (present-day Date City, Fukushima Prefecture). They were based in Kakenda Castle in Ryozen, Date County, and were subordinate to the Date clan during the Sengoku period, but they sided with Tanemune in the Tenbun Rebellion, a conflict between father and son Date Tanemune and Harumune, and were defeated, leading to the abandonment of Kakenda Castle.
He later rebelled against Harumune, but was defeated and was beheaded along with his eldest son, and the Kenda clan was wiped out.
Katoda
A local lord from Shirakawa County, Mutsu Province (present-day Shirakawa City, Fukushima Prefecture).
The family was a branch of the main Shirakawa Yuki clan, and four generations after Toshishige, the second son of Yuki Akitomo, the third head of the Shirakawa Yuki clan, Shigetsugu ruled Kawatoda-go, built Kawatoda Castle (Tennokan), and is said to have taken the name Kawatoda.
He fought against the Satake clan but was defeated and had his castle taken away from him. He later served the Date clan and became a samurai of the Sendai domain during the Edo period.
Kanagami
A branch of the Ashina clan, a feudal lord during the Sengoku period whose base was in the upper reaches of the Agano River in Kawanuma County, Mutsu Province and Kambara County, Echigo Province.
The most famous figure was the 15th head of the family during the Sengoku period Kanagami Moriharuthe "Regent of Ashina" , but was defeated and killed by Date Masamune in the Battle of Suriagehara. The family served the Date clan and became samurai of the Sendai domain during the Edo period.
Kayano
This was a prominent family of the Aizu clan, and they had been called Gonbei for generations. One of the most famous was Kayano Nagaharu , a chief retainer of the Aizu clan at the end of the Edo period, who was executed as the person responsible for the Aizu clan's defeat in the Boshin War.
Naganobu was a successor to the Itto-ryu Mizoguchi school, and it is said that before his execution he used fire tongs to teach , "The Secret Sword of the Left and Right Turning."
A wealthy merchant in Wakamatsu Castle (present-day Aizu-Wakamatsu City). When Gamo Ujisato was transferred to Aizu, he contributed to the development of the castle town and became a town elder. During the Edo period, the family split into two branches: the main family in Omachi and the branch family in Babamachi.
Saigo
The Saigo family originally began with Hoshina Masakatsu, and is a branch of the Hoshina family that continued from Masakatsu's older brother, Hoshina Masanao, the lord of Takato Domain in Shinshu, to Hoshina Masayuki, the first lord of the Aizu Domain.
For generations, they served as chief retainers of the Aizu domain, and Chikafusa, the fourth generation from Masakatsu, reverted to his family's surname of Saigo, becoming the first head of the Aizu Saigo family.
Saigo Tanomo, a chief retainer of the Aizu clan during the late Edo period, is famous. Furthermore, his adopted Shiro , was counted among the four great judo masters of the Kodokan and is also famous for being the model for the character "Sanshiro Sugata."
Shimanuki
a rice in Segamijuku, Shinobu County (present-day Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture) . He later his name to Daikokuya and switched to finance and sake brewing.
The family home, built in the 1890s, was designated a nationally registered tangible cultural property in 2013.
Officially known as the Shirakawa Yuki clan, it is a branch of the Shimousa Yuki clan, and is also called the Shirakawa clan or the Mutsu Yuki clan to distinguish it from the main family.
Yuki Sukehiro , a vassal of the Kamakura period, moved to Shirakawa-sho. During the time of Akitomo, the third head of the Shirakawa Yuki clan, the territory was divided between the brothers, and his younger brother, Tomotsune, was given Komine Castle and took the name Komineshi.
During the Sengoku period, the Shirakawa clan was constantly in conflict with the clans of the Yuki and Komine clans. Furthermore, the clan gradually declined under the influence of the Satake clan and was eventually abolished by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Oshu Shioki.
His descendants include the Akita Shirakawa clan, which is a lineage of Tomotsuna, the son of the 11th head of the Shirakawa Yuki clan and who served the Akita Satake clan, and the Sendai Shirakawa clan, which is a lineage of Komine Yoshichika, the 12th head of the Shirakawa Yuki clan.
Soma
A Sengoku period daimyo from Soma County, Mutsu Province (present-day Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture).
It is said that the founder of the family was Chiba Tsunetane, the second son of Chiba Tsunetane, a vassal of the Kamakura period, who ruled Soma County in Shimousa Province (present-day Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture to the area around Toride City, Ibaraki Prefecture) and named the area Soma.
He distinguished himself in the Oshu War in 1189 and was awarded Namegata County in Mutsu Province (around Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture) by Minamoto no Yoritomo. However, it is believed that he actually moved there in 1323 during the reign of Soma Shigetane
Shigetane built Odaka Castle in Odaka, Namegata County (Odaka Ward, Minamisoma City) and made it his base, becoming the ancestor of the Oshu Soma clan.
He repeatedly competed for power with the Date clan, and was stripped of his domain after the Battle of Sekigahara for not participating, but in 1602, following the celebration of the birth of Tokugawa Iemitsu, Yoshitane's son Toshitane was granted his original domain.
He served as the governor of the domain until the abolition of the feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in 1871, and was a rare military commander who essentially ruled a country without ever changing his territory for nearly 550 years since he moved there in 1323.
The lord of Shimotedowata Domain (present-day Date City, Fukushima Prefecture).
The Tachibana family of the Miike Domain (present-day Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture) lost a political battle and was demoted to Shimotedowashi in Date County, Mutsu Province in 1806, establishing the domain with a fief of 10,000 koku.
After the Meiji Restoration, the family returned to the Miike domain, became a viscount family, and produced members of the House of Peers.
Date
A Sengoku daimyo from Mutsu.
The name Date was first used when Date Tomomune, a vassal of the shogunate during the Kamakura period, was awarded Date County in Mutsu Province (present-day Date City, Fukushima Prefecture) in recognition of his achievements in conquering Sato Motoharu of Shinobu County (present-day Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture) during the Oshu War, and was given the name Date; before that, he is said to have called himself Nakamura.
During the reign of the 15th head of the family, Date Harumune, the family moved its base to Yonezawa Castle (present-day Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture), and during the reign of the 17th head of the family, Date Masamune , the family defeated the Nihonmatsu City and Ashina clans, and established the largest territory of the Date clan, subjugating the Tohoku daimyo such as Osaki, Tamura, Ishikawa, and Shirakawa.
Later, under Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Oshu Shioki, he moved his base to Iwadeyama (present-day Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture), and after the Battle of Sekigahara, he moved to Sendai in 1601. During the Edo period, he became the lord of the Sendai domain
a descendant of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro , famous as the Shogun of Sincerity, but there are various theories. He expanded his power by claiming to be Tamura and attacking the Ito, Nikaido, and Ishikawa clans. He is also famous as the family of Princess Aiko, the wife of Date Masamune.
The Tamura clan was stripped of its territory due to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Oshu Punishment, but later Muneyoshi, the third son of Date Tadamune, the second lord of the Sendai domain, restored the Tamura clan and became the future lord of Ichinoseki domain.
A Sengoku period daimyo from Sukagawa, Mutsu Province (present-day Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture).
Around 1444, Nikaido Tameuji came down from Kamakura to Sukagawa, killed the Sukagawa magistrate Nikaido Jibu-no-taifu who had stopped following orders, and entered Sukagawa Castle, which is said to be the first head of the Sukagawa Nikaido clan.
He became a Sengoku daimyo with Sukagawa Castle as his base, but was attacked and captured by Date Masamune in 1589. At the time, the head of the Nikaido clan had died young, and Masamune's aunt, Anami, acted as acting head of the clan. However, after the castle fell, Anami came to dislike Masamune and turned to his nephew, Iwaki Tsunetaka, and after Tsunetaka's death, she took refuge with Satake Yoshinobu.
The Sengoku period feudal lords based in Nihonmatsu Castle in Adachi County, Mutsu Province (present-day Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture). They are also known as the Nihonmatsu Hatakeyama clan or the Oshu Hatakeyama clan. Their ancestor is said to be Kuniaki, the son of Hatakeyama Kuniuji, who was the shogunate's Oshu kanrei (deputy governor of Oshu) during the Muromachi shogunate.
The city was named after Nihonmatsu, the place where the clan was based. During the Sengoku period, the clan struggled between powerful feudal lords such as the Date and Ashina clans, and attempted to kidnap Masamune's father, Date Terumune, but failed. The head of the clan, Nihonmatsu Yoshitsugu, was killed in battle, and the following year Nihonmatsu Castle fell, leading to the clan's downfall.
Niwa
Lord of the Nihonmatsu domain.
, Niwa Mitsushige, the grandson of Niwa Nagahide, a famous vassal of the Sengoku period warlord Oda Nobunaga, entered Nihonmatsu and ruled the area for over 200 years until the Nihonmatsu domain was abolished in 1871 with the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures.
Because the family supported the Oshu-Uetsu Alliance at the end of the Edo period, their fief was reduced to 50,000 koku after the Meiji Restoration, but in 1884 (Meiji 17), they were made a viscount family.
Horikiri
A wealthy farmer and merchant from Iizaka Village, Shinobu County (present-day Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture).
He diversified his business into pawnbroking, sake brewing, and mining, and also served as a village headman. After the Meiji Restoration, the head of the family, Zenjiro Horikiri , served as Mayor of Tokyo and Minister of the Interior.
The family's mansion, built during the Meiji period in Iizaka Onsen, Fukushima, is preserved and open to the public as a tourist facility.
The lord of the Mutsu Izumi Domain (present-day Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture). His ancestor is said to be Tadani, the third son of Tadayoshi Honda, the lord of Shirakawa Domain, who was granted 10,000 koku of land in Ishikawa County, Mutsu Province, from his father's territory.
The family was subsequently transferred to Mikawa, Totomi, and Yamato provinces, but was once again transferred to the Mutsu Izumi Domain during the reign of Honda Tadayori. At the end of the Edo period, the family fought on the side of the shogunate against the new government forces, but the family survived until the forced retirement of the head of the family, Honda Tadanori, and a succession of successors took over, ruling the area until 1871 (Meiji 4), when the feudal domains were abolished and prefectures were established.
Matsudaira
Hoshina Masayuki , the third son of Tokugawa Hidetada .
In 1643, he was transferred from 200,000 koku in Dewa to 230,000 koku in Aizu, where he continued to rule until the end of the Edo period.
The feudal lord of the domain at the end of the Edo period Matsudaira Katamori, served as the Kyoto Shugoshoku (protector of Kyoto) . After the Meiji Restoration, he formed the Oshu-Uetsu Alliance and fought against the new government forces, but was defeated. In 1868, he was transferred to the Mutsu Tonan Domain with a reduced fief of 30,000 koku, and in 1884 he was made a viscount.
He served the Hoshina family from the Sengoku period onwards, and became the lord of the Aizu domain during the Edo period.
Yamakawa Hiroshi (Yamakawa Okura) , who was appointed as the chief retainer of the Aizu clan during the Aizu War and fought as the commander in chief of the siege of Tsuruga Castle . Yamakawa Hiroshi later served as the chief councilor of the Tonan clan, to which the Aizu clan was transferred, and in 1886 he was promoted to major general and awarded the rank of baron.
Incidentally, his younger brother, Kenjiro Yamakawa , also served as president of the Imperial University of Tokyo and was later awarded the title of baron.
Traveling around the Tohoku region, I enjoy drinking delicious sake and exploring the local history, traditions, and customs. I write articles based on my interests. I'm currently interested in folk performing arts, local toys, and folk beliefs.
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