Kuga
Encyclopedia : K : KU : KUG : Kuga
The Kuga family (久我家 Kuga-ke) is a branch of the Minamoto clan (descending from Emperor Murakami). The Kuga family was one of the kuge (court nobility) families of Japan, achieving the rank of seigake. During the Meiji Restoration, the head of the Kuga family was given the title of marquis (侯爵 kōshaku) as part of the kazoku, the hereditary peerage that combined the kuge and the daimyo. One of the responsibilities of the Kuga family was to be the protectors of the courtesan guild at court (Sansom: page 362).
The Kamon of the Kuga is an artistic representation of the Autumn Bellflower (Gentiana scabra var. buergeri). Famous Japanese actress Yoshiko Kuga was disowned by her grandfather for her career choice, but she was eventually accepted back into the family.
The kanji characters of the name have the meanings: 久 (long time) 我 (I). "Kuga" is the on'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading) of the kanji while "hisashī ware" would be the kun'yomi (native Japanese reading).
Sources
- G. B. Sansom, Japan A Short Cultural History, 1931
- Takie Sugiyama Lebra, Above the Clouds, 1993
- Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, Imperial Sovereignty in Early Modern Japan in Journal of Japanese Studies Vol 17, No. 1 (Winter 1991), pp 25-57
External links
- [Kuga Kamon] The Kamon of the Kuga family.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.