Fujiwara

In Japanese history, the ruling clan 858-1185. During that period (the latter part of the Heian), the office of emperor became merely ceremonial, with power exercised by chancellors and regents, who were all Fujiwara and whose daughters in every generation married into the imperial family. There was a Fujiwara in Japanese government as recently as during World War II.

The name Fujiwara dates from 669; the family claimed divine descent. The son of the first Fujiwara became a minister and the grandfather of an emperor, and as this pattern repeated itself for centuries, the clan accumulated wealth and power through the control of government appointments. In 1868, when the last shogun had been ousted, it was a Fujiwara that the Meiji emperor appointed to the highest government post.