It has been suggested that Kujō family, Takatsukasa family, Konoe family be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Sekke, the Five regent houses (五摂家; go-seike or go-sekke) is a collective term for those five families of Fujiwara clan, who were regarded entitled to the position of Sekkan in Imperial Court of Kyoto, Japan, and monopolized the position between 12th and 19th century. The five houses (or families) are Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujo, Ichijo (一条家; -ke) and Nijo (二条家; -ke). Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Five regent houses. ... The Takatsukasa family (鷹司家) is a branch of the Fujiwara clan of Japan. ... The Konoe family (近衛家 Konoe-ke) was a branch of the Fujiwara clan. ... The Fujiwara clan (藤原氏 Fujiwara-shi) was a clan of regents who had sort of monopoly to the Sekkan positions, Sesshō and Kampaku. ... In Japan, the Sesshō (摂政) was a title given to a regent who was named to assist an emperor when the emperor was still a child, before the coming of age, or female. ... Imperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 until the Meiji Era, in which the court was moved to Tokyo and was integrated into the Meiji government. ... The Konoe family (近衛家 Konoe-ke) was a branch of the Fujiwara clan. ... The Takatsukasa family (鷹司家) is a branch of the Fujiwara clan of Japan. ... The Kujo family (九条家 Kujō-ke) was a Japanese noble family and a branch of the Fujiwara clan derived from Fujiwara no Tadamichi. ...

Fujiwara clan had also other families, but traditionally only these five were eligible for regentship.

They were the most politically powerful families among the kuge (court officials). The kuge (公家) was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto until the rise of the Shogunate in the 12th century at which point it was eclipsed by the daimyo. ...

As imperial clan descended from goddess Amaterasu, Fujiwara traditionally descended from another ancient kami. Apparently, only these two clans were left in the modern era to claim kami descent.

Partly based on that kami descent, tradition required that emperors marry only from Fujiwara and imperial family itself - the view was that an empress must descend from gods, too. Thus, with the exception of Tokugawa Masako, wife of the Emperor Mizunoo, all Empresses of that long period were of the clans that formed the Sekke or from branches of the imperial family itself. Tokugawa Masako (1607-1678) daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada married to the Emperor Go-Mizunoo in 1620 When the Emperor Go-Mizunoo abdicated in 1629, their daughter Imperial Princess Kazu-no-miya Okiko (Tokugawa Ieyasu’s great granddaughter) became the Meisho Empress (reigned 1629-43) Barocca of Totalwar. ... Emperor Go-Mizunoo (後水尾天皇) (June 29, 1596 - September 11, 1680) was the 108th imperial ruler of Japan. ...

External links

• Ichijo Kamon The Kamon of the Ichijo family
• Nijo Kamon The Kamon of the Nijo family