During the Nara period Fujiwara clan established their political influence. Fujiwara no Fuhito, the son and heir of Kamatari was prominent at the court of several emperors and empresses. He made his daughter Miyako a concubine of the Emperor Mommu. Her son, Prince Obito became the Emperor Shomu. Fuhito succeeded in making another of his daughters, Komyoshi, the empress of Shomu. She was the first empress of Japan who didn't derive from the imperial family. Fuhito had four sons and each of those four founded a family. Among them, Hokke (North family) seized the power and was considered the leader of the entire clan.
During Heian periods of Japanese history, the Fujiwara clan, precisely Fujiwara Hokke managed to establish a hereditary claim to the position of regent, either for an underage emperor (Sessho) or for an adult one (Kampaku). Some prominent Fujiwaras occupied these positions more than once, and for more than one emperor. Lesser members of the Fujiwara were courtnobles, provincialgovernors and vice governors, members of the provincial aristocracy, and samurai.
During the 13th century, the Fujiwara northern house was split into the five regent houses (五摂家): Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujo, Nijo and Ichijo. They monopolized the offices of Sessho and Kampaku in turn.
The period is further divided into the early Heian and the late Heian, or Fujiwara, eras, the pivotal date being 894, the year imperial embassies to China were officially discontinued.
The next period is named after the Fujiwara family, then the most powerful in the country, who ruled as regents for the emperor, becoming, in fact, civil dictators.
The wooden image of Shaka, the "historic" Buddha (early 9th century), enshrined in a secondary building at the Muro-ji, is typical of the early Heian sculpture, with its ponderous body, covered by thick drapery folds carved in the hompa-shiki (rolling-wave) style, and its austere, withdrawn facial expression.
The original role of the sessho was to attend to affairs of state during the minority of the emperor, while the kampaku's role was to attend to state matters for the emperor even after he had come of age.
From the 10th century and through the 11th, successive generations of the northern branch of the Fujiwara clan continued to control the nation's government by monopolizing the posts of sessho and kampaku, and the wealth that poured into their coffers enabled them to lead lives of the greatest brilliance.
The powerful authority wielded by the Fujiwararegents was maintained by their maternal relationship to successive emperors; once such a relationship disappeared, their power was bound to weaken.
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