The kazoku (華族, lit. "flowery lineage") was the hereditary peerage of Japan that existed between 1869 and 1947. 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Meiji oligarchs, as part of their Westernizing reforms, merged the kuge (the court nobility in Kyoto) and the daimyo (or feudal lords) into a single aristocratic class in 1869. Ito Hirobumi, one of the leaders of the Meiji Restoration and later the principal author of the 1889 Constitution of the Empire of Japan, intended the kazoku to serve a political and social bulwark for the "restored" emperor and the Japanese imperial institution. See: Meiji Restoration, the revolution that ushered in the Meiji Era Meiji Era - the period in Japanese history when the Meiji Emperor reigned Emperor Meiji of Japan - Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor, who reigned during Meiji Era Meiji University - University in Tokyo. ... 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. ... This page is about the city Kyoto. ... The daimyo (大名: daimyō) were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 12th century to the 19th century in Japan. ... Born in Hagi, Yamaguchi, Prince Itō Hirobumi (伊藤 博文 Itō Hirobumi 1841–1909, also called Hirofumi/Hakubun) was a Japanese politician and the countrys first Prime Minister (and the 5th, 7th and 10th). ... National motto: None National anthem: Kimi-ga-yo Capital Tokyo 35° 41′ N 139° 45′ E Largest city Tokyo Official languages None; Japanese de facto 1 Government Last Emperor Last Prime Minister Monarchy (Constitutional; 1890-) Showa Emperor Hirohito Shigeru Yoshida Establishment  - Nominal  - Real  - Constitutional  - Perished January 3, 1868 July 14...

In addition to the existing Japanese nobility, the Meiji leadership also awarded kazoku status to those regarded as having performed outstanding service to the country. In 1884, the government took the further step of dividing the kazoku into five ranks explicitly based on the British peerage. This system used titles deriving from the ancient Chinese nobility, which, coincidentally, also had five ranks: Wang (King) and Huangdi (Emperor) The King or Wang (王 wang2) was the title of the Chinese head of state from the Zhou dynasty until the Qin dynasty. ...

1. prince or duke (公爵 kōshaku)
2. marquis (侯爵 kōshaku)
3. count (伯爵 hakushaku)
4. viscount (子爵 shishaku)
5. baron (男爵 danshaku)

As in British peerage, only the actual holder of a title and his consort were considered part of the kazoku. The holders of the top two ranks, prince and marquis, automatically became members of the House of Peers upon their succession or upon majority (in the case of peers who were minors). Counts, viscounts, and barons elected up to 150 representatives from their ranks to the House of Peers. The term prince (from the Latin princeps), for a member of the highest aristocracy, has fundamentally different meanings Abstract The original but least common use is as a GENERIC (descriptive, not formal) term -originating in the application of terminology from Roman (actualy Byzantine) law and classical ideology to the European... The term duke is a title of nobility which refers to the sovereign male ruler of a Continental European duchy, to a nobleman of the highest grade of the British peerage, or to the highest rank of nobility in various other European countries, including Spain and France (in Italy, principe... Marquis has many different meanings: Don Marquis was a writer, poet, and journalist. ... Definition A count is a nobleman in most European countries, equivalent in rank to a British earl, whose wife is still a countess. Originally the title comes denoted the rank of a high courtier or provincial (military or administrative) official in the late Roman Empire: before Anthemius was made emperor... A viscount is a member of the European nobility, especially of France, and of the British peerage, where a viscount ranks above a baron, below an earl (a count in France), and corresponds in Britain to the Anglo-Saxon shire reeve. ... In the British peerage system, barons rank lowest, coming after viscounts. ... The House of Peers (貴族院 Kizokuin) was the upper house of the Imperial Diet under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (in effect from 11 February 1889 to 3 May 1947). ...

Titles passed according to primogeniture, although kazoku houses frequently adopted sons from collateral branches of their own houses and other kazoku houses to prevent their lines from dying out. A 1904 amendment to the 1889 Imperial Household Law, allowed minor princes (ō) of the imperial family to renounce their imperial status and become peers (in their own right) or heirs to childless peers. Initially there were 11 non-imperial princes or dukes, 24 marquis, 76 counts, 324 viscount, and 74 barons, for a total of 509 peers. By 1928, through promotions and new creations there were a total of 954 peers: 18 non-imperial princes or dukes, 40 marquis, 108 counts, 379 viscounts, and 409 barons. Primogeniture is inheritance by the first-born of the entirety of a parents wealth, estate or office, or in the absence of children, by collateral relatives in order of seniority of the collateral line. ...

Rank distribution for kazoku houses of kuge descent depended on the highest possible office to which its ancestors had been entitled in the imperial court. Thus, the heirs of the five regent houses (go-seike) of the Fujiwara dynasty (Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujo, Ichijo, and Nijo) all became princes. The heads of other kuge houses (including Daigo, Hamuro, Hirohata, Kikutei, Kuga, Kazan'in, Nakamikado, Nakayama, Oimikado, Saga, Saionji, Shijo, and Tokudaiji) became marquises. Also, the head of the Sho family, the former royal family of the Ryukyus (Okinawa), was given the title of marquis. Marquis has many different meanings: Don Marquis was a writer, poet, and journalist. ...

Excluding the Tokugawa, kazoku rank distribution for the former daimyo depended on rice revenue: those with 150,000 koku or more became marquises, those with 50,000 koku or more become counts, etc. The former shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu became a prince, the heads of primary Tokugawa branch houses (shimpan daimyo) became marquises, and the heads of the secondary branches became counts. Tokugawa Yoshinobu in French military uniform, c. ...

The Constitution of Japan abolished the kazoku and ended the use of all titles of nobility or rank, outside the imperial family. Nonetheless, the descendants of former kazoku families continue to occupy prominent roles in Japanese society and industry. The original of the Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法) has been the founding legal document of Japan since 1947. ...