The Kyōgoku clan (京極氏) were a Japanese daimyō and samurai clan which rose to prominence during the Sengoku and Edo periods. The clan descend from the Uda Genji through the Sasaki clan. The name derives from the Kyōgoku quarter of Kyoto during the Heian period. The Kyōgoku acted as shugo (governors) of Ōmi, Hida, Izumo and Oki Provinces in the period before the Ōnin War. A period of decline in clan fortunes was mitigated with the rise of the Tokugawa clan. Members of the clan were daimyōs of territories on the islands of Kyūshū and Shikoku during the Edo period. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, the Kyōgoku were identified as tozama or outsiders, in contrast with the fudai or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa. At the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Kyōgoku had been enfeoffed at Marugame and Tadotsu in Sanuki, Toyooka in Tajima, and Mineyama Domain in Tango Province. A branch of the Kyōgoku was ranked among the kōke.

Genealogy

The tozama Kyōgoku are descended directly from Emperor Uda (868–897) through his grandson Minamoto no Masanobu (920-993). They represent a cadet branch of the Sasaki clan who were adopted by the Seiwa Genji. The branches of the tozama Kyōgoku clan include the following:

Modern times

The fall of the Tokugawa shogunate created ripple of unanticipated consequences amongst the daimyo closely associated with the bafuku. One results of these economic changes was that the residence in Edo belonging to the Kyōgoku daimyo of Tadotsu was sold. The clan's house and garden fell into the hands of Inoue Kaoru, the first foreign minister in the Meiji government. The home became a venue for entertaining foreign dignitaries and introducing them to the esthetics of Japanese gardens. After World War II, the former Kyōgoku property was acquired by the International House of Japan. A new residence hall and cultural center was built on the site, but the garden was preserved as the unanticipated yet enduring legacy of the Kyōgoku clan. The garden survives and the clan continues, albeit with less public visibly.

Head Family

Ancestor

Head Family

Notable clan members

Ōishi Riku, wife of Ōishi Kuranosuke, leader of the Forty-seven rōnin, was a daughter of Ishizuka Tsuneyoshi, principal house elder of Toyooka domain. She later returned to Toyooka, and lived with her father at the time of the revenge of the ronin. In 1925, the first election of the members of the House of Peers representing the Meiji-created nobility ( the kazoku) was held. As a result, Viscount Takanori Kyōgoku of Sanuki was amongst those who were seated in the upper house of the Imperial Diet. In 2009, Takaharu Kyōgoku became the chief priest (kannushi) of the Yasukuni Shrine. He is the 15th head of the Kyogoku family that held power in Toyooka until the Meiji Restoration.

Clan heads