Fujiwara Chikado and the Fujiwara Family

[Shin-no-Tora]

Good day,

In my rather pitiful attempts at research into the histories of the ryuha in some of the X-kans, I've come to road block that seems to guard an important piece to the puzzle.

Tanemura Sensei mentions Fujiwara no Chikado in a couple of his books. Thus, I figure, there should be some info on Chikado-san in existence somewhere. I have yet to find any outside mention of that name. Does anyone happen to have lineages or references to lineages of the Fujiwara houses during the late Nara/early Heian periods? Any information on Chikado-san would be greatly appreciated.

I ask because of the Fujiwara family tie-in to the Amatsu Tatara. Seeing as how Fujiwara no Kamatari (the original Fujiwara) was originally Nakatomi no Kamatari, it leads me to believe he was in possession- or at least informed of the Amatsu Tatara Nakatomi Hibumi. Those teachings then passed through the Fujiwara family (connections to the Nakatomi Shinden Tenshin Hyoho?) down through the line until it reached the Kuki family. I believe the Amatsu went through the Fujiwara Hokke line?? Not sure about that or any of the Fujiwara/Amatsu connections. The only basis I have to go on in the connection between the family and the Nakatomi Shinden Tenshin Hyoho and the fact that Fujiwara (Nakatomi) no Kamatari was given a copy of the Amatsu scrolls by the 38th (I think?) Emperor. Also connections like Fujiwara Uona 'founding' the Kukishin Ryu naginatajutsu lead me to believe this as well.

Again, any help resolving this matter is greatly appreciated- especially if you know of references (English or Japanese) to websites or books that discuss the Fujiwara family lineages. I have a great interest in putting all the Fujiwara names together

totemo domo osewasama!

[Joseph Svinth]

Do either of these help? I doubt they'll mention Chikado by name, but they might help you get a better grasp of the politics and whatnot.

* http://www4.ncsu.edu/~fljpm/chron/jc11.fjwr-heian.html
* http://www.japaneseimperialfamily.net/index.html

[poryu]

Hi

I have also been looking into the early history of the Amatsu tatara.

If you havent got a copy of the Amatsu newsletter/magazine that the genbukan put out recently I suggest you get a copy. Tanemura sensei wrote a nice article on the early history of the Amatasu Tatara.

I suggest that you look at the Kojiki, this is the book that details in brief the early history of Japana and also mentions in brief the four main families that recieved the amatsu Tatara - Abe, Mononobe, Otomo, and Nakatomi.

Unfortunately not a lot of written material is available yet on the Amatsu tatara

[Shin-no-Tora]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your replies. I have yet to purchase a copy of Tatara Magazine, but will do so by the end of the week at the very latest. The history portion of the Amatsu interests me greatly. For example, the 58 individuals Tanemura lists as "soke" (not sure what the proper term would be) of the Amatsu Tatara Bumon Shumon intrigues me. It makes me wonder exactly how many soke from how many of the x-kan ryuha are included in that list.

Mr. Svinth, while the links you've provided are very interesting (bookmarked them for later use), they unfortunately do not help me with lineages to the Fujiwara household during the late Nara/early Heian periods. I will look into this matter a bit further and, should I find anything of interest, will be sure to inform everyone of my findings.

[Karl Friday]

Originally posted by Shin-no-Tora
Does anyone happen to have lineages or references to lineages of the Fujiwara houses during the late Nara/early Heian periods?

The standard reference work for Fujiwara geneology is Sompi bummyaku vols. 1 & 2 (in Shintei zoho kokushi taikei [Yoshikawa kobunkan, revised edition 1963-67, rpt. 1983]). According to the index, "Chikado" was part of the nicknames of at least 8 Heian period Fujiwara. Sorting out which of these is the figure you're looking for, and tracing his descent from there into the medieval period, is going to take a more information and a LOT of careful archival research.

Happy hunting!

[Shin-no-Tora]

Professor Friday,

That is very interesting to hear. I didn't know there were that many Fujiwara linked to the 'Chikado' nickname. I do know his grandfather was Fujiwara no Hidesato of Taira no Masakado fame, so with luck from the heavens I hope that will give me some leads into tracing out this family's complex history a bit more.

arigato gozaimasu!

[George Kohler]

Originally Posted by Shin-no-Tora

Tanemura Sensei mentions Fujiwara no Chikado in a couple of his books. Thus, I figure, there should be some info on Chikado-san in existence somewhere. I have yet to find any outside mention of that name. Does anyone happen to have lineages or references to lineages of the Fujiwara houses during the late Nara/early Heian periods? Any information on Chikado-san would be greatly appreciated.

I know this is a old thread but I wanted to post this info for archiving purposes.

In the book Sengoku Ninpo Zukan by Hatsumi Sensei the name Fujiwara Chikado is listed as 藤原千方. According to some Japanese websites his father is Fujiwara Chitsune 藤原千常 , son of Fujiwara Hidesato 藤原秀郷.

From reading all the Japanese websites, specifically websites about the Iga area called Takao, it tells the story of Chikado using four demons to fight the Emperor: Kinki (metal demon), Fuki (wind demon), Suiki (water demon) and Ongyoki (hidden demon).

[George Kohler]

I should note that the Japanese Wikipedia for the Fujiwara Hokke branch (Northern family) lists a name similar to Chikado's but the kanji appears that it might be a typo 藤原千万. This name does branch off from Chitsune same as Chikado mentioned above.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%97%...8C%97%E5%AE%B6