what is no kami

Hi all

I was wondering what NO KAMI means when it appears in a Japanese name.

any input would be greatly recieved

paul



Paul Richardson
Bujinkan Lincoln Dojo 7th Dan
www.bujinkanuk.co.uk

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As Tony said, 'No Kami' was a title that designated the owner as a governor
of a given province. By the 16th Century this had become mostly honorific,
though certain lords carried a given governorship from generation to
generation that was based in fact (such as the Shimazu of Satsuma, who were
styled 'Satsuma no kami' and the So of Tsushima, who were styled 'Tsushima
no kami' - as well as Chosokabe Motochika, who assumed the title 'Tosa no
kami' after being confirmed in that province by Toyotomi Hideyoshi). While
any number of men in Japan might have the same title at any one time, they
tended to be unique within a given clan - that is, and for example, Takeda
retainer Baba Nobufusa became 'Mino no kami' after the death of the previous
holder of that title within the Takeda, Hara Toratane. This occured in 1564
- from this point on Nobufusa is almost always described as 'Baba Mino' or
'Baba Mino no kami'. An individual might in fact be awarded a number of 'no
kami's in his life time, depending on his fortunes. We know that, for
example, Hatakeyama Takamasa (1527-1576) carried the titles Kii no kami,
Harima no kami, and Owari no kami at various points in his career.
Another, similar, title, was 'Deputy Governor' - or 'no suke', which
applied, among other things, to certain provinces in the Kanto (such as
Kozuke).
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paul richardson wrote:

> Hi all
>
> I was wondering what NO KAMI means when it appears in a Japanese name.
>
> any input would be greatly recieved

The short answer is, "governor of."

Hashiba Chikuzen-no-kami Hideyoshi is Hashiba Hideyoshi, Lord of Chikuzen.


Tony

> The short answer is, "governor of."
>
> Hashiba Chikuzen-no-kami Hideyoshi is Hashiba Hideyoshi, Lord of

Chikuzen.

>
>
> Tony

Hmm.. I think i'd like the "long" answer ;) - - I've noticed, for
example, at one point Mori Motonari had / was given the title "Mutsu
no Kami" - I assume that Motonari had never been to Mutsu considering
it is on the other side of the country. Also, Shimazu Takahisa seems
to have held this title around the same time - give or take some
decades - not to mention the fact that Hojo Ujiteru and Date Masamune
apparently held this title at roughly the same time. I can see Date
Masamune holding this title considering he LIVED there, but these
other guys... (another example would be 'suruga no kami' - held by:
Usami Sadayuki, Mogami Iechika, Kikkawa Motoharu, Itagaki Nobutaka,
Imagawa Yoshimoto,Daidoji Masashige, and Asahina Nobuoki(and probably
others) - in this case Yoshimoto and Asahina Nobuoki, and possibly
Itagaki Nobutaka had ties to Suruga).

Was there a medeival "Bureau for the giving of governorships" that
kept track of all these titles, (and were the titles 'bestowed' at
all) or were they random honorary titles given by someone of higher
authority? - sort of a 'psuedo-rank' to let them feel important? (or
to let the emperor feel important by having the power to give out
titles?)

CEWest

I have the same questions as West-san....though the
information by FW Seal-san was great! I didn't know
the difference between no suke and no
kami...interesting. However, even Hashiba
Chikuzen-no-kami Hideyoshi didn't "rule" his named
province; what was the rationale behind giving these
titles to samurai nowhere near the location? And was
it given by the daimyo or the court? Not that I use
games as a historical reference, but my Japanese copy
of Nobunaga's Ambition for the PlayStation has the
court give out titles...what's the real deal?

Nate Ledbetter

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Well, as I mentioned, the '-no kami' title was for the most part honorific
by the sengoku period. The title seems to have become widespread in the
Kamakura Period, when it was based in fact (often being given to shugo
houses). By the Ashikaga age, the title was simply a sign of esteem.
In a similar vein, even more ancient titles were still being used in this
honorific fashion - Nakatsukasa, for example, was one of the 8 offices
established by the ancient Yoro revision of the Tiaho Code. As an example,
Tokugawa retainer Honda Tadakatsu was awarded the title Nakatsukasa-taiyu in
1586 on a visit to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Obviously, Tadakatsu really had
nothing to do with the 'Ministry of the Central Office' (Nakatsukasa), nor
did Shimazu retainer Hishijima Gunai-shoyu Kunisada (d.1600) have much to do
with the ancient 'Ministry of the Imperial Household' (Gunai/Kunai).
As for who exactly handed out these titles, I actually have not read much on
that. My assumption is that the Court was petitioned in individual cases to
Ok the awarding of the titles in question (as opposed to the Court doing so
of its own volition as a rule, as literally hundreds - if not thousands - of
'-no kami''s were walking around at any given time, if one is to judge by
retainer registries). I do know of any number of specific examples, one of
which involved Takeda Shingen. At the time of his coming of age,
representatives of both the the court and shogunate were in attendance. At
that time he was allowed to use the 'Haru' from the name of the then-shogun,
Yoshiharu, as well as the title 'Shinano no kami'. Around 1560 the Court
awarded Mori Motonari and his eldest son Takamoto various titles (including
'Mutsu no kami' for Motonari and 'Daizen-daibu' for Takamoto) in recognition
of gifts and donations they had sent on the occasion of the Emperor
Ogimachi's enthronement in 1559.
Perhaps the liberal use of titles harks back, at least in spirit, to ancient
China, where one saw a bewildering array of colorful titles in circulation.
Certainly, sai-tai-shogun seems to have a Sino-inspired basis.
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