Japan Compiled Genealogies

'Compiled History and Genealogy of Clans and Families (Keizu)'

What they are:

These records are compiled genealogies, organized collections of lineage data, family histories, pedigrees, family and community genealogies, some manuscript and some published. Includes feudal lord genealogies (daimyo kafu), court genealogies (kuge kafu), samurai genealogies (samurai kafu), (bukan), and similar records. Formats vary considerably in Japanese genealogies. Some are extremely elaborate and others brief. Linked format with main line and patriarchal emphases are fairly standard. The earliest genealogies date from the 800s and are still being produced at the present time; the main coverage is from 1550 to the 1870s.

Use these records to:

• Extend your ancestral records, going back many generations
• Find dates and places of events in the ancestors’ lives
• Learn other information, depending on the record

Content:

Standard entries include names, aliases, titles, ranks, lineage, generational information, and some dates and places. Some entries also include information on adoptions, feudal relationships, fiefs, heraldic devices, and biographical items.

How to obtain them:

Many of these records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library. It is difficult to determine how many of these records still exist. The Library has about 1500 reels of compiled genealogies, family histories, and collected biographies.

The Family History Library has also acquired a majority of the standard genealogical works in books such as:

• Shinsen Shojiroku genealogies of 1,182 noble families compiled in the year 815 AD
• Sonpi Bunmyaku genealogies of main and branch families
• Compiled genealogies of the imperial family and other court nobles of the fourteenth century
• Kugyo Bunin records of appointment of court nobles, which list individuals who were appointed as imperial advisors (Sangi or above)
• Han Kan Fu genealogies of the prominent families of 337 feudal lords between 1600 and 1680
• Kunsei Choshu Shokafu genealogies of feudal lords, samurai, physicians, and other prominent individuals to 1798
• Jige Kaden genealogies of low-ranking court officials
• Shokaden family histories of various court nobles to the 1760s
• Gunsho Ruiju
• Zokugunsho Ruiju, which is a collective work compiled by Holiichi Hanawa, including genealogies of prominent families

They are also available in public and private collections throughout Japan. Large collections are still left in a number of prefectural archives.