Fujiwara no Kamatari

• Birth: 614
• Death: 669/10/16
• Other names: 中臣鎌足 Nakatomi Kamatari
• Sons: Fujiwara Fuhito
• Japanese: 藤原 鎌足 (Fujiwara Kamatari)

Originally known as Nakatomi no Kamatari, he was granted the family name Fujiwara as a reward for his service to the throne, including his involvement in the assassination of the Soga chieftain in 645. He was granted the name on 669/10/15, along with the kabane title of Ason, the highest cap rank, and the post of Naidaijin. He died the next day.

After Kamatari's death in 669, the Fujiwara clan may have faded into the annals of history if not for his son, Fujiwara no Fuhito, and his descendants, who eventually rose to become the most powerful family in the Heian Period, often controlling the throne as regents (sesshô or kampaku), as well as holding other highly placed positions on the Daijôkan (Council of State).

References

• Piggott, Joan R. ed. Capital and Countryside in Japan, 300-1180, University of Cornell, NY, 2006.
• Reischauer, Robert K. Early Japanese History (c. 40 BC - AD 1167). Princeton University Press, 1937. (Reprinted 1967 by Peter Smith Publishers, Gloucester, Mass.). pp152-153.