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*''Japanese'': 華族 ''(kazoku)''
The ''kazoku'' was a Western-style peerage or aristocracy created by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1869]]/6 as part of a broader restructuring of social classes.
Members of the ''kazoku'' were chiefly former ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' and [[kuge|court nobility]], alongside the [[Sho Dynasty|former royal family]] of [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]]. They held titles such as Marquis (侯爵, ''kôshaku''), Baron (男爵, ''danshaku''), Count (伯爵, ''hakushaku''), and Duke (公爵, ''kôshaku''), based on ancient Chinese aristocratic titles. Former ''daimyô'' were guaranteed stipends at 10% of their former [[han|domain's]] official ''[[kokudaka]]'', regardless of their post in the new government, and indeed regardless of whether the domains themselves survived; as a result, a number of ''kazoku'', including [[Hachisuka Mochiaki]] of [[Tokushima han|Tokushima]], petitioned the Emperor for the [[abolition of the han]] in [[1871]].
Within the new social hierarchy, which persisted until 1945, the ''kazoku'' were second only in prestige to the [[Imperial family]]. Below them were two ranks of elites, the ''[[shizoku]]'' (士族, former samurai), and the ''[[sotsu]]'' (卒, former low-ranking samurai). Divisions between peasants, townsmen (''[[chonin|chônin]]''), and other types of commoners were officially erased at this time, transforming all into simply citizens, or Imperial subjects (国民, ''kokumin'').
{{stub}}
==References==
*[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 203.
<references/>
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Groups]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:Nobility]]
The ''kazoku'' was a Western-style peerage or aristocracy created by the [[Meiji government]] in [[1869]]/6 as part of a broader restructuring of social classes.
Members of the ''kazoku'' were chiefly former ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' and [[kuge|court nobility]], alongside the [[Sho Dynasty|former royal family]] of [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Ryûkyû]]. They held titles such as Marquis (侯爵, ''kôshaku''), Baron (男爵, ''danshaku''), Count (伯爵, ''hakushaku''), and Duke (公爵, ''kôshaku''), based on ancient Chinese aristocratic titles. Former ''daimyô'' were guaranteed stipends at 10% of their former [[han|domain's]] official ''[[kokudaka]]'', regardless of their post in the new government, and indeed regardless of whether the domains themselves survived; as a result, a number of ''kazoku'', including [[Hachisuka Mochiaki]] of [[Tokushima han|Tokushima]], petitioned the Emperor for the [[abolition of the han]] in [[1871]].
Within the new social hierarchy, which persisted until 1945, the ''kazoku'' were second only in prestige to the [[Imperial family]]. Below them were two ranks of elites, the ''[[shizoku]]'' (士族, former samurai), and the ''[[sotsu]]'' (卒, former low-ranking samurai). Divisions between peasants, townsmen (''[[chonin|chônin]]''), and other types of commoners were officially erased at this time, transforming all into simply citizens, or Imperial subjects (国民, ''kokumin'').
{{stub}}
==References==
*[[Mark Ravina]], ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan'', Stanford University Press (1999), 203.
<references/>
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Groups]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:Nobility]]
