We found out last year that the Emperors of Japan probably belonged to haplogroup D1b1a2 based on the tests of various descendants. Another presumed descendant of the imperial family tested at Family Tree DNA and also belonged to that haplogroup, and more precisely to the D-Z1504 subclade. A Japanese article claimed that 6 million Japanese men (10% of the male population of Japan) carry the same Y-DNA lineage as the Imperial family and that they share a common ancestor about 1000 years ago.
Many medieval emperors had illegitimate offspring (Emperor Saga alone fathered 49 children), who were bestowed the surnames Minamoto (Genji), Taira (Heike) or Tachibana, who in turn became powerful aristocratic clans of their own. The Minamoto and Taira became the ancestors of dozens of samurai clans (see below), while the Tachibana became one of the four most powerful kuge (court nobility) families in Japan's Nara and early Heian periods. A few samurai clans descend from Japanese emperors through imperial princes. This is the case of the Asakura clan.
If this is correct, it could mean that all Japanese emperors and a great number of daimyo (feudal lords) and samurai families would have belonged to haplogroup D1b1a2, if non-paternity events did not occur.
I have made my own research and found that the Minamoto are the patrilineal ancestors of daimyo clans such as the Akamatsu, Akechi, Amago, Ashikaga (Muromachi-era shōguns), Hatakeyama, Hosokawa, Ikeda, Imagawa, Kitabatake, Kuroda, Matsudaira, Miyoshi, Mogami, Mori, Nanbu, Nitta, Ogasawara, Ōta, Rokkaku, Sakai, Sasaki, Satake, Satomi, Shiba, Shimazu, Takeda, Toki, Tokugawa (Edo-era shōguns), and Tsuchiya. A few kuge (court aristocracy) families also descend from the Minamoto, such as the Koga.
The Taira clan descends from four 9th-century emperors (Kanmu, Ninmyō, Montoku and Kōkō) and were the ancestors of several daimyo families such as the Ashina, Chiba, Hōjō (Kamakura-era shōguns), Miura, Sōma, and Oda (whose most famous member was Oda Nobunaga, who started the reunification of Japan during the Sengoku period).
Only a few daimyo clans did not descend from the Y-DNA line of the Imperial family. Most, however, descend from the Fujiwara family, who intermarried with the Imperial family almost every generation during the Heian period(794–1185) and therefore can be considered the same family (the maternal branch). The Fujiwara clan customarily served as regents and ministers (sadaijin and udaijin), which allowed them to dominate Japanese politics throughout the Heian period. Their descendant remained court nobles until 1945. Only a few notable samurai families descend from the Fujiwara Y-DNA line. These include the Adachi, Ashikaga (Fujiwara), Azai, Date, Gamō, Honda, Ii, Itō, Niwa, Tsugaru, Uesugi and Utsunomiya. Among them the Date and Uesugi in eastern and northern Honshu distinguished themselves during the Sengoku period. The Honda and Ii were retainers of the Matsudaira/Tokugawa clan and became powerful after Tokugawa Ieyasu established the last shogunate.
At least three descendants from the Fujiwara clan tested their Y-DNA at Family Tree DNA and all belonged to haplogroup O1b2a1 (formerly known as O2b1a), and more specifically to O-47Z(aka CTS10674 or CTS11986). This haplogroup is found in 24% of the Japanese population. Yfull list a few deeper branches but more research is needed to determine the deep clade associated specifically with the Fujiwara.
I could only find a handful of notable daimyo clans that didn't descend either from the Imperial lineage or from the Fujiwara lineage. The most prominent was the Mōri clan (not to be confused with the Mori clan above), who were descended from the Ōe, a court aristocratic lineage from the Heian period related by marriage to the Imperial family.
Another one was the Abe clan, one of the oldest in Japan, said to be one of the original clans of the Yamato people. The Hata clan is equally old and was founded by Chinese immigrants with the surname Qin (秦 ; Hata being the Japanese reading of that Chinese character) during the Kofun period (250–538). They became the ancestors of a number of samurai clans, such as the Akizuki, Chōsokabe, Kawakatsu and Tamura. Descendant testing at Family Tree DNA showed that that lineaged belonged to haplogroup O2a2b1a1 (formerly known as O3a2c1a), the most common lineage among Han Chinese, and specifically to the O-CTS10738 subclade found in both China and Japan.
During the Sengoku period, there was also the Saitō clan (founded by a merchant who seized power in Mino province and became Oda Nobunaga's father-in-law) and the Toyotomi clan, founded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Oda Nobunaga's general who gradually rose in power a peasant family. They were recent parvenus whose lineage didn't last more than a few generations.
Many medieval emperors had illegitimate offspring (Emperor Saga alone fathered 49 children), who were bestowed the surnames Minamoto (Genji), Taira (Heike) or Tachibana, who in turn became powerful aristocratic clans of their own. The Minamoto and Taira became the ancestors of dozens of samurai clans (see below), while the Tachibana became one of the four most powerful kuge (court nobility) families in Japan's Nara and early Heian periods. A few samurai clans descend from Japanese emperors through imperial princes. This is the case of the Asakura clan.
If this is correct, it could mean that all Japanese emperors and a great number of daimyo (feudal lords) and samurai families would have belonged to haplogroup D1b1a2, if non-paternity events did not occur.
I have made my own research and found that the Minamoto are the patrilineal ancestors of daimyo clans such as the Akamatsu, Akechi, Amago, Ashikaga (Muromachi-era shōguns), Hatakeyama, Hosokawa, Ikeda, Imagawa, Kitabatake, Kuroda, Matsudaira, Miyoshi, Mogami, Mori, Nanbu, Nitta, Ogasawara, Ōta, Rokkaku, Sakai, Sasaki, Satake, Satomi, Shiba, Shimazu, Takeda, Toki, Tokugawa (Edo-era shōguns), and Tsuchiya. A few kuge (court aristocracy) families also descend from the Minamoto, such as the Koga.
The Taira clan descends from four 9th-century emperors (Kanmu, Ninmyō, Montoku and Kōkō) and were the ancestors of several daimyo families such as the Ashina, Chiba, Hōjō (Kamakura-era shōguns), Miura, Sōma, and Oda (whose most famous member was Oda Nobunaga, who started the reunification of Japan during the Sengoku period).
Only a few daimyo clans did not descend from the Y-DNA line of the Imperial family. Most, however, descend from the Fujiwara family, who intermarried with the Imperial family almost every generation during the Heian period(794–1185) and therefore can be considered the same family (the maternal branch). The Fujiwara clan customarily served as regents and ministers (sadaijin and udaijin), which allowed them to dominate Japanese politics throughout the Heian period. Their descendant remained court nobles until 1945. Only a few notable samurai families descend from the Fujiwara Y-DNA line. These include the Adachi, Ashikaga (Fujiwara), Azai, Date, Gamō, Honda, Ii, Itō, Niwa, Tsugaru, Uesugi and Utsunomiya. Among them the Date and Uesugi in eastern and northern Honshu distinguished themselves during the Sengoku period. The Honda and Ii were retainers of the Matsudaira/Tokugawa clan and became powerful after Tokugawa Ieyasu established the last shogunate.
At least three descendants from the Fujiwara clan tested their Y-DNA at Family Tree DNA and all belonged to haplogroup O1b2a1 (formerly known as O2b1a), and more specifically to O-47Z(aka CTS10674 or CTS11986). This haplogroup is found in 24% of the Japanese population. Yfull list a few deeper branches but more research is needed to determine the deep clade associated specifically with the Fujiwara.
I could only find a handful of notable daimyo clans that didn't descend either from the Imperial lineage or from the Fujiwara lineage. The most prominent was the Mōri clan (not to be confused with the Mori clan above), who were descended from the Ōe, a court aristocratic lineage from the Heian period related by marriage to the Imperial family.
Another one was the Abe clan, one of the oldest in Japan, said to be one of the original clans of the Yamato people. The Hata clan is equally old and was founded by Chinese immigrants with the surname Qin (秦 ; Hata being the Japanese reading of that Chinese character) during the Kofun period (250–538). They became the ancestors of a number of samurai clans, such as the Akizuki, Chōsokabe, Kawakatsu and Tamura. Descendant testing at Family Tree DNA showed that that lineaged belonged to haplogroup O2a2b1a1 (formerly known as O3a2c1a), the most common lineage among Han Chinese, and specifically to the O-CTS10738 subclade found in both China and Japan.
During the Sengoku period, there was also the Saitō clan (founded by a merchant who seized power in Mino province and became Oda Nobunaga's father-in-law) and the Toyotomi clan, founded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Oda Nobunaga's general who gradually rose in power a peasant family. They were recent parvenus whose lineage didn't last more than a few generations.
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