Fujiwara no Uchimaro

Who They Were

Fujiwara no Uchimaro (藤原内麻呂) was a court noble who lived from 756 to November 13, 812, spanning the end of the Nara period and the opening of the Heian period. He was the third son of Fujiwara no Matate, a dainagon (大納言, dainagon — a senior imperial councillor, one rank below the great ministers), and therefore belonged to the Hokke (北家, Hokke — the "Northern House," one of the four branches of the Fujiwara clan). He rose to the court rank of ju ni-i (従二位, junior second rank) and the office of udaijin (右大臣, udaijin — Minister of the Right, one of the two chief ministers of state), and was granted posthumously the rank of ju ichi-i (従一位, junior first rank) and the title of daijō-daijin (太政大臣, daijō-daijin — Chancellor, the highest office in the imperial government). He was also known by the sobriquet Go-Nagaoka-Daijin (後長岡大臣).

Life and Career

Uchimaro was born in 756, in the eighth year of the Tenpyō-shōhō era (天平勝宝, Tenpyō-shōhō), during the Nara period. His father Matate held the rank of dainagon but never reached the rank of daijin (大臣, daijin — great minister), a ceiling imposed by Matate's secondary position within the Fujiwara clan. Uchimaro's mother was a daughter of Abe no Obimaro.

Uchimaro served three emperors in succession: Kanmu, Heizei, and Saga. He was trusted and valued by each of them. He succeeded his uncle Fujiwara no Nagate and Nagate's line as head of the family, consolidating the position of the Hokke within the Fujiwara clan.

His rise exceeded his father's. Uchimaro reached the office of udaijin, and during the reign of Emperor Heizei and the beginning of the reign of Emperor Saga he led the cabinet — the council of senior ministers that directed the government. He held the junior second rank during his lifetime, and after his death was elevated to junior first rank and to the chancellorship.

He married into several prominent families. His spouses included a daughter of Fujiwara no Nagate, Kudara no Nagatsugu, and Sakanoue no Nobuko. He had many children, among them Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, Fujiwara no Nagaoka, Fujiwara no Futakimaro, Fujiwara no Chikanari, Fujiwara no Suke, Fujiwara no Onatsu, Fujiwara no Akitugu, Mamoru Fujiwara, Fujiwara no Manatsu, Fujiwara no Ōtsu, Fujiwara no Sakuramaru, and a daughter whose name is not recorded. Uchimaro died on November 13, 812.

Why They Matter

Uchimaro's career marks a turning point in the fortunes of the Hokke branch of the Fujiwara. His father Matate had been blocked from the highest offices by his secondary standing in the clan; Uchimaro broke through that ceiling and became udaijin, then effectively led the government through two reigns. In doing so he established the Hokke as the dominant line within the Fujiwara family, a position it would hold for centuries.

His most consequential act, in the long run, was dynastic rather than political. He had many children, and through them the Hokke multiplied its presence at court. His son Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu would go on to become one of the most powerful statesmen of the early Heian period, and it was through Fuyutsugu and his descendants that the Fujiwara clan later achieved its extraordinary dominance over the imperial court — including the regency monopoly that shaped Japanese politics for generations. Uchimaro laid the foundation on which that later success was built.

The Name in Japanese

The name is written 藤原内麻呂. It is read in kana as ふじわら うちまろ, and romanised as Fujiwara no Uchimaro. The particle の (no) is not written in the kanji form but is pronounced between the surname and the given name.

藤 (fuji) — wisteria. This is the first character of the clan name. The Fujiwara took their name from the wisteria plant, and the wisteria blossom remains associated with them in Japanese art and literature.

原 (wara) — field, plain, moor. Combined with 藤, the surname 藤原 means "wisteria field." The reading wara here is a sound change from the character's more usual readings hara or gen; this kind of shift is common in Japanese proper names.

内 (uchi) — inside, within, interior. This is the first character of the given name.

麻 (ma) — hemp, flax. In names this character often carries the sense of something cultivated or enduring.

呂 (ro) — spine, backbone; also used as a phonetic character in names. In the given name 内麻呂, the three characters together are read Uchimaro.

The full name 藤原内麻呂 thus breaks into the clan surname 藤原 (Fujiwara, "wisteria field") and the personal name 内麻呂 (Uchimaro). The reading of the given name is not predictable from the individual characters alone — 内麻呂 is read as a unit, Uchimaro, which is why the kana reading ふじわら うちまろ is essential for anyone encountering the name in a text.

Legacy

Uchimaro's posthumous elevation to ju ichi-i and daijō-daijin reflected the standing he had achieved in life and the importance his descendants attached to his memory. His sobriquet, Go-Nagaoka-Daijin, linked him to the Nagaoka line he had inherited from his uncle Nagate.

The clearest measure of his legacy is the generation that followed him. His son Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu became a central figure in the Heian court, and the numerous other children Uchimaro left behind ensured that the Hokke had a deep bench of courtiers in the decades after his death in 812. The branch that had once been held back by its secondary status within the clan became, through Uchimaro and his sons, the branch that would define the Fujiwara for the rest of their history.