The Kuwabara Family (桑原家)
The Kuwabara family is a toshoke (hereditary lineage of court nobles above a certain rank) established during the Edo period by Nagayoshi KUWABARA (Shonii - Senior Second Rank), Chunagon (vice-councilor of state), Shikibusho (Minister of Ceremonies) (1661 - 1737), who was the fourth son of Tameyasu GOJO (Shonii - Senior Second Rank), Dainagon (chief councilor of state) (1619 - 1677). The original family name was Sugawara.
(Incidentally, Nagatoki KIYOOKA, who was Junii (Junior Second Rank), Sangi (councilor), and Shikibusho, was Nagayoshi KUWABARA's younger brother.)
The family status is hanke (family of lower ranking court nobles) (kuge - court noble). Serving as historians was the family's profession. The highest positions achieved were Chunagon and Shikibusho appointed to Nagayoshi KUWABARA.
The family is known as one of the poorest families among the kuge families during the Edo period. The family was ill-fated because, for example, the head of the family had trouble with the only servant of his, and after having a quarrel he killed the servant in his residence.
Their hereditary stipend during the Edo period was thirty koku. The family status after the Meiji period was viscount. However, the financial state of the family continued to be strained, and even holding on to the family status became extremely difficult. In 1919, the head of the family, Takanaga KUWABARA, shot someone else's wife, and ultimately the peerage was given up.
Takanaga was sentenced to life in prison, and he died in prison in 1928 while he was serving his time. There was no successor since then, the family ended, and the whereabouts of the descendants and the relatives are not known.