The Nakanoin family (中院家)
The Nakanoin family were kuge (court nobles) with kakaku (family status) of daijinke (the third highest status for court nobles). They came from Murakami-Genji (Minamoto clan) and a branch of the Kuga family.
Karoku (hereditary stipend) during the Edo Period was 500 koku (approx. 90.2 cubic meters). Its kamon (family crest) is Mutsurindoguruma (six gentians in a circle).
Marquis
The family was founded by Michikata NAKANOIN, who was the fifth son of MINAMOTO no Michichika (Michichika TSUCHIMIKADO) who was a descendant of Imperial Prince Tomohira of the Emperor Murakami and worked as Naidaijin. The family made its kakaku as one of daijinke firmly established at the beginning of the Kamakura Period.
Michikatsu NAKANOIN was a kuge around the beginning of the Edo Period and a kajin (waka poet) of the Nijo school. He mastered waka and wagaku (study in Japanese classical literature) learning from Yusai HOSOKAWA and wrote waka anthologies. In 1579, he was promoted to Shosanmi (Senior Third Rank) Chunagon (vice-councilor of state). During the middle of the Edo Period, Michimi NAKANOIN who played an active role in the poetry circles of the Emperor Reigen, appeared.
In the last days of the Edo Period, Michitomi NAKANOIN devoted himself to the interest of the state and, after the Meiji Restoration, was appointed to sanyo (councilor). In 1884, the peerage of count was conferred on him.
At present, Goo-jinja Shrine is located on the site where the mansion of the Nakanoin family existed.
Nakanoin bunko (library)
Precious documents handed down by successive generations of the Nakanoin family were donated to Kyoto University by Michinori NAKANOIN and named Nakanoin bunko. Being a family of one of the family lineages of a master of Nijo school waka poetry, a large number of documents related to kado (the art of versification) were included..