Chiba clan

The Chiba Clan (千葉氏 Chiba-shi) was a Japanese gōzoku and samurai family descending from the Taira clan. The clan was founded by Chiba Tsuneshige, originally Taira Tsuneshige. The Chiba governed in Shimōsa Province, and the clan was based in present-day Chiba City. Additionally, for a period, the clan controlled the Sōma Manor that extended into present-day Ibaraki. After the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, the head of the Chiba Clan became the hereditary shugo governor of Shimōsa Province.

The Chiba Clan was originally a branch of the Kanmu-Heishi Clan and thrived mainly in the Boso Peninsula during the Middle Ages. On the 1st of June 1126, Taira Tsuneshige moved his base to the area now known as Inohana in Chuo Ward and took the name “Chiba”. This is how the history of Chiba City first began as a town, with the 1st of June known as “Chiba Foundation Day”. Tsuneshige’s son Chiba Tsunetane played a very important role in the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate by helping Minamoto no Yoritomo, who fled to Chiba after being defeated by the Taira Clan. Tsunetane advised him to make Kamakura his base. Records show that Yoritomo trusted Tsunetane so much that he saw him as a father figure. Tsunetane acquired land in various places across Japan and passed this land down to his six sons, known as the “Chiba Rokuto”, leading to the influence of his clan spreading across the whole country.