Akizuki clan
The Akizuki clan (秋月氏, Akizuki-shi) is a Japanese noble family. In the Sengoku period, the Akizuki clan was led by a samurai lord (大名 daimyō) in the Akizuki domain on the island of Kyūshū. From the Meiji period to the end of World War II, the Akizuki family was a contemporary noble (華族 "Kazoku"). After World War II, the land controlled by the Akizuki family became Akizuki prefecture. Later, Akizuki prefecture was re-organized as Fukuoka Prefecture (福岡県 Fukuoka-ken).
| Akizuki 秋月 | |
|---|---|
 The Akizuki clan crest (mon) | |
| Home province | Chikuzen |
| Current head | Akizuki Tanetaka (秋月 種高) |
| Dissolution | Still extant |
At present, the former Akizuki area is still referred to as "Akizuki", and is now Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture. The Akizuki clan's main descendants live in Ōita Prefecture and Tokyo.
Notable leader
- Akizuki Kiyotane
- Akizuki Tanezane (1548-1596)
- Akizuki Tanenaga (1567-1614)
- Akizuki Taneharu
Cultural references
Two ships have been named after the Akizuki clan: the Akizuki-class destroyer (1942) of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the Akizuki-class destroyer (1959) of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The movie director Akira Kurosawa directed a movie about the Akizuki clan, called The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人 Kakushi-toride-no-san-akunin), in 1958. In the film, the clan crest is depicted as a crescent. The Hidden Fortress was remade in 2008 by director Shinji Higuchi.