Ano

The Ano were a court-noble house of Kyoto, a junior branch of the Shigenoi family within the Northern Fujiwara Kan'in line. Their founder Fujiwara no Kinsuke married the heiress of Ano Zenjō, lord of the Ano manor in Suruga; the manor's name became the family name.

The house rose through the imperial bedchamber: its fifth head served Emperor Go-Daigo, and his sister Renshi became the emperor's consort and mother of Emperor Go-Murakami. The family was bound to the Southern Court through the Nanboku-chō split. After the courts reunited in 1392, it kept a middle rank until successive early deaths left it without an heir and the line lapsed for about half a century.

Saneaki, a grandson of the last lord, revived the house and in 1612 reached Provisional Major Counselor. The family passed the Edo period with court music and ceremonial lore as its hereditary arts.