Kawanobe

The Kawanobe were a warrior house of northern Hitachi, based at Noguchi Castle in Kawanobe-gō. A branch of the Naka, they claimed descent from Fujiwara no Hidesato. Their ancestor Michinao is said to have built the castle around 1090; four generations later, Naka no Sukeaki made Kawanobe his seat and took its name.

In 1335 Kawanobe Sukeshige and his son Jirō fought for the Southern Court, defeated the Hitachi shugo Satake Sadayoshi at Mikanohara, and followed Kitabatake Akiie against Ashikaga Takauji. Tradition says Emperor Go-Daigo granted them the chrysanthemum crest, which they modified into a sixteen-petal chrysanthemum with the character for one.

In 1336 they were crushed at Dokushōhō with the Naka, and most killed themselves. A surviving line later submitted to the Satake and served them through the Sengoku age. After Sekigahara the Satake were transferred to Akita, but the last Kawanobe head stayed as a rōnin in Kuji District.