Shijō

The Shijō were a court noble house of Kyoto of the Northern Fujiwara. They took shape in the late Heian period around Fujiwara no Akisue; the house name came from the Shijō-Ōmiya mansion of his descendant Takasue.

Their hereditary craft was carving and serving at court banquets, known as the Shijō school, said to begin when Ienari displayed his skill with a carp before Emperor Sutoku in 1140. In the Nanboku-chō wars Takasuke died fighting for the Southern Court at Yawata. His son Takatoshi briefly seized Kyoto in 1353 and fell in battle in 1373.

The main line died out in 1567 and was revived in 1575 by a son of the Reizei house. After years of disfavour in Sakai he was pardoned in 1601 through Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the Shijō served the court through the Edo period.