Sasakiyama gimi (沙沙貴山君)

Sasakiyama gimi, or Sasakiyama no kimi (沙沙貴山君), was one of the powerful families in ancient times. It is also written as 狭々城山君. It is considered as the Abe clan, which was founded by a prince of the Emperor Kogen, Obiko no Mikoto. It had power as the lord of Gamo County and Kanzaki County in Omi (the present-day Shiga Prefecture).

There is a theory that the name Sasaki was changed from the ancestor's name, Misasagi no He, but in Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan) it was written that 'Sasakiyama gimi Karafukuro no Sukune' helped the Emperor Yuryaku to murder Prince Oshiha and was therefore demoted to the humble rank of Ryoko instead of receiving the death penalty and was transferred under Yamabe no muraji after being deprived of any title; however, because 'Okime no Omina' from his family confessed to where the remains of the Prince Oshiha were placed, 'Yamato Fukuro no Sukune', who was the brother of Okime no Omina, was given the name Sasakiyama gimi in place of Karafukuro no Sukune. Consequently, it is thought that the family name of Sasakiyama gimi would have nothing to do with Misasagi no He but would instead be a family descended from Sasakibe (or Sasabe) owned by Emperor Nintoku.

It is thought that the family Sasakiyama gimi, which maintained power until the Heian period, was at least a part of the Sasaki clan from the Uda-Genji (Minamoto clan).

[Original Japanese]