The Shimizudani Family (清水谷家)
The Shimizudani family were kuge (court nobles) with kakaku (family status) of urinke (the fourth highest family status for court nobles). They came under the Kanin line of the Northern House of the Fujiwara clan. Ichimon of the Saionji family. Family businesses were calligraphy, sho (a wind instrument composed of a mouthpiece and seventeen bamboo pipes of various lengths), nogaku (the art of Noh) and Kagura (sacred music and dancing performed at shrine). Their kamon (family crest) was waribishi (four small diamonds forming a larger diamond). Their Karoku (hereditary stipend) during the Edo period was 200 koku (approx. 36.1 cubic meters). They held the title Count.
The family was founded during the Kamakura period by Saneari ICHIJO, the second son of Kintsune SAIONJI. At first, the family named itself 'Ichijo (to avoid ambiguity),' but, when it became the family head, the family name was changed to the present one to avoid duplication with the Ichijo family. The family was discontinued for a certain period, but reestablished at the beginning of the Edo period. Sanenari SHIMIZUDANI was adopted from the Sanjonishi family famous for waka poetry and was known as a representative kajin (waka poet) in Emperor Reigen's waka circle.
After the Meiji Restoration, Kinnaru SHIMIZUDANI, the family head near the end of the Edo period and Meiji Restoration, and assumed the position of the Governor of the Hakodate-fu. The peerage of count was conferred upon Saneakira SHIMIZUDANI on July 7, 1884 and he served as an imperial court councilor and shotenjicho (the deputy chief of shotenshoku, the section of the Imperial Household Agency handling the court rituals).