Murakuni no Shigamaro (村国志我麻呂)
MURAKUNI no Shigamaro (year of birth and death unknown) was a figure who lived from Japan's Asuka period into the Nara period. His name is also read the same way when written with the the old kana orthography. His given name is sometimes written with a different character (賀) for "ga." His kabane (hereditary title) was Muraji. In 726 he became a Zontongushi (palace builder), and erected tongu (temporary palace) in Harima Province. His court rank was Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade).
The Murakuni clan was the most powerful local family in the Kakami district of Mino Province, and thanks to MURAKUNI no Oyori winning distinction in the fighting during the Jinshin War (of 672), their fame appears to have grown enough to be known to the Imperial Court. Shigamaro was the son of Oyori.
On the seventh day of the fifth month of 716, Shigamaro, at that time of Jurokuinoge (Junior Sixth Rank, Lower Grade), was awarded "lands for meritorious service" thanks to the battlefield honors his father Oyori had accumulated in the 672 Jinshin War. Then in 718 he was promoted from Jurokuinojo (Junior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade) to Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade).
On the 30th day of the tenth month of 726, Jushiinoge (Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade) MURAKUNI no Shigamaro was appointed a Zotongushi (palace builder) along with seventeen others, including Jushiinoge (Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade) KADOBE no Okimi and Shogoinoge (Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) TAJIHI no Hirotari. At the time, Emperor Shomu was planning on sojourning to Inamino in Harima Province, and those named palace builders were responsible for erecting an angu (temporary palace) for him there. The Emperor set out on the ninth day of the eleventh month, and arrived at the Omi palace in Inamino on the twelfth day. According to the "Shoku Nihongi" the Emperor gave the people of Harima provinces special marks of favor on the nineteenth day, and on the twenty first arrived at the Nanba palace, which suggests the temporary palace Shigamaro and others had erected was in use from the eleventh to the nineteenth, or in other words for seven days.
In 731, Shigamaro was promoted to Jugoinojo (Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade). The entry detailing his 731 promotion is the final article to mention Shigamaro, so even the date on which he died remains unknown.