Kabane
History. As the national unification by the Yamato imperial court progressed, a "kabane" was given to the most powerful families by the imperial court, which gradually became a hereditary noble title. During the ancient times, new "kabane" were made and there were almost thirty of them. Some of the more common "kabane" were , , "Sukune" (宿禰), , , , , , and . The descendants of the Imperial family were given "Omi" and the descendants of gods were given "Muraji", and out of these, the most influential families were given "Ōomi" and "Ōmuraji". During the Taika Reform, these were however abolished, and the kabane was no  longer tied to a specific occupation or political position, but simply began to signify a family's aristocratic lineage and social status. In 684, the traditional "kabane" system was reformed into an eight-"kabane" system consisting of "Mahito", "Ason", "Sukune", "Imiki", "Michinoshi", "Omi", "Muraji", "Inagi". The imperial House of Yamato became the most powerful family in the "kabane" system, although during the 6th century AD, a number of other leaders, often with high ranks of "Omi" and "Muraji," sometimes overshadowed the Yamato rulers. This power dynamic became one of the incentives of the Taika Reform. The "kabane" were divided into two  general classes: the were given "Omi", and the were given "Muraji". At first, the "kabane" were administered by individual clans, but eventually they came to be controlled by the Yamato court. In 684, the "kabane" were reformed into the . The powerful "Omi" of the time were given the "kabane" of "Ason", which ranked second under the new system, while most of the "Muraji" were given the "kabane" of "Sukune", which ranked third. Later, as the clans began to devolve into individual households, the "kabane" system gradually faded from use. Name. It is generally believed that the name "kabane" (姓) either  derived from the word "agamena" (崇名), or alternatively from the word "kyöröi" (骨), meaning "family" in Old Korean.