Gōzoku
Japanese term for powerful and wealthy families / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gōzoku (豪族, lit. "powerful clan"), in Japanese, refers to powerful regional families. In historical context, it can refer to powerful non-royal families regardless of their area of influence, in contrast to the Imperial Family.[1] The most powerful gōzoku families of the Yamato period included the Soga clan, Mononobe clan and Katsuragi clan.