Uji (氏) were Japanese kin groups of the Kofun period.
Uji were similar to the traditional Japanese clans; however, the pre-Taika uji did not have many of the characteristics which are commonly understood to be part of Japanese clans. For example, the Nakatomi clan and the Fujiwara clan were each uji.
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The Mononobe clan (物部氏, Mononobe uji) was a Japanese aristocratic kin group (uji) of the Kofun period, known for its military opposition to the Soga clan. The Mononobe were opposed to the spread of Buddhism, partly on religious grounds, claiming that the local deities would be offended by the worshiping of foreign deities, but also as the result of feelings of conservatism and a degree of xenophobia. The Nakatomi clan, ancestors of the Fujiwara, were also Shinto ritualists allied with the Mononobe in opposition to Buddhism.
The Mononobe, like many other major families of the time, were something of a corporation or guild in addition to being a proper family by blood-relation. While the only members of the clan to appear in any significant way in the historical record were statesmen, the clan as a whole was known as the Corporation of Arms or Armorers.
The Fujiwara clan (藤原氏, Fujiwara-shi or Fujiwara-uji; Japanese pronunciation: [ɸɯ.(d)ʑi.wa.ɾa(ꜜ.ɕi), -(ꜜɯ.dʑi)]) was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. They held the title of Ason. The abbreviated form is Tōshi or Tōji (藤氏; [toꜜː.ɕi, -(d)ʑi]).
The 8th century clan history Tōshi Kaden (藤氏家伝) states the following at the biography of the clan's patriarch, Fujiwara no Kamatari (614–669): "Kamatari, the Inner Palace Minister who was also called ‘Chūrō,’ was a man of the Takechi district of Yamato Province. His forebears descended from Ame no Koyane no Mikoto; for generations they had administered the rites for Heaven and Earth, harmonizing the space between men and the gods. Therefore, it was ordered their clan was to be called Ōnakatomi."
The Soga clan (Japanese: 蘇我氏, Hepburn: Soga-shi) was one of the most powerful aristocratic kin groups (uji) of the Asuka period of the early Japanese state—the Yamato polity—and played a major role in the spread of Buddhism in Japan. Through the 5th and 7th centuries, the Soga monopolized the kabane or hereditary rank of Great Omi and was the first of many families to dominate the Imperial House of Japan by influencing the order of succession and government policy.
Nakatomi clan (中臣氏, Nakatomi-uji) was a Japanese aristocratic kin group (uji). The clan claims descent from Ame-no-Koyane.