Kibi clan

The Kibi clan was a Japanese clan centered in Okayama Prefecture descended from Wakatakehiko the son of Emperor Kōrei.

Kibi no Makibi, the founder of Hiromine Shrine was a famous member.

They had navigational authority over the Seto Inland Sea.

They had a prominent Iron manufacturing apparatus.

They alternatively may descend from Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto who roughly ruled Okayama Prefecture.

Kibidera in Sakurai is the clan temple of the clan.

Association with Kibitsu Shrine
The Kibitsu Shrine's rites are closely to the clan. The shrine's gods are the Kibi clan's ancestors who have become gods. These ancestors protect the Kibi area.

The shrine started as a place for the Kibi clan. It has the clan's ancestors as gods. This gives the shrine a pure and protective feel. The ancestors are seen as good and helpful spirits. This is how the shrine connects with mizuko. Mizuko means the souls of babies who died early or were not born.

The shrine places the mizuko shrine next to the ancestor shrine. It also uses running water. This setup has several meanings:


 * 1) The water purifies the souls of mizuko. Mizuko is linked to water.
 * 2) Being near the ancestor shrine suggests these souls become kind and protective spirits.
 * 3) As protective spirits, the mizuko guard those who remember them.

This way, the Kibitsu Shrine uses its ties to the Kibi clan. It creates a respectful place for mizuko. It links them to the shrine's ancestral and protective gods.

Harima Fudoki
The story of Emperor Keikō and Inami-no-Wakiiratsume in the Harima Fudoki shows the relationship between the Kibi clan and the Yamato Kingship. It suggests that the Inami area was once a border between the Yamato and Kibi regions.

Inami-no-Wakiiratsume, a woman from Inami, is mentioned in several ancient texts. She is thought to be the younger sister of Oiratsume from the "Kojiki,". She might have been a queen in Harima.

The Harima Fudoki does not mention Otarashihiko/Keiko as an emperor. Instead, Otarashihiko might have been a local leader in the Inami district of the Harima coast.

Kibi clan rebellion
The Kibi Clan Rebellion (吉備氏の乱) from 463 was a revolt against the Yamato state on the Korean peninsula, involving two brothers from the Kibi clan: Tasa and Oto. .

The revolt was triggered when Tasa learned that the Japanese Emperor Yūryaku had moved him to the Japanese post at Mimana on the Korean Peninsula in order to seize his beautiful wife. The incident falls into Japan's proto-historic period and is recounted in the Nihon Shoki.

Decline
In 713, at the suggestion of Bizen-no-kami Nanten - and Bizen-no-suke Kamitsukeno-no-Kenji the Eita, Katsuta, Tomata, Kume, Mashima, and Oba districts of Bizen Province were separated into a new province, and, and Kamitsukeno-no-Kenji was appointed as the first governor of Mimasaka Province. This separation was the final stage of the disintegration of the former Kingdom of Kibi, and was intended to further weaken the Kibi clan by putting its iron resources directly under the control of the imperial government.

In Popular culture
The Kibi clan features in Age of Empires as an enemy faction alongside the Izumo clan.