Ever since the clan system was established in ancient Japan, it has been deemed to be most important for those people in the upper class, especially in the families called honke (the head family) or chakuryu (the main branch of the family) to maintain and succeed for generations the line, status, rite, business, properties, kamon (family), and trade or profession of the family.
古代の氏制度以来、一族の家系・家格・家祭・家業・家産・家門・家職の維持・継承が日本の上流階層特に本家・嫡流と呼ばれる家においては最も重要視されてきた。