After the Emperor and royal families, the first in rank in the state are the Koongays. Until further light be thrown upon Japanese history, the remote origin of this class will be somewhat obscure, some tracing their pedigree back upward of 1,500 years. Many of the Koongays are descendants of younger sons and cadets of the imperial family branching off at former periods, while the surnames of some of the other families are as old as historic records. In all probability their forefathers came over to Japan at the time of its invasion and conquest by Zinmu, and being the assistants, brothers in arms, and mainstays of his throne and power, the soil about the center of the empire was divided among them, and they thenceforward became the nobility of the court of the Emperor. So long as the empire was under one emperor who ruled vigorously, this aristocracy seems to have existed in the central provinces as feudal lords, much in the same way as the Daimios of the present day. But when the vigor of rule relaxed, and power fell into the hands of a commander-in-chief, or mayor of the palace, with uncertainty in the rulers, there followed division in the aristocracy. Previous to the beginning of the fifteenth century, the western part of the empire was all that was known to any who could throw light upon its position by writing. The large tract of country to the north and northeast of Yedo, called the obscure or unpenetrated way, was comparatively unknown and uninhabited, and was divided into four or five large territories, under princes who seldom heard of, and more rarely visited, the court at Miako. The dissensions and struggles for power between the two powerful families of Heji and Genji gave rise to a nearly continual state of civil war for upward of 200 years. During the Onin war families were destroyed, territories were lost, might was everywhere right, and though several of the oldest and noblest families among the Koongays retained their honors and titles and places about the court, they lost their property, and many have ever since remained at the lowest ebb of poverty.