kabane

were Japanese hereditary noble titles. Their use traces back to ancient times when they began to be used as titles signifying a family's political and social caste.

== History == At first, the kabane were administered by individual clans, but eventually they came to be controlled by the Yamato imperial court. As the court's national unification efforts progressed, a kabane was given to the most powerful families, which gradually became a hereditary noble title, and new ones were created. There were almost thirty of them in number. Some of the more common kabane were , , Sukune (宿禰), , , , , , and .