Muchimaro became the head of Ministry of Civil Services in 718. When Fuhito, Muchimaro's father, died in 720, Prince Nagaya was at the highest rank in the state government. Prince Nagaya was a grandson of Emperor Tenmu, but not a son of Fujiwara family, therefore was seen as a threat by Muchimaro and his three brothers. After successfully removing Prince Nagaya in 729, Muchimaro rose to Dainagon (Counselor of the first rank).
The History of the Fujiwara House (Tōshi Kaden 藤氏家伝) included his biography and states the following: "Muchimaro, the Fujiwara Great Minister of the Left, was a man from the Sakyō district. He was the oldest son of the Head of the Council of State Fuhito, and his mother was a daughter of the Soga Great Minister of the Treasury. He was born in the mansion at Ōhara on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of 680, the ninth year since the enthronement of the sovereign Tenmu. Because he cultivated righteousness, he received this name."[2]
Fujiwara no Muchimaro grave
Fujiwara no Muchimaro's grave is located in the Kojima-chō neighborhood of the city of Gojō, Nara. It is located on the mountain behind Eizan-ji, a Shingon Buddhism temple facing the Yoshino River. Fujiwara no Muchimaro was cremated at Sahoyama, north of Heijō-kyō but his son Nakamaro is said to have reburied him here. The Engishiki states that the grave was placed in Atada, Uchi County, Yamato Province. It was designated a [[Monuments of Japan|National Historic Site in 1940. The grave is a square with sides of 7 to 8 meters, surrounded by rectangular green schist stones mined in the area, and a gravestone erected in 1693 was erected within it. During the Meiji period, an ossuary was discovered nearby. [3]
^ abcBrinkley, Frank and Dairoku Kikuchi. (1915). A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era. New York: Encyclopædia Britannica. OCLC 413099
^ abcdeKanai, Madoka; Nitta, Hideharu; Yamagiwa, Joseph Koshimi (1966). A topical history of Japan. Sub-Committee on Far Eastern Language Instruction of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. p. 6.
^ abBrown, Delmer M. (1988). The Cambridge History of Japan: Volume 1. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521223522.
^Nakagawa, Osamu (1991). "藤原良継の変" [The Rise of Fujiwara no Yoshitsugu]. 奈良朝政治史の研究 [Political History of the Nara Period] (in Japanese). Takashina Shoten (高科書店).
^Kimoto, Yoshinobu (1998). 藤原式家官人の考察. 高科書店. p. 47. ISBN 978-4-87294-923-0.
^Takemitsu, Makoto (2013). 日本史の影の主役藤原氏の正体: 鎌足から続く1400年の歴史. PHP研究所. p. 103. ISBN 978-4569761046.
^Kimoto, Yoshinobu (2004). "『牛屋大臣』藤原是公について" [On "Ushiya-Daijin" Fujiwara no Korekimi]. 奈良時代の藤原氏と諸氏族 [The Fujiwara Clan and Other Clans of the Nara Period] (in Japanese). Ohfu.
^Kurihara, Hiromu. 藤原内麿家族について [The Family of Fujiwara no Uchimaro]. Japanese History (日本歴史) (in Japanese) (511).
^Kurihara, Hiromu (2008). "藤原冬嗣家族について" [Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu's Family]. 平安前期の家族と親族 [Family and Relatives During the Early Heian Period] (in Japanese). Azekura Shobo (校倉書房). ISBN 978-4-7517-3940-2.
^ ab 公卿補任 [Kugyō Bunin] (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan (吉川弘文館). 1982.
^Kitayama, Shigeo (1973). 日本の歴史4 平安京 [History of Japan IV: Heian-kyō] (in Japanese). Chūkō Bunko (中公文庫). p. 242.
^ 日本古代氏族人名辞典（普及版） [Dictionary of Names from Ancient Japanese Clans (Trade Version)] (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan (吉川弘文館). 2010. ISBN 978-4-642-01458-8.
^ abNobuyoshi, Yamamoto (2003). 摂関政治史論考 (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan (吉川弘文館). ISBN 978-4-642-02394-8.
^Haruo, Sasayama (2003). "藤原兼通の政権獲得過程". 日本律令制の展開 (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan (吉川弘文館). ISBN 978-4-642-02393-1.
^Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
^ abPapinot, Edmond (1910). Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha.
