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 .
Descendants of the were given Omi and the were given Muraji. This power dynamic became one of the incentives of the Taika Reform in 684.
During this reform, the kabane was no longer tied to a specific occupation or political position, but simply began to signify a family's aristocratic lineage and social status.