was a branch of the Sugawara clan who descended from Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Sugawara no Michizane in the eighth and ninth centuries. It was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan and they were second only to the Tokugawa clan in rice production and fief size. They became daimyo during the Edo period. The Maeda clan ruled the Kaga Domain from their headquarters in Kanazawa from 1583 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Kanazawa Castle and Kenroku-en are cultural relics of the Maeda clan.