Though there is no longer an official status, members of the kuge families remain influential in Japanese society, government, and industry.

[2] Kuge (from Middle Chinese kuwng-kæ 公家, "ducal family", or "nobility" in a pre–peerage context) originally described the Emperor and his court.

[4] Later in the Kamakura period (1185–1333), kuge became an antonym to buke (warrior nobles), that is, samurai who swore loyalty to the shogunate.

The highest offices at the court were called kugyō and eligibility was limited to members of dōjō kuge.

In particular, after the Sengoku period they lost most of their financial basis and were no longer in a position to act as patrons of culture, but they passed on their knowledge as masters of particular fields such as writing waka poetry and playing instruments such as the biwa, and they had disciples among the daimyō and sometimes rich commoners.