The House of Peers in session with Emperor Meiji giving a speech. (Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1890)The Kazoku (華族, "Magnificent/Exalted lineage") was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947.It was formed by merging the feudal lords and court nobles into one system modelled after the British peerage.