The Soga clan (Japanese: 蘇我氏, Hepburn: Soga uji) was one of the most powerful aristocratic kin groups (uji) of the Asuka period of the early Japanese state—the Yamato polity—and played a major role in the spread of Buddhism. Through the 5th and 7th centuries, the Soga monopolized the kabane or hereditary rank of Great Omi and was the first of many families to dominate the Imperial House of Japan by influencing the order of succession and government policy. The last Soga predates any historical work in Japan, and very little is known about its earliest members.