The Kudara no Konikishi () was a Japanese clan whose founder, Zenkō ( or ), was a son of King Uija, the last king of Baekje, in southwestern Korea. Kudara was an uji, or clan name, and represented its country of origin, Baekje. Konikishi or Kokishi, which literally means "king", was a special kabane that was given only to the former royal families of Baekje and Goguryeo: the Kudara, Shōna (肖奈) and Koma (高麗) clans. The founder Zenkō came from Baekje to Japan as a hostage along with his brother Hōshō in 643. Even though Japan sent Hōshō back to Korea for a failed campaign to revive Baekje, Zenkō remained in Japan. The former royal family members were treated as "barbarian guests" (蕃客) and were not incorporated into the domestic political system of Japan for some time. They enjoyed privileged treatment although they were obliged to serve to the emperor in a symbolic fashion. They were finally assimilated into Japanese bureaucracy in 691. They were given the name "Kudara no Konikishi" sometime afterward. The event has drawn scholarly attention, and a couple of theories have been proposed to explain the reason why they were given that peculiar name at that particular time. One theory associates the event with the enforcement of the Asuka Kiyomihara Code in 689, the law that entailed clarification of their legal status. However, while being subjects to the Japanese emperor, they still needed to represent the Baekje kingship by the special name. Japan applied to itself the Chinese ideology of emperorship that required "barbarian people" to long for the great virtue of the emperor. It was, however, difficult for Japan to keep the concept in concrete form in real international politics. Silla, which had acted as a vassal state in the 670s, changed its attitude and brought tension with Japan. In response, Japan treated Kudara no Konishiki as a "barbarian king" to reaffirm Silla's vassalage. In 790, Emperor Kanmu issued a rescript that treated the Kudara no Konikishi clan as "relatives by marriage." It was related to the fact that the emperor's mother, Takano no Niigasa, belonged to the Baekje-originated Yamato no Fuhito clan, who then claimed its roots in the Baekje royal family. Another theory attempts to interpret the rise and the fall of the Kudara no Konikishi clan in the context of domestic politics, rather than political ideology. The clan fell under the influence