Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-10797017-20130622101437/@comment-11051098-20130708142031

The Shiba clan was confirmed to be the 5th Noble Family, I'd say probably at the times when Kaien was the Squad 13 Lieutenant and Isshin was the Squad 10 Captain.

I hope Kubo will explain the roles of the Noble Families sometimes during this arc. As you said, now that Isshin have been revealed to be from the Shiba family, and Ichigo thereby is a Shiba too, it's a good opportunity to reveal more info about the subject.