afaik, there aren't many kuge of major historical significance who are landed in the periods covered by NMIH. One somewhat notable figure would be Ichijo Fusaie (一条 房家) of the Tosa-Ichijo clan (土佐一条氏), who was the son of a former Kanpaku (関白), Ichijo Norifusa. He's playable during the early Sengoku starts, presumably until 1539, though I haven't checked exactly.

I believe that white thing is a sort of ribbon that you see hanging around trees sometimes, the name escapes me. Why it is there, I wouldn't know.