Even within
royalty there was a distinction between princes with the title , who could ascend to the throne, and princes with the title , who were not members of the line of imperial succession but nevertheless remained members of the
royal class (and therefore outranked members of Minamoto clans). The bestowing of the Minamoto name on a (theretofore-)prince or his descendants excluded them from the royal class altogether, thereby operating as a reduction in legal and social rank even for
ō-princes not previously in the line of succession. with
mon(emblem) of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji), found in
Edo period Many later clans were formed by members of the Minamoto clan, and in many early cases, progenitors of these clans are known by either family name. There are also known
monks of Minamoto descent; these are often noted in genealogies but did not carry the clan name (in favour of a
dharma name). attached with
Mon (emblem) of Minamoto clan (sasa-rindou) The Minamoto is the ancestor and parent clan of many notable descendant clans, some of which are
Ashikaga,
Tokugawa,
Matsudaira,
Nitta,
Takeda,
Shimazu,
Sasaki,
Akamatsu,
Kitabatake, Tada,
Ota,
Toki,
Yamana,
Satomi,
Hosokawa,
Satake, Yamamoto, Hemi,
Ogasawara,
Yasuda, Takenouchi, Hiraga,
Imagawa,
Miyake, etc. There were 21 branches of the clan, each named after
the emperor from whom it descended. Some of these lineages were populous, but a few did not produce descendants.
Saga Genji The Saga Genji are descendants of
Emperor Saga. As Saga had many children, many were bestowed the
uji Minamoto, declassing them from imperial succession. Among his sons,
Makoto,
Tokiwa, and
Tōru took the position of Minister of the Left (
sadaijin); they were among the most powerful in the Imperial Court in the early
Heian period. Some of Tōru's descendants in particular settled the provinces and formed
buke. Clans such as the
Watanabe,
Matsuura, and
Kamachi descend from the Saga Genji. composing
Genji Monogatari (
The Tale of Genji) Noted Saga Genji and descendants include: •
Minamoto no Makoto, seventh son of the Emperor •
Minamoto no Hiromu, eighth son of the Emperor •
Minamoto no Hitoshi, grandson of Hiromu •
Minamoto no Tokiwa, son of the Emperor •
Minamoto no Okoru, first son of Tokiwa •
Minamoto no Sadamu, son of the Emperor •
Minamoto no Shitagō, great-grandson of Sadamu •
Minamoto no Hiroshi, son of the Emperor •
Minamoto no Tōru, son of the Emperor (1147–1199) in 1179, by
Fujiwara no Takanobu|left •
Minamoto no Anbō (secular name Minamoto no Shitagō), great-grandson of Tōru •
Watanabe no Tsuna (his official name was
Minamoto no Tsuna, who resided at Watanabe in Settsu province, and took the name of the place), great-great-grandson of Tōru •
Matsuura Hisashi, great-grandson of Tsuna •
Minamoto no Koreshige, grandson of Tōru •
Minamoto no Mitsusue, great-great-grandson of Koreshige •
Minamoto no Tsutomu, son of the Emperor •
Minamoto no Hiraku, son of the Emperor History records indicate that at least three of Emperor Saga's daughters were also made Minamoto (
Minamoto no Kiyohime,
Minamoto no Sadahime, and
Minamoto no Yoshihime), but few records concerning his daughters are known. cutting the arm off the demon Ibaraki
Ninmyō Genji They were descendants of
Emperor Ninmyō. His sons
Minamoto no Masaru and
Minamoto no Hikaru were
udaijin. Among Hikaru's descendants was
Minamoto no Atsushi, adoptive father of the Saga Genji's
Watanabe no Tsuna and father of the Seiwa Genji's
Minamoto no Mitsunaka's wife.
Montoku Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Montoku. Among them,
Minamoto no Yoshiari was a
sadaijin, and among his descendants were the
Sakado clan who were
Hokumen no Bushi.
Seiwa Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Seiwa. The most numerous of them were those descended from
Minamoto no Tsunemoto, son of
Prince Sadazumi.
Hachimantarō Yoshiie of the
Kawachi Genji was a leader of a
buke. His descendants set up the
Kamakura shogunate, making his a prestigious pedigree claimed by many
buke, particularly for the direct descendants in the
Ashikaga clan (that set up the
Ashikaga shogunate) and the rival
Nitta clan. Centuries later,
Tokugawa Ieyasu would claim descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Nitta clan. (1159–1189)
Yōzei Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Yōzei. While
Minamoto no Tsunemoto is termed the ancestor of the Seiwa Genji, there is evidence (rediscovered in the late 19th century by
Hoshino Hisashi) suggesting that he was actually the grandson of Emperor Yōzei rather than of Emperor Seiwa. This theory is not widely accepted as fact, but as Yōzei was deposed for reprehensible behaviour, there would have been a compelling motive to claim descent from more auspicious origins if it were the case.
Kōkō Genji (894–961) These were descendants of
Emperor Kōkō. The great-grandson of his firstborn
Prince Koretada,
Kōshō, was the ancestor of a line of
busshi, from which various styles of Buddhist sculpture emerged. Kōshō's grandson
Kakujo established the
Shichijō Bussho workshop.
Uda Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Uda. Two sons of
Prince Atsumi,
Minamoto no Masanobu and
Minamoto no Shigenobu became
sadaijin. Masanobu's children in particular flourished, forming five
dōjō houses as
kuge, and as
buke the
Sasaki clan of the
Ōmi Genji, and the
Izumo Genji. (948–1021)
Daigo Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Daigo. His son
Minamoto no Takaakira became a
sadaijin, but his downfall came during the
Anna incident. Takaakira's descendants include the
Okamoto and
Kawajiri clans. Daigo's grandson
Minamoto no Hiromasa was a reputed musician.
Murakami Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Murakami. His grandson
Morofusa was an
udaijin and had many descendants, among them several houses of
dōjō kuge. Until the
Ashikaga clan took it during the
Muromachi period, the title of
Genji no Chōja always fell to one of Morofusa's progeny. (1192–1219) –
Kamakura Udaijin Reizei Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Reizei. Though they are included among the listing of 21 Genji lineages, no concrete record of the names of his descendants made Minamoto is known to survive.
Kazan Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Kazan. They became the
dōjō Shirakawa family, which headed the
Jingi-kan for centuries, responsible for the centralised aspects of
Shinto. (1154–1184)
Sanjō Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Sanjō's son
Prince Atsuakira. Starting with one of them,
Minamoto no Michisue, the position of
Ōkimi-no-kami (chief genealogist of the imperial family) in the
Ministry of the Imperial Household was passed down hereditarily.
Go-Sanjō Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Go-Sanjō's son
Prince Sukehito. Sukehito's son
Minamoto no Arihito was a
sadaijin.
Minamoto no Yoritomo's vassal
Tashiro Nobutsuna, who appears in the
Tale of the Heike, was allegedly Arihito's grandson (according to the
Genpei Jōsuiki). (1182–1204)
Go-Shirakawa Genji This line consisted solely of
Emperor Go-Shirakawa son
Mochihito-ō (Takakura-no-Miya). As part of the succession dispute that led to the opening hostilities of the
Genpei War, he was declassed (renamed "
Minamoto no Mochimitsu") and exiled.
Juntoku Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Juntoku's sons
Tadanari-ō and
Prince Yoshimune. The latter's grandson
Yoshinari rose to
sadaijin with the help of
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. (968–1048)
Go-Saga Genji This line consisted solely of
Emperor Go-Saga's grandson
Prince Koreyasu. Koreyasu-ō was installed as a puppet
shōgun (the seventh of the
Kamakura shogunate) at a young age, and was renamed "
Minamoto no Koreyasu" a few years later. After he was deposed, he regained royal status, and became a monk soon after, thereby losing the Minamoto name.
Go-Fusakusa Genji These were descendants of
Emperor Go-Fukakusa's son
Prince Hisaaki (the eighth
shōgun of the
Kamakura shogunate). Hisaaki's sons
Prince Morikuni (the next
shōgun) and
Prince Hisayoshi were made Minamoto. Hisayoshi's adopted "nephew" (actually
Nijō Michihira's son)
Muneaki became a
gon-dainagon (acting
dainagon).
Ōgimachi Genji These were non-royal descendants of
Emperor Ōgimachi. At first they were
buke, but they later became
dōjō-ke, the
Hirohata family. == Legacy ==