Things began to swing in favour of the Minamoto when a large rebel army led by Minamoto no Yoritomo scared off a smaller Taira force and he gained control of the Kanto region in eastern Japan by taking advantage of widespread disaffection with Taira rule, especially their policy of redistribution of land rights. Initially, the Taira did well with their commander Taira no Tomomori defeating Minamoto forces led by Minamoto no Yorimasa in 1180 CE and Minamoto no Yukie in 1181 CE at the Sunomata River. In the civil war, also known as the Taira-Minamoto War, the Minamoto now had the support of Mochito, the son of ex-emperor Go-Shirakawa, and they formed a rebel army led by Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Minamoto were not finished, and an even more significant battle for power broke out in 1180 CE with the Genpei War ( Genpei No Soran). Hachimanto was a famed archer, credited with being able to fire an arrow through three men at once, and he was the main reason the Japanese defeated the Ezo people of northern Honshu. The legendary hero was named after the god following a dream by his father where Hachiman gave the youth a sword. Yoriyoshi's son Yoshiie (1042-1103 CE) was an equally formidable warrior, and he came to be known as Hachimantaro or 'First Son of Hachiman'. Yoriyoshi built a shrine at Yui-no-go in Sagami (moved to Kamakura in 1191 CE), and from that point on ever more shrines were built, all funded and protected by the Minamoto. Yoriyoshi (988-1075 CE), Yorinobu's son, strengthened the family ties to Hachiman by citing the god as the reason for his victory in the Earlier Nine Years War in 1062 CE against the Abe clan of Mutsu, who were Emishi tax evaders. Yorinobu (968-1048 CE) was the first Minamoto to make this claim in 1046 CE.

In the 11th century CE, Hachiman, the Shinto god of war, divination, and culture, was selected as the symbolic head and patron of the Minamoto clan, who could then claim lineage back to Emperor Ojin, considered an avatar of the god. Hachiman, the Shinto god of war & culture, was the patron of the Minamoto clan. Eventually, the family group expanded as successive emperors awarded the title name so that there were many different branches, for example, descendants of Emperor Seiwa (r. The name Minamoto or Genji translates as 'spring' or 'fount'.

The Minamoto name was first given as a surname to the children removed from the direct line of descent of Emperor Saga (r. With emperors having as many as 50 children, even direct descendants were removed from the royal line and given one of two family names: Minamoto (aka Minamoto-Shi or Genji) or Taira (aka Hei-Shi or Heike). Japan's Clan Systemįrom the 9th century CE in Japan, the process known as 'dynastic shedding' removed individuals from the dynastic lineage because the royal family became too large and too costly to maintain. The clan famously defeated their arch rivals the Taira in the Genpei War of 1180-1185 CE and included such famous figures as Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japan's first shogun ruler. The Minamoto clan was an extended family group which dominated Japanese government and the imperial court in the 12th and 13th centuries CE.

Clan lord register