Minamoto (源) was an honorary surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan of the Heian Period to their sons and grandsons after accepting them as royal subjects. As custom, in order to ease imperial succession and end rivalries for the throne, princes not eligible or far removed from the throne were given a surname and became subjects of the emperor.
The first emperor to start granting the name Minamoto was Emperor Saga. Afterwards, Emperor Seiwa, Emperor Murakami, Emperor Uda, and Emperor Daigo, among others, also gave their sons the name Minamoto. These specific hereditary lines coming from different emperors developed into specific clans and are often referred to as the Genji (源氏). These specific hereditary lines from these emperors is referred to by the emperor's name followed by Genji, e.g., Seiwa Genji.
The protagonist of the classical Japanese novel The Tale of Genji, Hikaru no Genji, was bestowed the name Minamoto for political reasons by his father, the emperor, and was delegated to civilian life and a career as an imperial officer.
Minamoto (源) was an honorary surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan of the Heian Period to their sons and grandsons after accepting them as royal subjects.
Minamoto was also called Genji, using the alternate pronunciation of the Chinese characters for Minamoto (gen) and uji, or family (ji).
The Minamoto were one of the four great clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period (794-1185) - the other three were the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana.
Minamoto no Yoritomo was the eldest son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the heir of the Minamoto (Seiwa Genji) clan, and his official wife, Fujiwara no Saneori, who was a member of the illustrious Fujiwara clan.
Meanwhile, Minamoto no Yoshitomo fled the capital just as the Taira marched in in 1160, but was betrayed and executed by a retainer in Owari.
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