Minamoto no Yoshikiyo (Takeda Kaja) (源義清 (武田冠者))
MINAMOTO no Yoshikiyo (1075-1149) was a busho (Japanese military commander), who lived during the latter Heian period. He was the third (or second) son of MINAMOTO no Yoshimitsu (Shinra-Saburo Yoshimitsu) who was the ancestor of the Kai-Genji (Minamoto clan), one of the families of Kawachi-Genji (Minamoto clan). His mother was the daughter of TAIRA no Kiyomoto. MINAMOTO no Yoshinari was his older brother, and Moriyoshi HIRAGA was his younger brother among others. His childhood name was Otomitsumaru. He was commonly called Saburo OSAKABE, Takeda Kaja, etc. His children were MINAMOTO no Kiyomitsu, MINAMOTO no Moromitsu, and others.
While his father Yoshimitsu was establishing his power in Hitachi Province, he was assigned to control Takeda-go (Takeda village) in the province (Takeda, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture) and called himself 'Takeda Kaja.'
However, he lost in the battle against the local lords including the Daijo clan, which originally gripped strong influences in the province, and punished by Imperial order, he was exiled to Ichikawa no sho estate, Kai Province, with his first son Kiyomitsu.
However, making use of this situation, he came to expand his power in Kai Province, and he became the first generation of the Kai-Genji that had continued from generation to generation since Kiyomitsu. Starting with the Takeda clan, his descendents formed various important families in the Japanese history, such as the Nanbu clan, Ogasawara clan and Miyoshi clan.