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|image caption = The emblem ([[Mon (emblem)|''mon'']]) of the Minamoto clan<br>''(three [[Gentiana scabra|Japanese gentian flowers]] on five [[Bamboo|bamboo leaves]])''
|home province = [[Heian-kyō]] (Modern [[Kyōto]])
|parent house = [[Imperial House of Japan]]<br/>([[Emperor Saga]])<br />legendary genealogy ([[Izanagi]])
|titles = [[Shogun]], [[Daimyō]], [[Kuge]], [[Daijō-daijin]], [[Minister of the Left|Sadaijin]], [[Minister of the Right|Udaijin]], [[Kazoku]], and others
|founder = [[Minamoto no Makoto]] (first recorded)
|dissolution =
|ruled until =still extant
|cadet branches = {{PlainlistPlain list|
* [[Saga Genji]]
* [[Ninmyō Genji]]
}}
{{nihongoNihongo|'''Minamoto'''|源}} was a [[Aristocracy (class)|noble]] surname bestowed by the [[Emperors of Japan]] upon members of the [[Imperial House of Japan|imperial family]] who were excluded from the [[List of emperors of Japan|line of succession]] and demoted into the ranks of [[Nobility|the nobility]] since 814.<ref name=":3">"...the Minamoto (1192-1333)". ''Warrior Rule in Japan'', page 11. Cambridge University Press.</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=September 2024}}<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=井上 |first=辰雄 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_panuAAACAAJ |title=嵯峨天皇と文人官僚 |publisher=塙書房 |year=2011 |isbn=9784827312409 |location=Japan |pages=305–306 |language=ja}}</ref> Several noble lines were bestowed the surname, the most notable of which was the [[Seiwa Genji]], whose descendants established the [[Kamakura shogunate|Kamakura]] and [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga]] [[Shogun|shogunates]] following the Heian era. The Minamoto was one of the four great [[Japanese clans|clans]] that dominated Japanese politics during the [[Heian period|Heian]] period in [[History of Japan|Japanese history]]—the other three were the [[Fujiwara clan|Fujiwara]], the [[Taira clan|Taira]], and the [[Tachibana clan (kuge)|Tachibana]].<ref>{{Cite bookencyclopedia |last=Gibney |first=Frank |year=1984 |title=Shisei: 'Genji' |encyclopedia=Britannica International Encyclopedia |publisher=TBS-Britannica |year=1984 |at=Shisei: "Genji" |oclc=47462068}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Frédéric |first=Louis |year=2002 |title=Japan Encyclopedia |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2002 |isbn=9780674017535 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=439–452 |language=en}}</ref>
In the late Heian period, Minamoto rivalry with the Taira culminated in the [[Genpei War]] (1180-11851180–1185 AD). The Minamoto emerged victorious and established Japan's first [[Kamakura shogunate|shogunate]] in [[Kamakura]] under [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]], who appointed himself as ''[[Shōgunshōgun]]'' in 1192, ushering in the [[Kamakura period]] (1192–1333 AD) of Japanese history. The name "Genpei" comes from [[On'yomi|alternate readings]] of the ''[[kanji]]'' "Minamoto" (源 ''Gen'') and "Taira" (平 ''Hei'').
The Kamakura Shogunate was overthrown by [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] in the [[Kenmu Restoration]] of 1333. Three years later the Kenmu government would then itself be overthrown by the [[Ashikaga clan]], descendants of the Seiwa Genji who established the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] (1333 to 1573).
The Minamoto clan is also called the {{nihongoNihongo|'''Genji'''|源氏|4="Minamoto clan"}}, or less frequently, the {{nihongoNihongo|'''Genke'''|源家|4="House of Minamoto"}}, using the [[Onon'yomi]] readings of {{nihongo|''gen''|源}} for "Minamoto", while {{nihongoNihongo|''shi'' or ''ji''|氏}} means "[[Uji (clan)|clan]]", and {{nihongoNihongo|''ke''|家}} is used as a suffix for "[[extended family]]".<ref>{{citeCite book |last=Lebra |first=Takie Sugiyama |year=1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xa0wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |title=Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility |publisher=University of California Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780520076020 |language=en}}</ref>
== History ==
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