Sasaki clan

Sasaki clan 佐々木氏
The emblem (mon) of the Sasaki clan
Home province	Ōmi province
Parent house	Uda Genji Seiwa Genji
Titles	Various
Founder	Minamoto no Nariyori
Founding year	10th century
Ruled until	1871
Cadet branches	Rokkaku clan Amago clan Kyōgoku clan Kuroda clan

Sasaki clan (佐々木氏, Sasaki-shi^?) are a historical Japanese clan. (Uda Genji)

They are descended directly from Emperor Uda (868-897) by his grandson Minamoto no Masazane (920-993) (Uda Genji), but were adopted by the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Nariyori, great-grandson of Masazane, is the first who took the name of Sasaki from his domain in Ōmi province (now Shiga).

Hideyoshi (1112–1184), descendant of Minamoto no Nariyori, lost his parents young and became an orphan. He was adopted by Minamoto no Tameyoshi (then head of the Seiwa Genji). He participated to the Hōgen war (1156) in which his father Minamoto no Tameyoshi was killed, and the Heiji war (1159) with his (adoptive) uncles, brothers, nephews, cousins and clansmen. After his brother Minamoto no Yoshitomo was killed (1160), and the defeat of the Seiwa Genji, he went North to ask Fujiwara no Hidehira of Mutsu province to give him shelter, but stopped at Shibuya (Sagami province) and remained at that place for 20 years. When his nephew Minamoto no Yoritomo rose in revolt against the Taira, he with his four sons sided with him (1180). He was killed during the Genpei war (1180-1185) at the battle of Ōhara (1184) in Ōmi province fighting against the Taira clan. His descendants received from their Seiwa Genji cousins the title of shugo (governor) of Ōmi and other provinces, which they kept until the 16th century Sengoku Period wars. He is the ancestor of the Sasaki, the Rokkaku, the Amago, the Kyōgoku and the Kuroda clans.