Meanwhile, the Seiwa-Genji branch of the Minamoto clan (who were descended from Emperor Seiwa, the fifty-sixth emperor) and particularly the Kawachi-Genji branch of the Minamoto clan (which was known as the head of the samurai families based in Kawachi Province, which was located in the Kinai region) prevented the privileged classes (clans such as the Taira and Fujiwara) from assuming power and steadily extended the power base of the Minamoto clan throughout the Togoku.
一方で第56代清和天皇から派生した清和源氏、特に武家棟梁と呼ばれる畿内の河内国を本拠地とした河内源氏の一族は特権階級（平氏や藤原氏等）の増長を制し、着々と東国にその基盤を広げて行った。