Over the generations, the iemoto was assigned as the sado (the head person who handles matters related to the tea ceremony) for the feudal lord of the Kishu Province Kishu-Tokugawa family (one of the three branch families of the house of Tokugawa).
代々の家元は紀州藩主である紀州徳川家（徳川御三家）の茶頭として格式を誇り、紀州徳川家と強いつながりがあった三井家とも縁があった。