Because Masakado at first fought against his uncles, it tends to be viewed as "intra-clan conflict of the Bando-Heishi," but because Kunika, Yoshikane and Yoshimasa all had taken as wife daughters of MINAMOTO no Mamoru, whereas Masakado's father, Yoshimasa, had not, it is also said that it was "a conflict between MINAMOTO no Mamoru and his relatives, and Masakado."
また、将門が当初は伯父らと争っているため、「坂東平氏一族の争い」と見られがちだが、国香・良兼・良正は源護の娘を娶っており、将門の父の良将とは違うことから、「源護・源護の縁者と将門の争い」ではないかとも言われている。