Like the Kira clan, the Imagawa clan was a renshi (noble sibling) of the Ashikaga family (Ashikaga Shogunate house) and had the right of succession to the head family of Ashikaga, and therefore had a special position different from other branch lines of the Ashikaga family, such as the Shiba clan and Hatakeyama clan.
吉良家とともに足利将軍家の連枝であり足利宗家の継承権を有しており、斯波氏や畠山氏をはじめとする他の足利一門庶流諸家とは別格の地位にあった。