Gamo clan

The Gamô of Ômi province were descended from Fujiwara Hidesato (ca.940), governor of Shimotsuke Province who clashed with Taira Masakado and beheaded him in 940. Hidesato's descendant Gamô Narutoshi settled in the Gamô district of Ômi Province and took its name. Narutoshi's son Gamô Toshitaka served Minamoto Yoritomo during the Gempei War (1180-85) and the Gamô would later support Ashikaga Takauji. They came to be retainers of the Rokkaku clan and served them into the Sengoku Period. In 1523 an internal struggle broke out between the brothers Gamô Takasato and Hideyuki, prompting Rokkaku Sadayori to intervene and force Hideyuki to abandon his castle (an action on Sadayori's part which is sometimes described as foreshadowing the later 'shirowari' (or one castle policy). The Gamô joined Oda Nobunaga in 1568 and would grow powerful in the service of Nobunaga and, later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Gamô survived into the Edo Period but died out with the passing of Gamô Tadatomo in 1634.

References

• Initial text from Sengoku Biographical Dictionary (Samurai-Archives.com) FWSeal & CEWest, 2005