The Gamo Clan (蒲生氏)
The Gamo clan is a Japanese clan.
The Omi Gamo clan
The Omi Gamo clan was one of the Fujiwara clan and they had been saying that they originated from FUJIWARA no Hidesato. The clan first established its power base in Gamo County of Omi Province and FUJIWARA no Koretoshi began to call himself the Gamo clan.
In the Muromachi period, the Gamo clan served Shugo Daimyo (provincial military governors) of Omi Province the Rokkaku clan as a guest samurai.
In the early Sengoku period (Period of Warring States in Japan), Sadahide (貞秀) GAMO strongly supported Shugo (provincial military governors) Takayori ROKKAKU to make the Rokkaku clan one of powerful Sengoku daimyo (Japanese territorial lord in the Sengoku period); however, Sadahide's heir Hideyuki died young and before naming the new heir, Sadahide died, therefore, a conflict arose between Hideyuki's oldest son Hidenori GAMO and Sadahide's son Takasato GAMO. Eventually, Takasato won and ever since then, the head of the clan was selected from Takasato's line.
Takasato's son, Sadahide (定秀) GAMO served the Rokkaku clan as Syukuro (a chief vassal of a samurai family); however, during the period of Katahide GAMO, the Rokkaku clan was destroyed by the Oda clan; after that, the Gamo clan served the Oda clan and was given important status by the achievements and some occasion including the marriage between Katahide's son Ujisato GAMO and a daughter of Nobunaga ODA; therefore, the Gamo clan at last successfully became Daidaimyo (a feudal lord with a greater stipend) and played important roles during the period of the Oda government and the Toyotomi government.
However, after Ujisato, who had been well-known as a great commander, died young, the power of the Gamo clan declined, and even though the clan managed to survive as daimyo of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the family heads died young one after another, and finally the Gamo clan ended due to the absence of the heir.
The Satsuma GAMO clan
The Satsuma GAMO clan was one of the Fujiwara clan and they had been saying that they originated from FUJIWARA no Norikiyo. In fact, Shunsei GAMO, a son of FUJIWARA no Norikiyo, began to call himself the Gamo clan when he established his base in the Gamo-in Manor in Osumi Province.
The clan built the Gamo-jo Castle and exerted power especially in Osumi Province.
However, during the Kamakura period and Muromachi period, the Gamo clan had to bear under the reigns of the Shimazu clan which had been Shugo. When the power of the Shimazu clan grew weak from internal conflicts during the Sengoku period, Shigekiyo GAMO banded with the Kimotsuki clan and fought with the Shimazu clan. However, Takahisa SHIMAZU who had succeeded in ending the internal conflict launched a counterattack, the Gamo clan gradually declined, and at last Shigekiyo's son Norikiyo GAMO surrendered; after that, the Gamo clan served the Shimazu clan as vassal.