The Tada clan (多田氏)
The Tada clan were the descendants of "Seiwa-Genji" (Minamoto clan). The family name "Tada" originated from the place name of Tada, Kawabe County, Settsu Province (in the eastern part of which is now Hyogo Prefecture). The family crest was, for example, the figures of a lion and peony.
Summary
Tada began to be used by MINAMOTO no Mitsunaka, who formed a samurai group in Tada, Kawabe County Settsu Province, in the middle of the Heian period.
Afterward, the real estate in Tada was inherited by MINAMOTO no Yorimitsu (the eldest son of Mitsunaka), and then by MINAMOTO no Yorikuni (the son of Yorimitsu), and from MINAMOTO no Yoritsuna (the fifth son of Yorikuni) the lineage of the eldest son succeeded to the family name of 'Tada.'
After Yoritsuna, the lineage of the Tada clan produced collateral branches, such as the Baba and Yamagata clans, and over of more than 200 years the lineage inherited the real estate in Tada, which was the oldest territory of all owned by Seiwa-Genji (Minamoto clan). However, the lineage went into decline when Yukitsuna TADA, who belonged to the clan's lineage of the eldest son, was shunned and deprived of the real estate in Tada during the Jisho-Juei War by MINAMOTO no Yoritomo, and thereafter the historical materials making mention of what happened to the clan became fragmentary (see the article of "Tada-Genji").
The Tada clan, following its decline, was revived by MINAMOTO no Yorikane, who was the son of MINAMOTO no Kanetsuna according to the 'Tada clan's genealogy' in "Gunsho Ruiju" (a collection of historical documents compiled by Hokiichi HANAWA); however, "Sonpi Bunmyaku" (a text compiled in the 14th century that records the lineages of the aristocracy) states the second son of MINAMOTO no Yorimasa. Gaining a foothold in Izu Province (part of today's Shizuoka Prefecture), Yorikane is said to have linked with the Kamakura "bakufu" (a Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). This lineage, referred to as the Izu-Tada clan, was authorized to own its lands in the Settsu and Izu provinces during the Muromachi period but is said to have been in decline in the Eisho era (A.D. 1504 - 1520) because it took the side of Yoshitane ASHIKAGA in the midst of the dispute over succession to the shogunate. It is somewhat unclear what the Izu-Tada clan was really like, since many points are yet to be known about its lineage and historical facts.
The Tada clan, as founded by Tsunezane TADA in the early Kamakura period, existed in Yamato Province (today's Nara Prefecture) as local samurai, and this clan, which is said to have comprised descendants of MINAMOTO no Mitsunaka, maintained a foothold at Sahiyama-jo Castle for generations; however, in some historical sources there are depictions that can be taken to mean that this lineage had nothing to do with the Tada clan mentioned above, so the detail of this lineage is unclear. It is also said that Noritsuna TADA, who was the father-in-law of OE no Hiromoto, was from the Tada clan of "Settsu-Genji" (Minamoto clan), and that Noritsuna's daughter and Hiromoto had their child, OE no Chikahiro (the founder of the Sagae clan), but the Noritsuna name can't be found in the Tada clan's genealogy on "Sonpi Bunmyaku" and other historical sources.
During the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, some warlords called Tada, such as Yorisada TADA, Sadatsuna TADA and Yoshimoto TADA, fought on the side of the Southern Court, but the details of their family is unlear; incidentally, in "Sonpi Bunmyaku" there is the depiction that Takayori NOSE (the third son of Yorimori TADA) had Yorisada and Sadatsuna as his descendants.
During the Sengoku (Warring States) period, there existed the Tada clan that is said to have been the descendant of MINAMOTO no Mitsuyoshi, whose foothold was at Shukuno-jo Castle in Settsu Province, and there also existed Mitsuyori TADA (a member of the Kai-Tada clan), who is commonly said to have fallen under the lineage of Yorimitsu; some say he was the descendant of MINAMOTO no Mitsusue. However, in the genealogy of "Sonpi Bunmyaku" and other historical sources there is no mention of any descendant of Mitsusue, nor that of Mitsuyoshi, called the Tada clan. Moreover, some figures are said to have belonged to the Tada clan, such as Nobuhisa KAWAI (also called Masaharu TADA), who was the boss of an uprising in Kaga Province (in the southern part of today's Ishikawa Prefecture) carried out by followers of the Ikko sect of Buddhism, and Harumasa TADA, who had a foothold at Uetsu-jo Castle, in Settsu Province.
In the Edo period, the Kai-Tada clan was ranked "hatamoto" (direct retainers of the 'bakuhu').