Minamoto no Masayori (源斉頼)
MINAMOTO no Masayori (dates of birth and death unknown) was a samurai in the middle of the Heian period. He was of MINAMOTO no Mitsumasa line of Seiwa-Genji (Minamoto clan). The eldest son of MINAMOTO no Tadataka, Suruga no kuni no kami (Governor of Suruga Province). His mother was a daughter of FUJIWARA no Kagenari, Bizen koku no kami (Governor of Bizen Province). His brothers include Tadakiyo, Shigetaka and Yoshitsune, and his children include Yoshiyuki, MINAMOTO no Koreie, Takanaka, Tadakiyo, Takasuke, and the wife of MINAMOTO no Yorimasa. His rank was Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade), and he executed such titles as Kurodo (Chamberlain), Uhyoe no jo (officer of the Right Division of Middle Palace Guards), Sahyoe no jo (officer of the Left Division of Middle Palace Guards), kebiishi (official with judicial and police powers), Dewa no kuni no kami (Governor of Dewa Province) and Izumo no kuni no kami (Governor of Izumo Province). His imina (personal name) is 政頼, which reads "sei-rai."
In 1055 when he was assigned to Kurodo as well as Uhyoe no jo, he was appointed as kebiishi in reward for his having arrested thugs who fled into an Kurodo's office while wielding swords together with his men ("Hyakuren sho" [History book from the Kamakura period]). In 1057, he was appointed as Dewa no kuni no kami (Governor of Dewa Province), replacing MINAMOTO no Kanenaga, to support KUMAMOTO no Yoriyoshi who was fighting poorly in the Zenkunen War (the Early Nine Years' War) ("Fuso ryakki" [A Short History of Japan]). But it was recorded that he showed an uncooperative attitude to Yoriyoshi after his appointment as the Governor of Dewa Province, and his achievement in the said war was very limited, which was arresting of ABE no Ryosho, brother of ABE no Yoritoki, at the end of the war.
Known to be an excellent hawker, Masayori inherited the secret technique of hawking from Kanemitsu, a master hawker who came to Japan from Korea (whose name varies depending on the records), which was called Kochiku School or Seirai School and was later handed down by the Suwa School and its branch schools. "Kojidan" (Talks of the Past), a collection of anecdotes compiled in the early part of the Kamakura period, has stories on him as a hawker. Although the year of his death is unknown, Shoraizuka-kofun Tomb, which is located at today's Makino-cho, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, is believed to be the tomb of Masayori.
Descendants of Masayori's third son, Koreie, settled in Takashima-gun, Omi Province, and named their clan as Yoshizumi, and one of his daughters (granddaughter to be precise) became the wife of MINAMOTO no Yorimasa of Settsu-Genji and mothered MINAMOTO no Nakatsuna and Nijoin no Sanuki.