Origin
The Tanegashima clan claims Taira ancestry. According to the family genealogy, its founder Nobumoto (信基) was a great-grandson of Taira no Kiyomori. Surviving the Genpei War (1180–1185), he was adopted by Hōjō Tokimasa, changed his name to Tokinobu (時信) and was given the island of Tanegashima at the beginning of the Kamakura period. However, this story is considered unhistorical because no contemporary source supports it.
The actual origin of the Tanegashima clan was the Higo clan. In 1203, Hōjō Tomotoki, the founder of the Nagoe branch of the Hōjō clan, was appointed as a jitō or land steward of the estate of Shimazu, which covered Tanegashima Island. Since the Nagoe family resided in Kamakura, the Higo clan was sent to the estate to rule it on behalf of the Nagoe family. Some members of the Higo clan seem to have spread to Tanegashima. The Higo clan made itself autonomous in Tanegashima after the Hōjō clan was annihilated. During the Nanboku-chō period, it began to claim the clan name of Tanegashima, which implied the ownership of the island.
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