Mr. Kaji

… In contrast, the powerful clans had a strong influence in the Agakita region, far from the Funai area where the shugo was located. During the conflicts from the end of the Kamakura period to the Northern and Southern Court period, the Sasaki Kaji clan, the most powerful clan in Shimoetsu, caused the head family to fall, but some of them, such as the Shibata clan, grew during the civil war, and the Chichibu clan and the Miura Wada clan had already gained influence as independent clans during the Kamakura period, such as the Honjo and Irobe clans in the former, the Nakajo and Kurokawa clans in the latter, and the Mizuhara and Yasuda clans in Shirakawa-sho. These clans, known as kokujin lords, stopped the system of divided inheritance of their territories and moved to a system of single inheritance, and their clan members and illegitimate children were given shares of the territories, strengthening their status as vassals. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to the "Kaji clan" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　これに対し，豪族が根強く勢力をはったのは，守護のいた府内から遠く離れた阿賀北地方である。鎌倉末～南北朝期の争乱で，下越きっての雄族佐々木加地氏は宗家の没落をまねいていたが，一族のうちから新発田（しばた）氏のように内乱期に成長をとげた者も出ていたし，秩父一族，三浦和田一族はすでに鎌倉期に独立した諸家，前者の本庄，色部，後者の中条，黒川などの諸氏，白河荘でも水原，安田氏など，あげて勢力を増大させていた。国人領主と呼ばれる彼らは所領の分割相続制をやめて，単独相続制に移行し，一族･庶子は所領給分を与えられて被官化＝家臣化が強められていた。…

※「加地氏」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報