This name change took place around the same time another Minamoto scion took the clan name Takeda.

Minamoto no Mitsuyuki

His great-grandfather won Kai Province during the Gosannen War.

Nanbu Mitsuyuki

nan (南): (Japanese) south
bu (部): (Japanese) division

The new clan name derived from the location of his estates in Kai Province.

Sources

  • (Image Attribution) 663highland. \”Nanbu-jinja02s3200.\” Wikipedia. 24 August 2007. CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • \”Nanbu-shi\” on Harimaya.com
  • \”Nanbu clan.\” Wikipedia.