was the seventh son of the Japanese Emperor

Emperor of Japan

The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...

 Saga

Emperor Saga

was the 52nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign spanned the years from 809 through 823.-Traditional narrative:...

, and was the first courtier to be given the name Minamoto. Initially an honorary name given to a number of unrelated courtiers by a number of different Emperors, the Minamoto clan would grow to be an integrated clan family, one of the most powerful and most important in all of Japanese history

History of Japan

The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...

.

Makoto, also known as Kitabe-daijin, was the brother of Emperor Nimmyō, Minamoto no Tokiwa, and Minamoto no Tōru

Minamoto no Toru

was a Japanese poet and statesman. He was born the grandson of Emperor Saga and a member of the Saga Genji clan. He is sometimes mentioned as the model for Hikaru Genji in important Japanese literary classic the Tale of Genji....

. He received the name "Minamoto" in 814.

Towards the end of his life, in 866, the main gate (Ōtemmon) of the Imperial Palace

Kyoto Gosho

The is an imperial palace of Japan, though the Emperor of Japan is not in residence. The Emperor has resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace since 1869 and ordered the preservation of the Kyōto Imperial Palace in 1877....

 was destroyed by a fire; in one of the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

's more famous events of court intrigues, Makoto was accused by his political rival Ban Tomo no Yoshio of having set the blaze. This came to be known as the "Ōtenmon Conspiracy" (応天門の変, Ōtemmon no Hen); with the help of his powerful connections at court, Makoto was able to successfully argue his innocence. It was later discovered that Ban Tomo set the fire himself.

See also

• Genshin
  Genshin
  Genshin , also known as Eshin Sozu, was the most influential of a number of Tendai scholars active during the tenth and eleventh centuries in Japan...
  
   - an unrelated 10th century monk; his name is written using the same characters as Minamoto no Makoto (源信)