The History of the Watnabe Port in Osaka

The history of the Watnabe port itself, from which the family took its name, is pretty poorly documented in terms of the historical record. By 1235, the Kamakura Shogunate had handed the Watnabes the right to control and tax all trade and tribute coming up the Yoda River. The ports were granted a fair amount of autonomy in how they operated day-to-day. That led to urban communities becoming wealthy enough to begin to seriously push back against warrior families and estate owners.