The Main Lineage (sōke, 宗家) were Lords (daimyō) of the Hiroshima Domain in Aki Province and another famous branch family were Lords of the Akō Domain in Harima Province associated with the story of the Forty-seven rōnin.

The family came to prominence when the sister of Asano Nagamasa married Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

[1] After the Meiji Restoration and the abolition of the han system, the Asano clan became part of the new nobility.

He was the son of Yasui Shigetsugu, Lord of Miyago castle (Owari province), a descendant of Hatakeyama Iekuni, Shugo (Governor) of Kawachi province, descending from Ashikaga Yoshikane (1154-1199) of the Seiwa-Genji.

Yoshikane was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshiyasu, also called Ashikaga Yoshiyasu (1127-1157), founder of the Ashikaga clan, grandson of the Chinjufu-shōgun (Commander-in-chief of the defense of the North) Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039-1106), and a descendant of the Emperor Seiwa (850-881), the 56th Emperor of Japan.