Biographies · Vol. 155
Biographies LXXXII: Fujiwara-no-Narichika, Taira-no-Tokitada, Taira-no-Yorimori, and Others
Machine-assisted draft translation, checked for readability. For the classical Chinese text and the modern Japanese translation, see this volume in Japanese.
Fujiwara-no-Narichika
¶Fujiwara-no-Narichika was a son of Ienari, the Provisional Middle Counsellor (Gon-Chūnagon) (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Kugyō Bunin). He served in the reigns of Emperor Konoe and Emperor Go-Shirakawa and successively held the posts of Jijū (Chamberlain), Governor of Echigo, and Middle Captain of the Right Imperial Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). He was especially favored by the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa and took part in the affairs of the court. In the Heiji Disturbance he sided with Fujiwara-no-Nobuyori; when the battle was lost he fled to the Ninnaji, where the Retired Emperor sheltered him. Taira-no-Kiyomori sent troops to the Ninnaji to seize those who had joined the rebellion. Narichika was taken and was to have been put to death, but because Taira-no-Shigemori was related to him by marriage, Shigemori exerted himself to save him, and in the end his death sentence was commuted (Note: following the Heiji Monogatari. The marriage connection is from the Genpei Seisuiki. It may be observed that the Gukanshō says that when Narichika and Nobuyori reached the Ninnaji, Imperial Prince Kakushō seized the two and sent them to Kiyomori; Nobuyori was executed, but Narichika, being still young and his offense somewhat lighter, escaped death. The present account follows the main text). In the first year of Ōhō (1161) his offices and ranks were restored (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Soon afterward he was dismissed from office on the ground that he was a close retainer of the Retired Emperor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Hyakurenshō). In the Nin'an period he became a Sangi (Counsellor) and was appointed Provisional Middle Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin), and he concurrently held the governorship of Owari. In the first year of Kaō (1169), Narichika sent his deputy governor (mokudai), Uemon-no-jō Masatomo (Note: Masatomo's surname is not transmitted), to Owari; but when Masatomo reached Mino he fell into a quarrel with the Shinto officials of the Hirano estate. Because this estate belonged to the Enryakuji, the monks were enraged; they carried the portable shrine to the palace and pressed their accusation against him. By deliberation at court it was decided that Narichika be exiled to Bingo and Masatomo imprisoned. Narichika, however, was pardoned before he had even set out for his place of exile, and was restored to his former office (Note: following the Hyakurenshō and the Genpei Seisuiki. Bingo is from the Kugyō Bunin). In the second year (1170) he additionally became Uemon-no-kami (Commander of the Right Gate Guards) and was made Kebiishi-no-bettō (Chief of the Imperial Police). In the An'gen period he was appointed Provisional Major Counsellor (Gon-Dainagon) (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the first year of Jishō (1177), when the post of Sakonoe-no-taishō, Commander of the Left Imperial Guards, fell vacant, Narichika, relying on the Retired Emperor's favor, was impatient and sought it with all his might, but did not obtain it, and was greatly dissatisfied at heart. Moreover, since Shigemori and Munemori had been promoted over him to the posts of Left and Right Commander, Narichika's resentment grew ever deeper. He secretly prepared weapons and gathered like-minded men, planning to overthrow the Taira (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari. It may be observed that both of these books say that Shigemori and Munemori became Left and Right Commanders, and that soon afterward Shigemori resigned as Left Commander and Fujiwara-no-Sanesada became Left Commander; Narichika, thinking this too was by Kiyomori's design, became still more resolved. But according to the Kugyō Bunin, Narichika died at his place of exile in the seventh month of the first year of Jishō, and Sanesada became Left Commander in the twelfth month of that same year. By this, the two books are in error, and this is noted here). Narichika invited the Kurōdo (Chamberlain) Minamoto-no-Yukitsuna, entertained him lavishly, and whispered to him, knee to knee: "The Taira are secretly usurping the authority of the court, and their crimes have piled up beyond measure. The Retired Emperor intends that I should strike them down. I am not a man of great enmity, but weak as I am I wish to exert myself to the full. You are of the Minamoto line; how could you not wish to be relied upon as a commander? If the undertaking succeeds, I will petition on your behalf and have you given command of the armies of the realm." Yukitsuna agreed. At first Narichika had intended to consult Shunkan, the Executive Officer (shigyō) of the Hosshōji, but found it hard to broach the matter. He invited Shunkan repeatedly and had a serving woman press wine upon him. Shunkan became intimate with the woman, and Narichika took advantage of this to disclose the plan. He then met with the Kebiishi Taira-no-Yasuyori, the Shikibu-taifu (Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial) Fujiwara-no-Akitsuna, and the monks Renkai and Saikō at Shunkan's villa at Shishigatani. Saikō enjoyed the Retired Emperor's favor and was allied with Narichika; under the outward pretext of amusement, they discussed military matters above all. Narichika secretly gave Yukitsuna fifty bolts of cloth to be used as military funds. When the banquet was at its height, a wind arose and overturned an umbrella; the horses in the herd were startled and bolted. The guests in the hall, startled as well, sprang to their feet, and one of them accidentally broke a wine bottle (heishi). Narichika laughed and said: "What a delight, that on the very day we begin our undertaking the Taira have already fallen!" (Note: heishi, a sake bottle, sounds like Heishi, the Taira clan.) All present laughed. Yasuyori rose and danced, saying, "We have already taken the Taira's heads. We shall drag them through the streets and expose them at the prison gate." He took up the bottle and hung it on a pillar (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki. The Heike Monogatari was also consulted. As for the Shikibu-taifu Akitsuna, the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari is followed). Narichika proposed: "It happens that the Gion festival is just now being held and the city is in an uproar. Taking advantage of this moment, we shall set fire to Rokuhara and attack from the west in a sudden assault; catching them unprepared, we shall achieve our aim." Accordingly Yukitsuna was to lead troops toward Hachijō, Shunkan and Yasuyori were to be posted at the north gate of Shichijō, and Renkai and Akitsuna to the west of the Shubōji. The dispositions were already settled (Note: following the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari). Just then Myōun, the abbot (zasu) of the Enryakuji, was sentenced to exile, and the monks rose in crowds and took him back by force. The Retired Emperor wished Narichika to attack them, and so the plan went unexecuted. Yukitsuna, seeing the plan drag on day after day, judged that to set a weak force against the mighty Taira could never succeed. He therefore hurried to Fukuhara and confessed everything. Kiyomori was greatly alarmed, returned in haste to Rokuhara, first seized Saikō and interrogated him, and sent a messenger to summon Narichika. Narichika, not yet knowing that the matter had been exposed, came in formal dress. The officials seized him by the hair. Kiyomori had Narichika confined in a room and intended to kill him when night fell. When Shigemori came to see him, Narichika wept and said, "Please beg for my life." Shigemori went to Kiyomori, explained the circumstances, and appeased him. Kiyomori's anger eased somewhat, but when he saw Narichika he shouted at him: "At the time of the Heiji Disturbance you ought to have been executed, but through Shigemori's efforts you were saved and have lived until today. Your rank is high, your stipend generous, and you hold several provinces besides. What more could you lack, that you should suddenly forget old favors and instead try to destroy my family? Heaven's eye does not err, and in the end you have fallen into my hands. Tell me the details of the plot." Narichika bowed his head and begged pardon: "I have never borne you any old grudge, and such a thing cannot be. It must be a tale that came from the mouth of a slanderer; I beg you not to believe it." Kiyomori, in a rage, produced Saikō's written confession, read it aloud in a loud voice, and said, "With what face do you still try to deceive me?" He struck Narichika in the face with the document and ordered him dragged outside and flogged. Narichika was exiled to Kojima in Bizen, and Nanba-no-Tsunetō escorted him. Because Kojima adjoined Tsuai, Tsunetō moved Narichika to Nanba. Soon afterward Kiyomori ordered Tsunetō to kill Narichika (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). Tsunetō put poison in wine and made him drink it, but he did not die (Note: following the Heike Monogatari). Iron caltrops (tetsubishi) were scattered at the foot of a cliff and he was thrown down onto them and so killed (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari. The Gukanshō says that he was made to fast for seven days and was then given wine until he was deeply drunk and so died). He was forty years old at his death (Note: from the Kugyō Bunin entry for the first year of Ten'yō (1144), which gives his age as seven). Narichika had once built a mansion at his villa at Toba, of the most splendid construction, modeled on the scenery of Suminoe and named the Suhama-dono. When the Retired Emperor Shirakawa made a visit there, Narichika presented an eight-leaf carriage adorned with blinds hung with five-colored cords. His gifts to the high nobles and those below them were also very many, and it is said that even the ox-drivers received five hundred thousand coins. Such was his extravagance (Note: following the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari). His son was Naritsune.
Fujiwara-no-Naritsune
¶Fujiwara-no-Naritsune served the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa from his early years; he was so exceptionally favored that there was hardly a day on which he was not in attendance at the Retired Emperor's side (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari). In the Kaō and Shōan periods he rose by degrees to Shōshō (Lesser Captain) of the Right Imperial Guards and concurrently held the governorship of Tanba (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). He was known in his day as the Tanba Shōshō. In the first year of Jishō (1177) he was implicated in his father's affair and was confined at Rokuhara. His wife's father, Taira-no-Norimori, exerted himself to the utmost to save his life. Kiyomori, having no choice, ordered Seno-no-Kaneyasu to banish him to Bitchū. Afterward he was exiled, together with Yasuyori and Shunkan, to Kikaigashima in Satsuma (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari). Norimori always sent clothing and food, and each time Naritsune shared them with the other two, so that their hardships were extreme and they only barely escaped hunger and cold (Note: following the Heike Monogatari). The following year they were pardoned and returned to the capital. Kiyomori gave him goods and lands, and his treatment was rather generous (Note: following the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari). Soon he was restored to office and advanced to Sangi and Senior Third Rank (Shōsanmi). In the second year of Kennin (1202) he died (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin; the Genpei Seisuiki gives him as a Dainagon, which is an error).
Fujiwara-no-Morimitsu
¶Fujiwara-no-Morimitsu was a native of Awa; nothing is known in detail of his father. He served Shinzei, the Shōnagon-nyūdō (lay-monk former Lesser Counsellor). Because he was bright from childhood, Shinzei was fond of him and recommended him, and he became Saemon-no-jō (Lieutenant of the Left Gate Guards) (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). When Shinzei fled to Nara in the Heiji Disturbance, Morimitsu followed him. When Shinzei resolved to die, Morimitsu asked to have his head shaved and to be given a Buddhist name. Shinzei changed his name to Saikō (Note: following the Heiji Monogatari). He attended the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa closely, and the favor shown him grew greater with each passing day (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki); the people of the time called him "the foremost of the close attendants" (Note: following the Gyokuyō). Wishing to have his name entered in a distinguished family, he was by imperial command given the surname of the descendants of the Chūnagon Fujiwara-no-Ienari, and he handled the business of the Retired Emperor's household and took part in the government of the court as well (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His son Morotaka became Saemon-no-jō and Kebiishi. In the early years of An'gen he was appointed Governor of Kaga. At that time Morotaka's son Morotsune, serving as deputy governor (mokudai), burned the Yūsenji as a result of a certain incident. The monks of Hakusan rose in a mass, carried their portable shrine to the Enryakuji, and together they pressed on the palace with their complaint. By deliberation at court Morotaka was exiled to Owari, and Morotsune was likewise sentenced to exile. Morimitsu resented this and slandered Myōun, the abbot of the Enryakuji, to the Retired Emperor, so that he was exiled to Izu (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari were consulted. Morotsune's exile is from the Gyokuyō and the Hyakurenshō). When the Shishigatani plot was exposed, Taira-no-Kiyomori ordered Morimitsu seized, had him dragged before him in the courtyard, and with blazing eyes reviled him: "You are a man of lowly birth who has served at court, and father and son both hold office. Yet, presuming on the favor shown you, you have grown arrogant and proud, and have ruined the Tendai abbot by slander. And now you have joined a band of villains to plot against my family." Morimitsu answered without changing color: "In general, for a warrior to become a provincial governor or a Kebiishi is nothing at all to be blamed. Your father, Tadamori, was of humble origin, and the courtiers of the Imperial Presence were ashamed to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. And you yourself, though you advanced in years, long failed to receive a rank; you relied upon my lord Ienari, and in coarse cloth garments and high clogs you waited upon him morning and evening, and the children of the capital called you 'Takahei-ta.' In the Hōgen period, as a reward for your father's having captured pirates, you were raised at one stroke to Fourth Rank and Hyōe-no-suke (Assistant Captain of the Guards), and all the world stared in amazement. And now you have risen to the very summit of a subject's station. Is that not a rise quite beyond your deserts?" Kiyomori, unable to contain his rage, stood up and kicked him in the face. Morimitsu did not cease his abuse; he was subjected to severe torture, and at last he confessed the whole truth of the affair. Kiyomori then ordered his mouth slit (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari were consulted). He was beheaded in the middle of the night (Note: following the Gyokuyō), and his head was exposed at the prison gate (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). His son Morotaka had been Governor of Kaga, Morohira was Saemon-no-jō, and Morochika was Uemon-no-jō (Lieutenant of the Right Gate Guards). Morotaka had been exiled to Owari, but when Morimitsu died, Kiyomori ordered Oguma-no-gunji Koretsuna (Note: his surname is not transmitted) to kill Morotaka. Morohira and Morochika were also killed, and all had their heads exposed (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari were consulted).
Taira-no-Tokitada
¶Taira-no-Tokitada was a descendant of the Dainagon (Major Counsellor) Takamune (Note: following the genealogy of the Taira). He was a son of Tokinobu, Hyōbu-gon-no-taifu (Provisional Senior Assistant Minister of War). Because Tokinobu's daughter became a consort of Emperor Go-Shirakawa (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki, the Heike Monogatari, and the genealogy of the Taira), Tokinobu was posthumously granted the rank of Minister of the Left (Sadaijin) (Note: following the Hyakurenshō, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the genealogy of the Taira). In the Kyūan period Tokitada became a Hikurōdo (Supernumerary Chamberlain) and Saemon-no-jō. In the reign of Go-Shirakawa he successively held the posts of Gyōbu-taifu and Hyōbu-taifu. In the first year of Eiryaku (1160) he concurrently became Ushōben (Right Lesser Controller), but was soon dismissed from office (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the second year of Ōhō (1162) he was exiled to Izumo on the charge of having cursed the state (Note: following the Hyakurenshō, the Gukanshō, and the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari. Izumo is from the Kugyō Bunin). In the first year of Eiman (1165) he was pardoned and returned to the capital. The next year his office and rank were restored, and soon he was transferred to Sashōben (Left Lesser Controller). In the Nin'an period he became a Sangi, was granted Junior Third Rank, and concurrently served as Uemon-no-kami and Kebiishi-no-bettō. Soon he was appointed Provisional Middle Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the first year of Kaō (1169) he was again exiled to Izumo, on the charge of having falsely reported the offenses of the Middle Counsellor Fujiwara-no-Narichika. The next year, as a result of an appeal from the Enryakuji, he was recalled to the capital (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Hyakurenshō), his office and rank were restored, and soon he was granted Junior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the first year of Jishō (1177), the monks of the Enryakuji carried their portable shrine and violated the palace, demanding the exile of Morotaka, Governor of Kaga, but the generals of the court refused them and drove them back. When the monks sought to enter the capital again, the court was anxious and wished to send an imperial envoy to admonish them. An edict was issued, but the courtiers, fearing the monks, would not go. Tokitada had long been regarded as a man of spirit among the nobles, and he was chosen and accepted the task. The monks were fiercely angry and sought to humiliate him, but Tokitada, without changing color, went straight to the Great Lecture Hall, took up a brush, wrote a letter, and admonished them with arguments of what is in accord with right and what is contrary to it. His words were to the point; the monks passed the letter from hand to hand, sighing in admiration, and the matter was at last settled. People praised his courage and wisdom (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari). In the third year (1179) he advanced to Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the fourth year (1180) Emperor Antoku ascended the throne. As he was then three years old, people criticized the matter, saying, "Kiyomori has set up a child sovereign so that he may hold all power himself." When Tokitada heard this he said angrily: "How little you gentlemen understand of things! Even in recent times the Emperors Konoe and Rokujō both took the throne at the age of two or three. If we look to foreign examples, there are already King Cheng of Zhou, Emperor Xiaoshang of Han, Emperor Mu of Jin, who either were carried in their mothers' arms to attend to government or ascended the throne in swaddling clothes. What is there now to debate?" Those who heard this laughed and said to one another, "None of those is a creditable precedent" (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari). In the second year of Juei (1183) he was appointed Provisional Major Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the autumn of that year he went down to the western provinces in the Emperor's train. Before this, Fujiwara-no-Yorisuke, the provincial governor of Bungo, had sent his son Yoritsune to take charge of the affairs of the province. When Yoritsune heard that the Taira had escorted the Emperor into the Dazaifu, he gave orders from afar that they be refused. Yoritsune made common cause with Ogata-no-Koreyoshi and planned to attack the temporary imperial residence (anzaisho). Koreyoshi first sent his son Koremura to tell the Taira: "We, Koreyoshi and the others, have previously received a command from the Retired Emperor, and we cannot allow the nobles to enter Kyūshū. We beg you to leave this place at once." Tokitada came out to meet him and said: "Listen well to what I say. Our sovereign is the true line of the forty-ninth generation of the Heavenly Grandson, the eighty-first Emperor in the line of human sovereigns, and the eldest legitimate son of Emperor Takakura. He enjoys the protection of Amaterasu Ōmikami (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari), and moreover the sword and jewel, the regalia handed down through the realm, are here with us now. The rebels of the northeast, misled by Minamoto-no-Yoritomo and Minamoto-no-Yoshinaka, do not distinguish what accords with right from what opposes it, have repeatedly defied the imperial army, and are bringing disaster upon themselves and heading for destruction. How foolish of you to abandon what is right and side with what is wrong! If you would come to the court as men of Kyūshū should, and receive its favor close at hand, all would be well; but if, suddenly misled by the Governor of Bungo, you oppose the imperial army, you will not escape Heaven's punishment. At this time you ought to aid and protect the imperial house and join forces to strike down the rebels. Once the Emperor has returned to the capital, it will be too late to repent" (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). Koremura went back and reported this, but Koreyoshi would not listen, and at last he led the troops of Kyūshū in an attack; Munemori and the others escorted the Emperor and fled. The following year the castle of Ichinotani fell and Taira-no-Shigehira was taken prisoner. The Retired Emperor sent Shigehira to Munemori with a letter, and also issued an edict (inzen) to Tokitada demanding that the Three Sacred Treasures be surrendered; he sent the Mitsubo messenger (meshitsugi) Hanakata with the edict to Yashima. Tokitada seized Hanakata and said: "You have come as the Retired Emperor's envoy, crossing wind and waves from afar, and have undergone great hardship indeed. Now I shall make you a keepsake for life." He pressed a branding iron to his face and burned into it the two characters "Namikata," cut off his topknot and sliced off his nose, and sent him back (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari were consulted). When the Emperor perished at sea, the Taira were either taken prisoner or killed, and the sword and jewel were also sunk in the sea; only the Naishidokoro, which housed the sacred mirror, remained. The soldiers, not knowing what it was, tried to open the chest, and at once their eyes swam and their noses bled. Tokitada saw this and rebuked them: "This is the Naishidokoro!" The soldiers drew back in fear. Tokitada had already returned to the capital, but he privately told his son Tokizane: "I have a box of documents, but Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune once seized it. If this becomes known in the world, a great many people will be implicated, and I myself will find it hard to escape punishment. What am I to do?" Tokizane said: "I hear that Yoshitsune readily listens to his wife's words. Things having come to this pass, there is nothing for it but to ask him by forming a marriage alliance with him." Tokitada would not listen, but Tokizane pressed him strongly, and Tokitada, weeping, at last gave way. Yoshitsune was delighted to gain a daughter and at last returned the documents. Tokitada burned every one of them (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari) and reported to the Retired Emperor: "Your servant followed the rebels to the western seas, and I know that I cannot escape guilt for it. Yet although the former Naidaijin (Taira-no-Munemori) ordered your servant to sink the sacred mirror in the sea, I guarded it and brought it back. This is your servant's merit. I beg that on account of this merit I be spared exile and permitted to live in peace in the capital. I wish to shave my head, put on a black robe, and take leave of the world for good." Accordingly the matter was referred to the nobles for deliberation (Note: the Gyokuyō and the Genpei Seisuiki were consulted). During his time in the western provinces, Tokitada, though he did not hold the position of leader of the army, took part in every matter of war and state. For this reason Yoritomo detested him deeply, and since the words with which he had earlier humiliated the Retired Emperor's envoy Hanakata were so grossly disrespectful, the Retired Emperor too bore him a grudge (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). The deliberation at court finally decided to exile Tokitada to Noto and Tokizane to Suō (Note: following the Gyokuyō, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari. The present text of the Heike Monogatari gives Aki in place of Suō, and the Yasaka-bon gives Tosa; both are errors). The official order for exile was issued, but he remained in the capital for several months. Yoritomo suspected Yoshitsune's hand in this and pressed the matter by memorial, and Tokitada went at last to Noto. In the fifth year of Bunji (1189) he died at his place of exile (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). He was sixty years old (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin. The Azuma Kagami gives sixty-two, but the present text follows the Kugyō Bunin, which gives his age as forty-five in the fourth year of Shōan (1174)). Yoritomo lamented: "This man was a supporter of the former court and was famed as a wise minister; he was a talent to be regretted for the sake of the court" (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Under the two reigns of Takakura and Antoku, Tokitada rose again and again through the connection of the consorts, and since he was also the elder brother of Kiyomori's wife, his power was the foremost of his age, and most appointments to rank and office were decided by his will. People of the world assumed he would become a minister, and called him "the Taira Kanpaku." He served about three times as Kebiishi-no-bettō (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki), and his conduct of the office was strict. Once he seized twelve robbers, cut off their right hands, and hung them at the prison gate, and the people of the time trembled in fear (Note: the Hyakurenshō, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the Heike Monogatari were consulted. The hanging at the prison gate is from the Hyakurenshō). His sons were Tokizane, Tokiie, and Tokimune. Tokizane was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower in the first year of Nin'an (1166) and was appointed Governor of Sanuki. In the Kaei period he advanced to Senior Fourth Rank Lower and became Provisional Middle Captain of the Left Imperial Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). He went down to the western provinces in the Emperor's train. When the Taira were destroyed he was taken prisoner and brought back to the capital (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki), and was to be exiled to Suō. But before he had gone to his place of exile, a rift arose between Yoshitsune and Yoritomo, and when Yoshitsune sought to go to the western provinces, Tokizane followed him. When they put out from Daimotsu Bay, a sudden storm arose and they could not proceed, and their followers scattered in all directions. Tokizane, too, was separated from Yoshitsune and tried to return to the capital. Yoritomo's soldiers seized him and sent him to Kamakura. Yoritomo held that the offenses of the court's officials should not be decided on his own authority, sent Tokizane back to the capital, and had him sentenced anew to exile in Kazusa. In the fifth year of Bunji (1189) he was pardoned and returned to the capital (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the first year of Kenryaku (1211) he was granted Third Rank. In the first year of Kenpō (1213) he died suddenly, at the age of sixty-three (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Tokiie rose to Junior Fourth Rank Lower and was appointed Middle Captain of the Right Imperial Guards. Tokimune became a Jijū (Chamberlain) (Note: following the genealogy of the Taira. In the main text he is sometimes given as a son of Tokiie).
Taira-no-Yorimori
¶Taira-no-Yorimori was the fifth son of Tadamori, Gyōbu-kyō (Minister of Justice), and a half-brother of Kiyomori by a different mother (Note: following the genealogy of the Taira and the Kugyō Bunin. The printed genealogies give him as the third son). The Taira once possessed two famous swords, called Kogarasu and Nukemaru. When Tadamori died, Kiyomori, as head of the main line, succeeded him and received Kogarasu, but Yorimori too obtained Nukemaru through his mother's connection. From this a rift arose between him and Kiyomori (Note: following the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). In the Hōgen period he was appointed Governor of Aki and concurrently Uhyōe-no-suke (Assistant Captain of the Right Gate Guards); he was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower, became Nakatsukasa-no-taifu (Senior Assistant Minister of Central Affairs), and soon afterward concurrently became Governor of Mikawa (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the Heiji Disturbance, when the Emperor secretly made a progress to Rokuhara, Kiyomori sent his sons and younger kinsmen in with a thousand horsemen each to attack. Yorimori entered by the Ikuhō Gate, fought Yoshitomo, was defeated, and withdrew alone on horseback. Hatchō Jirō, a retainer of Kamata Masaie and a man of great strength, ran after him at full speed, caught up with him, and hooked him with an iron grapple (tettaku). Yorimori tilted his helmet over again and again to avoid it, but in the end was hooked and nearly fell from his horse. Then he swung the Nukemaru and cut through the grapple; Jirō fell over, and in that moment Yorimori was able to escape back to Rokuhara. Afterward, when Nobuyori and the others were defeated and hid in the Ninnaji, Yorimori, together with his elder brother Norimori, led over three hundred horsemen to surround the temple and seize them. For this merit he concurrently became Governor of Owari (Note: following the Heiji Monogatari). Between the Eiryaku and Ōhō periods he rose by degrees to Shuri-no-daibu (Director of the Office of Palace Repairs) and was granted Senior Fourth Rank Lower. In the second year of Eiman (1166) he concurrently became Dazai-no-daini (Senior Assistant Governor-General of the Dazaifu). In the first year of Nin'an (1166) he was granted Junior Third Rank and appointed Sangi. In the fourth year of Jishō (1180) he was granted Senior Second Rank. In the second year of Juei (1183) he was appointed Provisional Major Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Because his residence was called the Ikedono, he was known as the Ike-no-Dainagon. At that time the power of the Minamoto of the northeast was very great. When Munemori heard that Minamoto-no-Yoshinaka had entered the capital, he sent out his various generals in several directions to oppose him (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). He ordered Yorimori too to go to Yamashina, but Yorimori declined, saying: "Since the winter of the third year of Jishō (1179) I have had my reasons, and for a long time I have refrained from taking up bow and arrows. I told the late Michi-dono so and swore a vow. I cannot now take part in war again." Munemori would not permit this. Presently, when Munemori was about to go west to the western provinces with the Emperor, Yorimori heard of it and sent his son Tamemori to inquire. Tamemori caught up with him at Toba, but Munemori was in such haste that he left without exchanging more than a few words (Note: following the Gukanshō). Yorimori followed after him, but in fact had no intention of leaving the capital. When he reached the south of Toba, he took down his red banners and turned back (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari). The Retired Emperor at the Hōjūji palace ordered that Yorimori be sheltered in the Tokiwa-dono, the residence of the Hachijō-in (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Heike Monogatari. The Tokiwa-dono is from the Genpei Seisuiki). Taira-no-Moritsugu said to Munemori: "Not one of the retainers of the Ikedono has come to attend you. They surely have remained in the capital. We should strike them down." But Munemori replied: "What gain is there in a man who forgets favors and abandons duty, even if he were to come? Leave him alone and pay him no mind." Before this, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, out of gratitude for the kindness of Ike-no-Zenni, had repeatedly sent letters to console Yorimori and had also warned his soldiers not to harm Yorimori's children. For this reason Yorimori did not join the flight to the western provinces (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). Someone put up a placard at Yorimori's gate, denouncing him for preserving his life by taking refuge in the house of an enemy. Yorimori was deeply ashamed (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). In the fifth month of the third year (1184), Yoritomo sent envoys to invite Yorimori and his retainer Taira-no-Munekiyo to Kamakura. Yorimori meant to go, but Munekiyo firmly declined and would not accompany him (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). Yorimori in the end went to Kamakura; Yoritomo's reception of him was extremely generous (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Genpei Seisuiki), and they went together in the same boat from Yui Bay to Morito and feasted to their hearts' content (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the sixth month he returned to the capital (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Heike Monogatari. The Kugyō Bunin and the Genpei Seisuiki both give the fifth month, which is an error). As a parting gift Yoritomo presented one gold-mounted sword, a bag of gold dust, and ten horses (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The items given as farewell gifts differ in the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari, but they are not adopted here), and by memorial he had Yorimori's office, rank, and estates restored (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The Kugyō Bunin, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the Heike Monogatari were also consulted). In the first year of Bunji (1185) he shaved his head and changed his name to Jūren (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). The next year (1186) he died, at the age of fifty-five (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). His sons were Yasumori, Mitsumori, Tamemori, Nakamori, and Tomoshige. Yasumori rose to Senior Third Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the genealogy of the Taira). Mitsumori held Senior Third Rank (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Kugyō Bunin). Tamemori became Uhyōe-no-suke (Note: following the Gukanshō and the genealogy of the Taira) and then Governor of Kii (Note: following the genealogy of the Taira. It may be observed that the Genpei Seisuiki says Tamemori fell in battle at Tonamiyama, but according to the Gukanshō Tamemori was still alive when the Taira fled west, so that account is not adopted). Nakamori was appointed Governor of Sado, and Tomoshige was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower and became Governor of Musashi (Note: following the genealogy of the Taira).
Taira-no-Munekiyo
¶Taira-no-Munekiyo was called Yahei Saemon (Note: all the texts of the Heiji Monogatari give Yahei Hyōe). He was an eighth-generation descendant of Taira-no-Sadamori, Chinjufu-shōgun (Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North), and a son of Suemune, Saemon-no-jō (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The eighth-generation descent is from the genealogy of the Taira). He served Taira-no-Yorimori, and when Yorimori became Governor of Owari, Munekiyo became his deputy governor. In the first year of Eiryaku (1160), Minamoto-no-Yoshitomo was put to death, and his son Tomonaga also died. Yoritomo had fled, but as Munekiyo was entering the capital from Owari he met Yoritomo on the road and seized him. Arriving at the post station of Aohaka, he dug up Tomonaga's grave, obtained his head, and sent both together to Rokuhara. Kiyomori confined Yoritomo in Munekiyo's house and fixed a day for his execution. Munekiyo asked Yoritomo, "Do you wish to escape death?" Yoritomo answered: "Since the Hōgen period my father, my brothers, and my kin have been almost wholly destroyed. I wish only to become a monk and pray for their repose." Munekiyo pitied him and said: "In Owari there is your lady Ike-no-Zenni, the second wife of the Daini (Tadamori), and the Daini revered and served her with special devotion. The nun is of a compassionate nature, and she once asked about your appearance. I told her, 'Though young, he has the bearing of a grown man, and his looks closely resemble the Uma-no-suke.' The nun, hearing this, wore a sorrowful expression. If you were to rely on this and make your plea, there may be one chance in ten thousand." The Uma-no-suke was the Zenni's youngest son, named Ienori, who had died young. Soon Munekiyo went to the Zenni and conveyed Yoritomo's wishes. The nun pitied him and asked Taira-no-Shigemori to persuade Kiyomori and appease him on the matter of Yoritomo's death sentence. Kiyomori would not listen, but he still delayed the execution. As the thirty-fifth-day memorial of Yoshitomo drew near, Yoritomo asked leave to make stupas (sotoba). Munekiyo made a hundred and gave them to him. Yoritomo wrote the Buddha's name on them with his own hand, and took off his robe and gave it to a monk as an offering. The Zenni, hearing this, pitied Yoritomo all the more and exerted herself to save him, and in the end he escaped death (Note: following the Heiji Monogatari. Various variant texts were also consulted). For this reason Yoritomo felt deep gratitude toward Munekiyo, and when he attacked the Taira he always warned his officers and men not to harm Munekiyo (Note: following the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). When the Taira fell back to the west, Munekiyo followed Yorimori and remained in the capital. Yoritomo, mindful of the kindness of Ike-no-Zenni, wished to invite Yorimori and Munekiyo to Kamakura. Munekiyo did not wish to go, but as Yorimori urged him strongly, Munekiyo said: "You have no cause for anxiety, but all your kinsmen are wandering the western seas. I always think of this, and grieve and rage by day and night. I beg you to excuse me." Yorimori said, looking ashamed: "I have left all the affairs of the house to you. If you thought I should not stay, why did you not say a single word?" Munekiyo replied: "Whether to go or to stay is for you to decide; it is not for the likes of me to speak. People, high or low, all cherish their own persons. Lord Yoritomo escaped death by a hair in the past, and that is why he has risen as he has today. I once did Lord Yoritomo a kindness, and if I go now and meet him, I shall surely receive a heavy reward. But would that not shame me before your kinsmen on the western seas and my comrades? If you were to take the lead in raising a righteous army, I would serve as your vanguard. But to go to Kamakura like this would give me no reason to accompany you. You have already stayed in the capital, and an invitation from Kamakura is hard to refuse. When you reach Kamakura, Lord Yoritomo will surely ask after me. Then please excuse me by saying I am ill" (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). He then saw Yorimori off and took leave of him at Noji in Ōmi (Note: following the Heike Monogatari), and went straight to Yashima to serve Munemori (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Yoritomo had wished to summon Munekiyo and meet him, and to give him an estate. He had prepared in advance a deed of grant (atebumi), had saddled horses and bolts of silk made ready, and awaited Munekiyo's coming. He also had thirty officers each bring saddled horses and silk to present to Munekiyo. But when Yorimori reached Kamakura, he reported, "Munekiyo is ill and could not come." Yoritomo was disappointed, and gave Yorimori all the goods he had meant to give Munekiyo (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). When the Taira were destroyed, Munekiyo escaped, and nothing more is known of him afterward. His son Iekiyo (Note: following the genealogy of the Taira) raised troops together with Hirata-no-Ietsugu and others, and fell in battle in Ōmi (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The main text mentions only "the lay monk Iekiyo" and does not record his surname. But when examined by the genealogy of the Taira, Iekiyo and Ietsugu stand in the relation of second cousins, from which it is known that his name was Taira-no-Iekiyo. It is therefore recorded here. The Tsuge family genealogy says that Munekiyo was a son of Nobuzane, Shōnagon of the Taira, and that after the Taira were destroyed Munekiyo fled to live in the mountains of Iga; Yoritomo sent Tōkurō Morinaga and, in view of their old connection, granted Munekiyo thirty-three villages in Yamada District of Iga. Morinaga urged Munekiyo to build a house and settle there. Munekiyo broke off a branch of tsuge (box-tree), stuck it in the ground, and said, 'If this branch flourishes, my dwelling will be made.' The next year it did indeed blossom, and Munekiyo, marveling, composed a poem and took Tsuge as his surname on account of it. But this story does not appear in the Azuma Kagami or other books, and when the genealogy of the Taira is examined, there is among Nobuzane's sons a man named Ukyō-no-daibu Munekiyo, but there is no record that he called himself Tsuge. The one who called himself Tsuge was Saemon-no-jō Munekiyo. The Tsuge family genealogy has probably, from the identity of the names, mistakenly made them one person. Accordingly this account is not adopted).