Biographies LXXXVI: Fujiwara-no-Motomichi, Minamoto-no-Michichika, Fujiwara-no-Michiie, and Others

Fujiwara-no-Motomichi

¶Fujiwara-no-Motomichi was the eldest son of the Regent Motozane (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Kugyō Bunin). His bearing was quiet and refined, and he was greatly favored by the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa (Note: following the Gyokuyō). In the Kaō and Jōan eras he successively held the posts of Junior Fourth Rank Upper, Jijū, Chamberlain, and Ukon'e-no-Chūjō, Middle Captain of the Right Palace Guards. In the third year of Jishō (1179) he was appointed Naidaijin, Minister of the Interior, and became Kampaku, Chancellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). That he rose in a single step from Middle Captain of the Palace Guards to the rank of minister, without passing through the offices of Sangi, Counsellor, or Nagon, Councillor, was without precedent since ancient times (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Heike Monogatari). When Emperor Antoku received the abdication and took the throne, the Regent Motomichi was advanced to Junior First Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶When Minamoto-no-Yoshinaka pressed upon the capital region, the Taira planned to carry off the Retired Emperor and flee the capital. Motomichi heard of the plan and secretly reported it to the Retired Emperor, who quietly made a progress to the Enryakuji (Note: following the Gyokuyō). The Taira took Emperor Antoku and set out for the western seas. Taira-no-Munemori urged Motomichi to accompany them as well. When Motomichi had come as far as Shichijō-Ōmiya, he secretly spoke to his attendant warrior Shin-no-Kage Takanao (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki gives the name as Takanori), saying, "The carriage is heading west, yet the Retired Emperor is still in the capital. What is to be done about this?" Takanao gave a sign with his eyes and had the ox-carriage driver turn the carriage about, and so Motomichi was at last able to escape (Note: see the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari).

¶The capital was left without a master, and the Retired Emperor gathered the court nobles to debate whom to enthrone. Yoshinaka wished to set up the son of Prince Mochihito, but Motomichi strongly opposed this and stopped it (Note: following the Gyokuyō). Before long Yoshinaka, relying on his military achievements, grew more overbearing with each passing day (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki); he had Motomichi's regency halted and replaced him with the Gon-Dainagon, Provisional Major Counsellor, Fujiwara-no-Moroie (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Genpei Seisuiki). When Yoshinaka was defeated, Moroie too was dismissed, and Motomichi returned to the regency (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶At that time it was rumored throughout the world that "Motomichi is bound to be dismissed." Minamoto-no-Yoritomo submitted a memorial to the Retired Emperor, saying, "Motomichi severed his ties with the Taira and alone remained in the capital. His heart is plain to see. It would be well to keep him in his former post." Before long, however, Yoritomo sought to have the Udaijin, Minister of the Right, Kanezane take over Motomichi's post, and the Retired Emperor sent a man to tell Motomichi: "Yoritomo has petitioned many times that the Minister of the Right (Kanezane) take over your office. I did not grant it. But if he petitions again at some later day, I shall not be able to refuse him. If one thinks of what is best for you, it would be well to withdraw of your own accord." Motomichi was ill at ease.

¶About this time the Retired Emperor gradually grew weary of the business of government, and Motomichi, deeply troubled by this, secretly submitted a memorial: "I hear that there are those who urge Your Majesty to nourish yourself in quiet repose; these are the words of treacherous ministers. I beg you not to heed them." The Retired Emperor said, "My fortunes have not matched the times, and I have long wished for a life of ease; it is not that anyone has led me astray. Even if I do not hear affairs of state, nothing changes in the position of the Regent. There is no need for deep concern" (Note: following the Gyokuyō). Soon afterward the Retired Emperor yielded to Yoritomo's words and granted Kanezane the edict of Nairan, inspection of documents (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Azuma Kagami). The following year Motomichi was at last dismissed (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶Yoritomo again submitted a memorial: "I hear that among Regents there are none who hold no estates. The present Regent (Kanezane) has no estates, while the former Regent (Motomichi) holds a great many; this is most improper. I beg that the lands of the Kayanoin be given to the former Regent, and the lands of the Kyōgokudono to the present Regent" (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Azuma Kagami).

¶In the seventh year of Kenkyū (1196) Motomichi became Kampaku again. When Emperor Tsuchimikado took the throne, he again became Regent. In the second year of Kennin (1202) he was dismissed. In the second year of Jōgen (1208) he shaved his head and took the Buddhist name Gyōri. In the first year of Tenpuku (1233) he died (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki). He was seventy-four (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He was called Fugenji (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶His sons were Iezane, Michitsune, Kanemoto, and Mototori. Iezane became Junior First Rank Dajō-daijin, Chancellor, and was called the Inokuma Kampaku. Michitsune became Senior Second Rank Udaijin, Minister of the Right. Kanemoto became Senior Second Rank Dainagon, Major Counsellor. Mototori became Junior Second Rank Ukon'e-no-Chūjō. Iezane's son Kanetsune became Junior First Rank Dajō-daijin and was called the Okanoya Kampaku. Motohira became Junior First Rank Sadaijin, Minister of the Left, and was called the Jinshin-in Kampaku, and also Nishitani (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the Bun'ei era he submitted a memorial of twelve articles of opinion (Note: following the Kikki). Kanetsune's younger brother Kanehira became Kampaku and Dajō-daijin, and his house was called Takatsukasa (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Originally Motomichi's house was called Konoe, and his descendants bore the name. Motomichi's uncle Kanezane became Regent in Motomichi's place and was called Kujō. His great-grandsons Norizane, Yoshizane, and Sanetsune, brothers, became Regents one after another. The Kampaku Norizane inherited the house name Kujō, Yoshizane took the name Nijō, and Sanetsune the name Ichijō. Afterward these five houses each held the office of Sesshō and Kampaku in hereditary succession, and they are called the Five Regent Houses (Go-sekke).

Minamoto-no-Michichika

¶Minamoto-no-Michichika was a great-grandson of the Dajō-daijin Masazane and a son of the Naidaijin Masamichi (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Kugyō Bunin). He served seven emperors, from Go-Shirakawa to Tsuchimikado. In the Jishō era he was appointed Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain, and became Sangi (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶When Taira-no-Kiyomori planned the building of a new capital (at Fukuhara), Michichika, together with the Dainagon Fujiwara-no-Sanesada and the Sachūben, Middle Controller of the Left, Fujiwara-no-Tsunefusa and others, surveyed the land at Wada. The ground was narrow, and even if wards were laid out they could extend only from First Avenue to Fifth Avenue (Note: following the Hyakurenshō and the Genpei Seisuiki). Michichika said, "It would be well to open Third Avenue wide and build twelve gates. There are such precedents in foreign lands too. Now, even if it is opened only as far as Fifth Avenue, what would be lacking?" But the debate did not settle, and the proposal came to nothing (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶In the first year of Bunji (1185) he was appointed Gon-Chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In this year Minamoto-no-Yoritomo petitioned that Gisō Kugyō, the nobles who present advice to the throne, be established, and Michichika was chosen as one of them (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Gyokuyō). In the third year of Bunji he rose to Junior Second Rank and soon became Bettō, Director, of both the Junna-in and the Shōgaku-in. In the sixth year he concurrently became Emon-no-kami, Commander of the Gate Guards of the Left, and was appointed Kebiishi-no-bettō, Director of the Imperial Police. In the sixth year of Kenkyū (1195) he was transferred to Gon-Dainagon, Provisional Major Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶At first, the daughter of Fujiwara-no-Norikane, Gyōbu-kyō, Minister of Justice, named Hanshi, had married Nōen, Shikkō, Steward, of the Hosshōji, and had borne a daughter, Zaishi. Nōen was a half-brother of Taira-no-Tokitada and Taira-no-Tokiko, sharing the same mother but having different fathers (Note: see the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Gukanshō). Through this connection Hanshi entered the palace and became wet nurse to Emperor Go-Toba, taking the title Gyōbu-kyō-no-Sanmi, Lady of Third Rank. When the Taira fled to the western seas, Nōen followed them. Hanshi's uncle Noritsue had formerly reared Emperor Go-Toba and had also contributed to the emperor's accession. Hanshi therefore relied on this Noritsue.

¶At this time Yoritomo was seeking to send his own daughter into the palace, but Michichika happened to be in a secret relationship with Hanshi, and he too wished to send Zaishi into the palace. He plotted with Prince Jōnin and with the Retired Emperor's lady-in-waiting Takashina-no-Eishi, unsettled the Chūgū, Empress, with his words, and slandered her father, the Kampaku Kanezane, until he was dismissed; and he had Kanezane's younger brother Jien resign as Tendai Zasu, Abbot of the Tendai sect, and replaced him with Jōnin. Yoritomo was greatly enraged.

¶Zaishi at length entered the palace and bore a prince (Note: following the Gukanshō). Michichika raised the child in his own residence and called him Imamiya (Note: following the Masukagami; the name Imamiya is from the Godai Teiō Monogatari). Michichika gradually came to wield power and sought to monopolize authority under the name of maternal relative of the throne. The people of the day called him "Gen Hakuriku," the Minamoto Regent.

¶Before long Michichika urged the emperor (Go-Toba) to abdicate. The emperor consulted Yoritomo, but Yoritomo strongly opposed it, holding that a child sovereign would not benefit the country. When the emperor sent envoys again and persuaded him earnestly, Yoritomo at last assented. A divination was then held concerning the successor, and Imamiya proved auspicious. Those who debated the matter said that there was no precedent for the maternal grandson of one who had entered religion to take the throne, but Michichika rejected their argument, and the Kampaku Motomichi agreed with him (Note: following the Gyokuyō).

¶The emperor ordered Michichika to adopt Zaishi as his daughter (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Godai Teiō Monogatari, and the Masukagami), and sent an envoy to Kamakura to convey his intention to enthrone Imamiya. Before the envoy had yet returned (Note: following the Gyokuyō), Imamiya was invested as Crown Prince, and abdication took place on that very day. This was Emperor Tsuchimikado (Note: following the Meigetsuki, the Bishamondō-shozō-ki, and the Sanchōki). The abdicated emperor (Retired Emperor Go-Toba) conducted government in the Retired Emperor's court (Note: following the Masukagami) and made Michichika Goin-no-bettō, Director of the Retirement Household (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Gyokuyō). When Yoritomo heard this, he gnashed his teeth in bitter regret.

¶Earlier, Yoritomo had been set on sending his own daughter into the palace; when that daughter died he planned to send another, but before this too could be accomplished Yoritomo himself died. Michichika sought the post of Ukon'e-no-taishō, Commander of the Right Palace Guards, and petitioned for the Gon-Dainagon Fujiwara-no-Yorizane to be raised over the Naidaijin Fujiwara-no-Yoshitsune and appointed Udaijin, Minister of the Right; he had Yorizane give up the post of commander and took it concurrently himself. Yoshitsune was a son of Kanezane (Note: from "sought the post of commander" onward follows the Kugyō Bunin).

¶At first Gotō-no-Motokiyo, Nakahara-no-Masatsune, and Ono-no-Yoshinari had served Fujiwara-no-Yoshiyasu, the husband of Yoritomo's younger sister. When Yoshiyasu died, these three plotted to kill Michichika. Michichika hid himself in the residence of the Retired Emperor and sent a man to petition Minamoto-no-Yoriie, and had the three seized and sentenced to exile (Note: the Azuma Kagami says that Motokiyo was deprived of his post of Shugo, Protector, of Sanuki, but does not mention exile. Probably Yoriie said openly that he would permit the exile but in fact did not carry it out. But now there is no way to verify this).

¶The Sangi and Sakon'e-no-Chūjō, Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, Fujiwara-no-Kintsune, the Ukon'e-no-Chūjō Fujiwara-no-Yasuie, and the Ukyō-no-daibu, Master of the Right Capital Office, Fujiwara-no-Takayasu and others had formerly been close to Yoritomo and Yoshiyasu, and all were censured in this affair (Note: the offices of Kintsune and Yasuie follow the Kugyō Bunin. The present text says that Kintsune and Yasuie were barred from attending court and that Takayasu was sentenced to exile, but as the Bunin has no such record, this is not adopted). People of the time commented that the Retired Emperor had originally held no partial views, and that it was Michichika who stirred up the affair and led his sovereign astray.

¶After some months Michichika became Naidaijin. About this time Noritsue's daughter Jūshi also entered the palace, was favored, and bore a prince. The Retired Emperor loved this prince above all others, reared him differently from his other sons, and wished to place him on the throne (Note: see the Gukanshō and the Masukagami). When Michichika perceived this, he again urged the Retired Emperor to invest this prince as Crown Prince Brother. This was the later Emperor Juntoku (Note: following the Gukanshō). Michichika concurrently became Tōgū-no-fu, Tutor to the Crown Prince.

¶In the tenth month of the second year of Kennin (1202), Michichika died suddenly. He was fifty-four (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin; the sudden death is from the Gukanshō and the Ichidai Yōki). The Retired Emperor had never been fond of Michichika, and on his death, wishing to let people know that the promotions and demotions of that time had for the most part not come from the sovereign's own mind, he made Fujiwara-no-Yoshitsune Nairan and Ujinochōja, head of the clan, and soon afterward Regent. The people of the world rejoiced at this (Note: following the Gukanshō). Michichika excelled at waka (Note: following the Sakusha Burui), and his house was called Tsuchimikado (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Gyokuyō).

¶His sons were Michimune, Michitomo, Michimitsu, Sadamichi, Michikata, and Michiyuki. Michimune became Sangi and Ukon'e-no-Chūjō but died before his father. His daughter Michiko entered the palace of Emperor Tsuchimikado and bore Emperor Go-Saga (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Masukagami). Because of this, Michimune was posthumously granted Senior Second Rank and the post of Sadaijin. Michitomo became Senior Second Rank Dainagon (Note: the Masukagami says Junior First Rank), and his house was called Horikawa (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He once received an imperial command and, together with Fujiwara-no-Sadaie and others, compiled the Shin Kokin Wakashū (Note: following the Masukagami and the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Nōen's young daughter married Fujiwara-no-Yoshiyasu and became wet nurse to Emperor Tsuchimikado. Michitomo had a secret relationship with this woman, and Tomozane was born. Tomozane became Senior Second Rank Naidaijin. His son Mototomo became Junior First Rank Dajō-daijin. Michimitsu became Junior First Rank Dajō-daijin and was called Koga (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Michimitsu's family attained the height of splendor; when once the Hokke Hakkō, the eight-lecture Lotus Sutra service, was held at the Toba-dono, the people of the time said, "Its flourishing is no less than that of an imperial Hakkō" (Note: following the Masukagami).

¶Sadamichi became Senior First Rank Naidaijin (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His son Akisada in the Kenchō era became Senior Second Rank Gon-Dainagon (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Akisada sought to be made concurrently Konoe-no-taishō, Commander of the Palace Guards, and petitioned the Retired Emperor Go-Saga for it. The Retired Emperor was nearly ready to grant it, but soon Fujiwara-no-Kinmoto was made concurrently Commander, and Akisada, ashamed and resentful, shaved his head and went into seclusion on Mount Kōya. Later, when the Retired Emperor made a progress to Mount Kōya and wished to meet Akisada, he sent a man to find out how matters stood; the room was empty, and only white sand lay scattered about. The Retired Emperor was saddened (Note: following the Masukagami). People called him the Kōya Nyūdō, the lay monk of Kōya (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Michikata, in the days before Emperor Go-Saga took the throne, devoted himself heart and soul to his care (Note: following the Masukagami and the Godai Teiō Monogatari), and later became Kebiishi-no-bettō and rose to Senior Second Rank Dainagon. Michiyuki ended his career as Senior Second Rank Gon-Dainagon (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

Fujiwara-no-Michiie

¶Fujiwara-no-Michiie was the eldest son of the Regent Yoshitsune. Under the reigns of Tsuchimikado and Juntoku he successively held the posts of Jijū, Sakon'e-no-Chūjō, and Gon-Chūnagon; he was granted Junior Second Rank, concurrently became Sakon'e-no-taishō, Commander of the Left Palace Guards, and advanced to Sadaijin (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sekkan-den).

¶In the first year of Jōkyū (1219) the Seii Taishōgun, Minamoto-no-Sanetomo, died, and the Minamoto line came to an end. Hōjō-no-Yoshitoki, because Michiie was connected to the Minamoto by marriage, invited his son Yoritsune to succeed to the office of shogun (Note: following the Jōkyūki and the Azuma Kagami). In the fourth month of the third year of Jōkyū, when Emperor Kujō took the throne, Michiie became Regent as the emperor's maternal grandfather. In the seventh month Yoshitoki took control of the capital, deposed the emperor, and removed Michiie from his position as head of the clan (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶In the Antei era he became Kampaku (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki). In the first year of Kanki (1229) he repeatedly asked to resign but was not permitted (Note: following the Gyokuzui). In the third year of Kanki his eldest son, the Sadaijin Norizane, became Kampaku in his father's place, but Michiie still took part in affairs of government (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Godai Teiō Monogatari).

¶In the first year of Bunryaku (1234) the Retired Emperor Go-Horikawa died, and since Emperor Shijō was still young, Michiie and his son Norizane together held the real power in government. Yoritsune became shogun, and his maternal grandfather, the former Dajō-daijin Kintsune, became Goin-no-bettō, Director of the Retirement Household; the clan's power was without equal, and its influence overawed court and country alike (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari). In the first year of Katei (1235) Norizane died, and Michiie again became Regent (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Godai Teiō Monogatari).

¶In the first year of Ryakunin (1238) an edict was issued granting him rank equivalent to the three Empresses (the Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, and Empress), but he declined and did not accept it, and shaved his head (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Sonpi Bunmyaku, and the Azuma Kagami). He changed his name to Gyōe (Note: following one account in the Hyakurenshō, the Sekkan-den, and the Sonpi Bunmyaku; in works such as the Sekkan Shidai it is also given as Gyōso, or as Gyōyū). Even so, his attendance at court continued as before (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari and the Azuma Kagami).

¶Emperor Shijō died with no heir. Michiie sought to set up Tadanari, a son of Emperor Juntoku, and still hoped to take part in the government of the court. But Hōjō-no-Yasutoki would not heed him and set up Kunihito, a son of Emperor Tsuchimikado. This was Emperor Go-Saga (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki). When the emperor first took the throne, he consulted Michiie and Saneuji on matters great and small (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari).

¶In the fourth year of Kenchō (1252) he died (Note: the Azuma Kagami says that people of the time remarked, "Michiie's death was probably the result of a plot by the warrior government," but the details are not clear. In my view: in the Kangen era, when Yoritsune returned to the capital and Miura-no-Yasumura was defeated, Mitsumura, on the point of death, said, "On the day the shogun was in Kamakura, had we followed the words of His Excellency the Zenjō Denka (Michiie) and swiftly undertaken the great enterprise, our whole clan would have held high office. It is because the Governor of Wakasa (Yasumura) hesitated that matters have come to this." Judging from this, did Michiie once incite Yasumura and his allies, hoping to destroy the Hōjō and himself take their place? Perhaps the plan came to light and Hōjō-no-Tokiyori secretly killed Michiie. But the truth of the matter is obscure and there is no way to confirm it, so it is not recorded here). He was sixty. He was called Kōmyōbuji (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Sonpi Bunmyaku, and the Godai Teiō Monogatari), and also Higashiyama Nyūdō (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari and the Sekkan-den). He built a temple east of the capital and named it Tōfukuji, modeling the name on the two temples Tōdaiji and Kōfukuji (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho). He had the monk Enni live there (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho and the Gozan Zenjūseki). His diary is called the Gyokuzui (Note: following the Gyokuzui).

¶His sons were Norizane, Yoshizane, Yoritsune, Sanetsune, and the monk Hōjo. Norizane, under Emperor Go-Horikawa, successively held the posts of Senior Second Rank Gon-Chūnagon, concurrently became Sakon'e-no-taishō, was appointed Sadaijin, and became Kampaku. When Emperor Shijō took the throne he became Regent. In the first year of Katei he resigned his office and soon died. He was twenty-six. He was called the Tōin Regent, and his house was called Kujō. Yoshizane successively held the posts of Senior Second Rank Gon-Chūnagon, concurrently became Sakon'e-no-taishō, and became Sadaijin and Kampaku (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the seventh year of Bun'ei (1270) he shaved his head and changed his name to Gyōkū. Soon afterward he died. He was fifty-five. He was called Fukōon-in, and his house was called Nijō (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Yoritsune has a separate biography. Sanetsune, under Emperor Shijō, successively held the posts of Senior Second Rank Gon-Dainagon, concurrently became Sakon'e-no-taishō, and became Udaijin. In the Kangen era he was transferred to Sadaijin and became Kampaku. In the seventh year of Kōan (1284), because of illness, he shaved his head and changed his name to Gyōso. Soon afterward he died. He was sixty-two. He was called Enmyōji (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His house was called Ichijō (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Shakan Shidai). Hōjo was the most beloved of Michiie (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari). The Omuro of the Ninnaji had been the domain of imperial princes, but Michiie made Hōjo a disciple of Imperial Prince-Priest Dōshin, settled him at the Ninnaji, and by imperial command had him granted rank equivalent to the three Empresses, and he was called Kaiden Jungō. That a monk should be granted rank equivalent to the three Empresses began with this (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari and the Ninnaji Goden).

Fujiwara-no-Kintsune

¶Fujiwara-no-Kintsune was a son of the Naidaijin Sanemune. He successively held the posts of Sakon'e-no-Chūjō and Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain. In the early years of the Jōgen era he advanced to Senior Second Rank Gon-Dainagon (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶Kintsune's wife was a daughter of the Chūnagon Fujiwara-no-Yoshiyasu, the husband of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo's younger sister, and Kintsune grew arrogant and proud in reliance on this power. The Retired Emperor Go-Toba had once promised to grant Kintsune the post of Konoe-no-taishō, but in the fifth year of Kenpō (1217), when the post of commander fell vacant, the Dajō-daijin Yorizane recommended his own son Morotsune, and the Retired Emperor, having no choice, sent an envoy to inform Kintsune of this. Kintsune was greatly angered and said bitterly, "I no longer have any will to serve the court. I shall shave my head, abandon the world, and take refuge with Minamoto-no-Sanetomo." When the envoy reported this to the Retired Emperor, he was enraged and barred Kintsune from attending court. Sanetomo intervened on his behalf, and the matter ended without further harm (Note: following the Gukanshō).

¶In the first year of Jōkyū he concurrently became Ukon'e-no-taishō (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the third year of Jōkyū the Retired Emperor planned to strike down Hōjō-no-Yoshitoki, but, loathing the fact that Kintsune was related by marriage to Kamakura, he deliberated first killing Kintsune. The assembled ministers all held their tongues and said nothing. The Naidaijin Fujiwara-no-Kintsugu remonstrated earnestly (Note: following the Jōkyūki). Even so, the Retired Emperor summoned Kintsune and his son Saneuji, and ordered the monk Sonchō, the younger brother of Kintsune's wife, to confine the two in the Kyōshoden (Note: following the Azuma Kagami).

¶When Kintsune was summoned, he realized that danger threatened him, and sent a man to warn Iga-no-Mitsusue, the Shugo, Protector, whom Yoshitoki kept in the capital, saying, "Even if you are summoned by the Retired Emperor, you must on no account respond." Mitsusue then barricaded himself in his own residence, fought, and fell in battle (Note: following the Jōkyūki). When the imperial army was defeated in the battle of Mame-no-Watari and the Retired Emperor made a progress to the Enryakuji, Kintsune and his son were taken along as well (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Sonchō tried several times to harm Kintsune, but Saneuji worked tirelessly to protect him, and in the end he escaped the danger (Note: following the Jōkyūki).

¶Before this, Kintsune had secretly told Mitsusue of the Retired Emperor's plan, and Mitsusue had reported it to Kamakura. When Hōjō-no-Yasutoki took control of the capital, Kintsune secretly sent men to receive him. When he met Yasutoki at the Fukakusa riverbank, Yasutoki was delighted and sent troops to guard Kintsune's house (Note: following the Azuma Kagami).

¶When Emperor Go-Horikawa took the throne, Kintsune was appointed Naidaijin. The following year he was appointed Dajō-daijin, soon was granted Junior First Rank, and submitted a memorial resigning his post. In the third year of Kanki (1231) he fell ill and shaved his head, changing his name to Kakushō. In the second year of Kangen (1244) he died. He was seventy-four (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶Kintsune not only forged marriage ties with the Kantō (the Kamakura shogunate); his daughter also married the Kampaku Michiie and bore the shogun Yoritsune. Of his granddaughters, one became Empress of Emperor Go-Saga and another Empress of Emperor Go-Fukakusa, and his power was matchless in its flourishing. He once built a Buddhist hall at his villa in Kitayama and named it the Saionji. The gardens and halls were magnificent and vast to the utmost, a spectacle without equal in the land (Note: following the Masukagami; see also the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Hence he was called Saionji (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Originally the house descended from the Dajō-daijin Kinsue was called Kan'in, and the carriage in which Kintsune's great-grandfather Michisue rode bore a design of the tomoe pattern, which his descendants passed down, and which could not be used by anyone who was not of the main line of the Kan'in (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Kintsune inherited it and rode in such a carriage (Note: following the Gukanshō), and people called him the Tomoe Taishō, the Tomoe Commander (Note: following the Jōkyūki).

¶His sons were Saneuji, Saneari, Saneo, Sanefuji, and Saneki (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Saneo served five reigns, those of Go-Horikawa, Shijō, Go-Saga, Go-Fukakusa, and Kameyama; he was appointed Naidaijin, was transferred to Udaijin, became Tutor to the Crown Prince, and rose to Junior First Rank Sadaijin (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the tenth year of Bun'ei (1273) he died. He was fifty-seven. He was called Yamashina (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His son Kin'o became Gon-Chūnagon of Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Serving Emperor Go-Saga from his youth, he received special favor and was even permitted to enter and leave the sovereign's sleeping quarters (Note: following the Masukagami). When the emperor died he could not bear his grief, shaved his head, and took the Buddhist name Kenkaku. Kin'o's younger brother Kinmori rose to Dajō-daijin in the early years of Shōan (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the first year of Bunpō (1317) he died. He was called Yamamoto, and also Tōin (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Enta Ryaku).

Fujiwara-no-Saneuji

¶Fujiwara-no-Saneuji served six reigns, those of Tsuchimikado, Juntoku, Go-Horikawa, Shijō, Go-Saga, and Go-Fukakusa, passing successively through important posts until he was appointed Naidaijin, became Tutor to the Crown Prince and Goin-no-bettō, was transferred to Udaijin, and was granted Junior First Rank. In the fourth year of Kangen (1246) he became Dajō-daijin (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶As the maternal relative of two emperors, Saneuji was held in high regard in the world. His sons Kinmoto and Kinsuke both became commanders of the Left and Right Palace Guards (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari and the Masukagami). This had not happened since the time of Taira-no-Shigemori (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari).

¶Saneuji wished to obtain Uwa district in Iyo province and petitioned Hōjō-no-Yasutoki. Tachibana-no-Kinnari grieved and appealed, saying, "My ancestor Tōyasu, on imperial command, subdued Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo, and since then we have lived in the land of Uwa. His descendants have committed no crime, and their domain ought not to be taken." Yasutoki found this troublesome. Saneuji sent letter after letter, saying, "I too have grown old. If I do not obtain what I seek, I shall be deeply ashamed. I shall go to Kamakura now and settle the matter in person." Yasutoki had no choice but to grant it (Note: following the Azuma Kagami).

¶In the first year of Bun'ō (1260) he shaved his head and changed his name to Jikkū (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He lived at the Tokiwai mansion on Kyōgoku (Note: following the Masukagami) and was called in the world the Tokiwai Nyūdō (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Sonpi Bunmyaku, and the Masukagami). In the sixth year of Bun'ei (1269) he died. He was seventy-six (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Saneuji excelled at waka, and at his death Fujiwara-no-Tameie mourned him deeply and said to others, "The Chancellor (Saneuji) once remarked that the Kangen Rokujō is close to the vulgar, and that it has no outstanding poems that could stand beside those of the Kokinshū. This is a sound judgment" (Note: following the Seian-shō).

¶Once, when a warrior of the Hokumen, the Northern Guard, was passing along a road carrying an imperial letter, he saw Saneuji and dismounted to show respect. Saneuji impeached him and submitted a memorial: "One who carries an imperial letter ought not to dismount. This so-and-so of the Hokumen does not understand propriety. How can such a man be allowed to serve at court?" And he had the man dismissed. Such was Saneuji's grasp of what is proper (Note: following the Tsurezuregusa).

¶His sons were Kinmoto and Kinsuke. Kinmoto rose to Udaijin. In the eleventh year of Bun'ei (1274) he died (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His wife Teishi bore two consorts, the Ōmiya-in and the Higashi-Nijō-in. The Ōmiya-in bore two emperors, Go-Fukakusa and Kameyama. Teishi, as their maternal grandmother, was granted Second Rank and rank equivalent to the three Empresses. In the eighth year of Kōan (1285) the emperor (Emperor Go-Uda), the Retired Emperor Yonin, and the Crown Prince visited Teishi's residence and celebrated her ninetieth birthday. Such was the honor in which she was held (Note: following the Masukagami). Kinsuke became Junior Second Rank Dajō-daijin (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the fourth year of Bun'ei (1267) he died (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He was short-tempered and cold in nature, and at his death he was not much mourned by others. It is handed down in the world that Kinsuke had a face whose upper half was long and lower half short, and that after his burial a man who practiced sorcery opened the grave and cut off and carried away his head (Note: following the Masukagami). His son Sanekane also rose to Junior First Rank Dajō-daijin (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

Fujiwara-no-Kintsugu

¶Fujiwara-no-Kintsugu was the third son of the Sadaijin Sanesada. In the second year of Jūei (1183) he became Jijū (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). He was intelligent from childhood. When he was eleven, he was received in audience by the Udaijin Fujiwara-no-Kanezane; the nobles had gathered and were composing linked verse, and Kintsugu played the biwa and wrote a linked verse on a fan. His brushwork was splendid, and Kanezane, astonished and filled with admiration, gave him a biwa (Note: following the Gyokuyō).

¶In the Kenkyū era he was appointed Sangi, was granted Junior Third Rank, advanced step by step to Dainagon, and rose to Senior Second Rank. Soon he concurrently became Ukon'e-no-taishō. In the third year of Jōgen (1209) he was appointed Naidaijin. In the first year of Kenryaku (1211) he was transferred to Udaijin (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶The Ukon'e-no-taishō Fujiwara-no-Kintsune was on close terms with Kamakura through marriage, and when the Retired Emperor Go-Toba planned to strike down Hōjō-no-Yoshitoki, he sought first to kill Kintsune. Kintsugu remonstrated: "He is not a military man, and the real power of command lies with us. Even if he has committed a crime, it should be discussed at length. Moreover, as for today's undertaking, I cannot tell whether it is right or wrong. When the Emperor Go-Shirakawa struck down Yoshinaka, he gave the command not to Yoritomo but to the rash and coarse Tomoyasu. As a result the imperial army was defeated and the palace was stained with blood. This is a plain lesson from the recent past. Moreover, the military strength of the Kantō is a hundred times that of the imperial army. To strike a sudden blow of heaven's punishment now, without reckoning its strength or weakness, can almost be called a reckless scheme. I beg you to reconsider." The Retired Emperor was displeased, but Kintsune was able to escape death through this. Afterward the imperial army was defeated, exactly as Kintsugu had said (Note: following the Jōkyūki).

¶In the first year of Gennin (1224) he was appointed Sadaijin. The following year he was granted Junior First Rank. In the first year of Antei (1227) he died. He was fifty-three. He was called Nonomiya (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶When Kintsugu was a child, his mother carried him to a physiognomist. The physiognomist said, "This child will one day be Ichi-no-kami (the chief of ministers, meaning the highest of the ministers)." The mother deliberately deceived him, saying, "This child's father is a warrior. How could he become Ichi-no-kami?" The physiognomist said, "If his father is a warrior, he will surely become a Kebiishi. But in my view, this is the countenance of a minister." It came to pass just as he said (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū).

¶His son Sanemoto was appointed Naidaijin in the fourth year of Kangen (1246) (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the fifth year of Kenchō (1253) he became Dajō-daijin (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki). In the tenth year of Bun'ei he died (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin; the present text says the twelfth year, but since it gives his age at death as seventy-two and also records that his son Kintaka went into mourning in the tenth year, it is corrected here to the tenth year).