Biographies LXXXVII: Minamoto-no-Yorimasa, Hasebe-no-Nobutsura, and Minamoto-no-Yukiie

Minamoto-no-Yorimasa

¶Minamoto-no-Yorimasa was a great-great-grandson of Minamoto-no-Yorimitsu, Settsu-no-kami, Governor of Settsu. Yorimitsu's son Yorikuni also became Governor of Settsu and fathered Yoritsuna. Yoritsuna excelled at waka and fathered Nakamasa (Note: "masa" is also written with another character). Nakamasa excelled at archery and was learned in poetry as well; he became Hyōgo-no-kami, Director of the Arsenal, was granted admission to the Imperial Court, and was specially charged with the guarding of the palace. Nakamasa fathered Yorimasa (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Yorimasa was intelligent by nature and gifted in the arts of war, above all in archery, and he was skilled in poetry too (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). The Retired Emperor Shirakawa raised him up and made him Hangandai, Secretary of the Retired Emperor's Office. In the Hōen era he was appointed Kurōdo, Chamberlain, and granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower. In the second year of Kyūju (1155) he was appointed Hyōgo-no-kami (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶At the time of the Hōgen Disturbance, Emperor Go-Shirakawa, acting on the dying edict of Emperor Toba, summoned ten military commanders, and Yorimasa too led his own men and fought for the court (Note: following the Hōgen Monogatari). On the day of Emperor Nijō's accession, a madman broke into the palace, and Yorimasa seized him. For this deed he was granted admission to the Retired Emperor's residence (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶In the first year of Heiji (1159) Fujiwara-no-Nobuyori raised a rebellion. Minamoto-no-Yoshitomo urged Nobuyori to draw Yorimasa to his side. Yorimasa at first agreed, but Yoshitomo had lost much of the people's goodwill by killing his own father and brother, and Yorimasa judged that the venture would surely not succeed; in his heart he doubted and feared. When he heard that the emperor had secretly gone in procession to the Rokuhara mansion of Taira-no-Kiyomori, Yorimasa resolved to side with the court. When Yoshitomo attacked Rokuhara, Yorimasa drew up his troops on the Rokujō riverbank and would not advance. Minamoto-no-Yoshihira saw through his wavering and thrust at Yorimasa with picked troops. Yorimasa then gathered his men, went to Rokuhara, and met Yoshitomo's attack. Yoshitomo cried out to Yorimasa, "You already call yourself Minamoto-no-Hyōgo-no-kami, and now at this late hour you turn traitor to the Taira of Ise. Do you not shame the name of our Minamoto?" Yorimasa answered, "My house has served the court with bow and arrow for generations, and has never lost the honor of the warrior. It is you who take the side of rebels and will not mend your ways. Is it not you who shame the name of our Minamoto?" Yoshitomo fled in defeat, and in the end lost his life in Owari (Note: following the Heiji Monogatari).

¶Yorimasa had long served in the guard of the palace without being granted admission to the court, and once he gave his feelings expression in a poem and showed it to a lady of the palace (Note: following the Senzai Wakashū). The emperor saw it and pitied Yorimasa (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). In the first year of Nin'an (1166) he was granted Senior Fifth Rank Lower and admission to the court (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki says that he was granted Junior Fourth Rank and admission to the court, but this is an error). In the third year of Nin'an (1168) he advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Upper (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶In the reign of Emperor Takakura, a monstrous bird called the nue cried every night on the roof of the palace, and the emperor regarded this as an ill omen. A retainer in attendance recommended Yorimasa to shoot it, and Yorimasa brought it down with a single arrow. The emperor and all his attendants marvelled and praised him (Note: following the Jikkinshō. As to Yorimasa's shooting of the nue, the Nanto-bon Heike Monogatari places it in the reign of Emperor Nijō, and the Nagato-bon places it in the reign of Emperor Toba. Looking over the various books, there were two occasions on which the nue was shot, one in the reign of Emperor Konoe and one in the reign of Emperor Nijō. The Genpei Seisuiki likewise places it in the reign of Emperor Nijō, or perhaps in that of Emperor Takakura. The Taiheiki places it in the reign of Emperor Konoe, and its account differs again. As the accounts are so confused, none of them is adopted. Following, for the moment, what the various books say: a monstrous bird cried in the night, its voice like that of the nue, and shook and startled the palace, and the emperor was made unwell by it. The Kanpaku, Regent, Fujiwara-no-Motozane advised that Yorimasa be made to shoot it. If the matter was as told, why is there nothing at all about it in the diaries of the houses of that time? Yet what Inohayata did at the foot of the steps, and the anecdote of the exchange of poems on the cuckoo and the crescent moon, are on everyone's lips. Probably there was a core of fact which was later embellished and told with exaggeration. But what is recorded in this book seems somewhat nearer to the facts, and so it is followed for now). Between the Kaō and Jōan eras he was appointed Ukyō-no-daibu, Master of the Right Capital Office, and granted Senior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Hyakurenshō).

¶In the first year of Jishō (1177) the armed monks of the Enryakuji rose all together, bore the portable shrine of the Hie Shrine, and pressed upon the palace. The court therefore ordered the generals to guard the gates of the palace enclosure. The portable shrine went straight to the Tatchi Gate, which Yorimasa guarded. Yorimasa dismounted, took off his helmet, and bowed to the ground, and sent his retainer, one Watanabe, to say the following. "From Yorimasa, the commander of this guard, to the gentlemen of the assembly. Yorimasa has long held the Sannō Gongen in deep faith and has prayed for the welfare of his descendants. Now, having received an imperial command, I stand here, but to draw a bow against the portable shrine is a thing I dread. From of old the two houses of Minamoto and Taira have vied with each other in strength, but since the Hōgen Disturbance the Minamoto have somewhat declined, and Yorimasa has received only a remnant of their line, and serves in the guard merely as a stopgap. The troops I lead are few and weak, and I know well that they cannot withstand you, gentlemen of the assembly. I ask you to understand. If you will not hear me, then Yorimasa will lay his corpse with his men before the portable shrine, and that is all. Taira-no-Shigemori holds the Yōmei Gate with picked troops. If you, gentlemen of the assembly, pass by this feeble Yorimasa and go there, you will become a laughingstock to the people of the capital." Hearing this, the armed monks turned toward the Yōmei Gate (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki. The name of the gate follows the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶In the second year of Jishō (1178) Taira-no-Kiyomori, pitying Yorimasa because he was old and his promotion had stalled, submitted a memorial to the court saying, "Many of the Minamoto have fallen to the side of rebels, but Yorimasa alone is upright by nature, and his reputation for valor is known to the world. He is already past seventy years of age and has not yet risen to Third Rank. I beg that, before he departs for the Yellow Springs, you will bestow on him by special favor the honor of Third Rank." Accordingly Yorimasa was granted Junior Third Rank, and the people of the time marvelled at this as something out of the ordinary (Note: following the Gyokukai. The Genpei Seisuiki says that he was granted Third Rank because he composed a poem saying that, having nothing to climb by, he gathered acorns at the foot of the tree to make his way through the world; but this is probably an error). In the third year of Jishō (1179) Yorimasa shaved his head and changed his name to Shinren (Note: another account gives Raien). The world called him Genzanmi-nyūdō, the Lay Monk of Minamoto Third Rank (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Yorimasa's son Nakatsuna owned a splendid horse called Hoshikage, also named Konoshita, and loved it dearly. Taira-no-Munemori, Ukonoe-no-taishō, Great General of the Right Palace Guards, asked to see it, but Nakatsuna declined in a poem, saying in effect that if Munemori longed for the horse he might come and see it, but how could Nakatsuna let go of what was as close to him as his own shadow. Even so, Munemori kept pressing. Hearing of this, Yorimasa said to Nakatsuna, "If one follows the times, one should yield such a thing even when it is not asked for. How much the more now, when it is begged of you so earnestly. You should send it at once." Nakatsuna reluctantly lent it, but Munemori would not return it (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki), and, angered at the reluctance to lend it, branded the two characters of the name "Nakatsuna" on the horse's body and kept it in his stable. One day, when a guest asked to see it, Munemori called the groom and ordered, "Bring out Nakatsuna." When Nakatsuna heard this he was ashamed and enraged, and was driven to think of stabbing Munemori to death and dying himself. Yorimasa too resented it, and was always watching for an opening and weighing plans to destroy the Taira.

¶At this time Kiyomori's tyranny grew worse by the day: he confined the Retired Emperor and stripped forty courtiers of their offices and ranks, and everyone in the land resented and reviled him (Note: taken with reference to the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki; the number forty follows the Sankaiki). Imperial Prince Mochihito, an elder brother of Emperor Takakura, had long been famed for his brilliance. But because his mother was of low standing and enjoyed little favor, he had not been installed as an Imperial Prince even after he came of age. Yorimasa judged that this prince was the fitting lord for a great cause, and one night he secretly visited the prince's residence and urged him. "Your Highness is the true son of the Retired Emperor. Even were you to ascend the throne, what impropriety would there be in it? That Your Highness, already brilliant and in your thirtieth year, has not yet even become an Imperial Prince is a thing I privately regret on your behalf. Now Kiyomori acts as he pleases; he encroaches upon and insults the most exalted, he oppresses the eminent of the court, he gives his love and hatred free rein, and he makes rewards and punishments the instruments of his own will. The gods are angry and men resent him; his ruin cannot be far off. If Your Highness will follow the heart of Heaven above and answer the hopes of the people below, raise a righteous army, put the rebel to death, and dispel the Retired Emperor's wrath, this is truly a chance that comes once in a thousand years, and it must on no account be let slip. I am past seventy years of age and my strength has declined, but my clan is wide, and it is still enough to hold one quarter firm. Once the houses of Minamoto and Taira vied with each other in merit and rewards and could hardly be told apart, but now the gap is as that between cloud and mud, and they stand almost as lord and vassal. Many of the Minamoto lie buried in obscurity or wander the provinces. Once Your Highness sends down an edict of command, they will all gather to you with one accord, and destroying the Taira will be as easy as turning over a hand. I beg Your Highness to consider it well" (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶Prince Mochihito had long been in unhappy circumstances and had been unable to realize his ambitions; on hearing Yorimasa's words he was greatly pleased and at last consented. In the fourth month of the fourth year of Jishō (1180) he sent the Kurōdo, Chamberlain, Minamoto-no-Yukiie through the provinces to distribute the edict of command and loudly proclaim Kiyomori's crimes (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). A separate edict was also bestowed on Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, formerly Uhyōe-no-suke, Assistant Commander of the Right Gate Guards. Yukiie had once lived in Kumano and was on close terms with the armed monks of Shingū. When the time came, they promised to raise troops, but the monks spoke of it among themselves in secret, and in the end the matter leaked out (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). Tanzō, the Bettō, Superintendent, of Hongū (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki gives him as Ōe-no-Hōgen), had ties with the Taira, and so he led three thousand troops to attack Shingū, but was instead driven back. This was reported to Kiyomori by messenger, but Kiyomori did not realize that Yorimasa was the ringleader, and ordered Yorimasa's son Kanetsuna and others to surround the residence of the Takakura Palace (Prince Mochihito) (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). Kanetsuna secretly told this to Yorimasa (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki), and Yorimasa then urged the prince to flee to Onjōji. Leading Nakatsuna, Kanetsuna, and more than fifty riders of the Watanabe band (Note: the number of riders follows the Sankaiki), he set fire to his own residence and set out, and followed the prince into Onjōji. He then had the monks send letters to the two temples of Enryakuji and Kōfukuji asking for help, and both temples agreed (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶Munemori had long heard of the valor of Watanabe-no-Kisō, a retainer of Yorimasa's, and as soon as Yorimasa left the capital he sent a man to spy on Kisō's movements. The messenger returned and reported, "Kisō is at home." Munemori did not believe it, and sent another man to check, but Kisō was still at home. Munemori therefore summoned Kisō and asked him, "Are you not one of Yorimasa's sworn men? Why did you not go with him?" Kisō answered, "I lost a lay monk I had greatly cherished not long ago, and so I was unable to accompany him." Munemori was delighted to hear this (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). Kisō petitioned Munemori, "I had a good horse, but it was stolen by someone. I beg you to bestow on me one horse from your stable." Munemori therefore gave Kisō the famous horse Nanryō (Note: following the Heike Monogatari). When Yorimasa first left the capital, his followers asked that Kisō be told as well. Yorimasa said, "His house is close to the Taira mansions. If I send a man in haste, the Taira will notice it all the more. He is a man of courage and resource and loyal to me, and when he hears where I am he will come running of his own accord without being told." Yorimasa entered Onjōji (Note: following the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). Sure enough, Kisō came at a gallop and said, "I have taken for the Lord of Izu, Nakatsuna, the famous Rokuhara horse Nanryō." Nakatsuna was overjoyed, cut off the horse's tail and mane, branded on it the five characters "Taira-no-Munemori Nyūdō," and drove it out before Munemori's gate to shame him (Note: following the Heike Monogatari).

¶Before long Enryakuji broke its promise, and the great assembly of Nara (the armed monks of Kōfukuji) had not yet arrived. Yorimasa took counsel and said, "To meet a large force with a small one, nothing is better than a night attack. Tonight let us first post one or two thousand weak troops on Nyoigamine, and have foot soldiers set fire to Hōshōji and the Sanjō riverbank, and the Taira will surely come out to defend. Then our army will draw the enemy out and fall back to the foot of the tower at Iwasaka, and in the meantime we will send four or five hundred picked men to strike Rokuhara, set fire to it from the windward side, and fight on with the momentum; how could we fail to win?" The armed monks all agreed with this plan (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). A monk named Shinkai, who was on Kiyomori's side, raised objections and let the time slip away (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). Yorimasa then sent more than a thousand armed monks toward Nyoigamine. Nakatsuna led more than seven hundred riders to Yamashina, but by then day had already broken; the plan failed, and all the troops turned back. The men were angry and tried to kill Shinkai, but Shinkai fled to Rokuhara (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶Yorimasa reflected that Onjōji could not be relied on for long, and that his troops were few and would find it hard to hold out, and at last he escorted the prince toward Nara. The prince grew weary on the road and fell asleep, and fell from his horse six times, so the army halted at the Byōdōin in Uji to let him rest. Kiyomori sent Taira-no-Tomomori, Sahyōe-no-kami, Commander of the Left Gate Guards, and Taira-no-Shigehira, Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain, and others with over twenty thousand troops in pursuit. Yorimasa took up the planks of the Uji Bridge and waited, and presently the Taira army arrived (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). At daybreak there was a thick fog, so dense that one could barely make out what lay before one's eyes. More than two hundred men fell from the bridge and died as they came onto it. The armed monk Tsutsui-no-Myōshū (Note: "shū" is also written with another character), one of Yorimasa's men, shot arrows and killed or wounded many. When his arrows were gone he took up a naginata, a glaive, and ran nimbly along the bridge girder, cutting down more than ten others. A monk named Ichirai Hōshi leapt over Myōshū's head and fought hard with his sword. Between them the two struck down about eighty men. Yorimasa had the Watanabe band take over the fighting. More than thirty men, Watanabe Habuku, Tsuranu, Itaru, Satoru, Sazuku, Ataeru, Kisō, Tonau, Tsuranaru, Kubaru, Hayashi, Kiyoshi, Susumu, and others, came forward in turn (Note: the character for Susumu appears in this book as a different one, but it is corrected here following the Heike Monogatari and the Sonpi Bunmyaku), and drove back the troops of Fujiwara-no-Tadakiyo. Tomomori and the others urged on their men and had them shoot arrows like rain, so that Yorimasa's army could not advance. Later Nakanoin-no-Tajima (Note: the Heike Monogatari gives him as Gochiin) held his weapon to left and right and cut down the arrows flying at him, and struck down several more men besides. People called him "Yakiri-no-Tajima," Tajima the Arrow-Cutter. The Taira army could not advance, and Yorimasa's men danced and jeered at them. Before long Ashikaga-no-Tadatsuna and others, three hundred riders, crossed the river, churning the current. A great army followed, and battle was joined before the Byōdōin. Yorimasa and his two sons shot arrows at the enemy army, and meanwhile Prince Mochihito was able to flee to the south. Yorimasa meant to follow him, but just then a flying arrow struck Yorimasa's knee, and Kanetsuna too died of hunger and exhaustion.

¶Yorimasa then told the prince, "The matter has come to this. Let Your Highness go swiftly to Nara and rely on the strength of the great assembly to bring the great undertaking to completion. For my part, this is our parting for ever." The prince went off sobbing. Yorimasa turned his horse's head, shot at the enemy and drove them back, and when his arrows were gone he entered the fishing pavilion of the Byōdōin, took off his armor, sat upright, and said to those about him, "I have served six reigns of the court, I am now near eighty years of age, my rank and office already exceed those of my ancestors, and my military skill is nothing to be ashamed of before others. Now to raise a cause of great principle for the sake of the realm, and to throw away my life and leave my name to later ages, is the true wish of a warrior. You have defended and fought well. I shall now go to my death calmly" (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). Then he composed a poem, in which he sang sorrowfully of himself as a buried log that had never once borne flowers, and of the pitiable end to which his life had come. When he had finished, he fell upon his blade and killed himself (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). He was seventy-seven years old (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū. The Sonpi Bunmyaku gives seventy-six. According to the record of the Shōshikai, the Gathering in Honor of the Aged, held by Fujiwara-no-Kiyosuke in the second year of Jōan in this book, Yorimasa was then sixty-nine years old, and counting from that, this year corresponds to seventy-seven, so this is followed for now). His head was sent to the capital and displayed at the prison gate (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami. The Genpei Seisuiki says that Shimokōbe-no-Kiyotsune hid Yorimasa's head under the floor of the Byōdōin and that no one in the Taira army noticed it. The Eikyōki says that Kiyotsune put the head in a traveling chest, returned to Shimōsa disguised as a mountain ascetic, and buried it at Tatsugasaki, southeast of Koga Castle. The Sonpi Bunmyaku says that Yorimasa's tomb is in Yamagata district in Mino; since Yorimasa's uncle Kuninao lived in Yamagata, perhaps he took in the remains and buried them. But now there is no way to confirm it).

¶Yorimasa had five sons: Nakatsuna, Yorikane, Hirotsuna, Kunimasa, and Kanetsuna. His daughter served at the court of Nijō-in under the name Sanuki and excelled at waka (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku); she once composed a poem on the rock in the offing, and the world acclaimed it as a masterpiece. From this she was called Oki-no-Ishi-no-Sanuki, Sanuki of the Rock in the Offing (Note: following the Senzai Wakashū and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Nakatsuna was appointed Izu-no-kami, Governor of Izu, and granted Senior Fifth Rank Lower. Defeated in the battle at the Uji Bridge, he took his own life at the Byōdōin together with his father. His eldest son Munetsuna was appointed Saemon-no-jō, Third-Rank Officer of the Left Gate Guards, and Higo-no-kami, Governor of Higo, and granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower, but died with his father. The second son Aritsuna was called Izu-no-Kaja, the Youth of Izu, was appointed Uemon-no-jō, Third-Rank Officer of the Right Gate Guards, and was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku; the title Izu-no-Kaja follows the Azuma Kagami). In the first year of Juei (1182), on the orders of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, he attacked Hasuike-no-Ietsuna and Hirata-no-Toshitō in Tosa. After he became a son-in-law of Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune he plundered at will, and Yoritomo petitioned the court to restrain him. When discord arose between Yoritomo and Yoshitsune, Aritsuna followed Yoshitsune toward the Western Seas, but was blocked by a great storm on the way and hid in Uda in Yamato. Yoritomo ordered Taira-no-Tokisada to attack him. His strength exhausted, Aritsuna went into the mountains and killed himself, and his head was sent to the capital (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). The second son Yorinari was Izumi-no-kami, Governor of Izumi. The second son Narituna was Saemon-no-jō. The second son Yorisue was a Kurōdo, Chamberlain, of Shichijō-in. Yorikane became a Kurōdo, was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower, and served as Ōuchi Shugo, Guardian of the Inner Palace. His son Yorimochi successively held the posts of Awa-no-kami, Governor of Awa, Ōmi-no-kami, Governor of Ōmi, and Uma-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Director of the Imperial Stables, rose to Hyōgo-no-kami and Senior Fifth Rank Lower, and served as Ōuchi Shugo (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶In the first year of Jōkyū (1219), when the shogun Minamoto-no-Sanetomo was assassinated, Yorimochi desired the office of shogun and secretly plotted to raise troops. The matter was discovered, and the Retired Emperor Go-Toba sought to put him to death (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Sonpi Bunmyaku; the Azuma Kagami says that Yoriuji, acting on the wishes of the Retired Emperor, attacked Yorimochi together with the rest). Yorimochi, as Ōuchi Shugo, had his residence in the Shōyōsha, but when summoned he did not appear, and the court sent troops to attack him. Yorimochi, with his son Yoriuji, Shimotsuke-no-kami, Governor of Shimotsuke, Fujiwara-no-Chikanaka, Ukonoe-no-shōgen, Third-Rank Officer of the Right Palace Guards, Minamoto-no-Munezane, Uhyōe-no-jō, Third-Rank Officer of the Right Gate Guards, Taira-no-Yorikuni, formerly Gyōbu-no-jō, Third-Rank Officer of the Ministry of Justice, and others, barricaded themselves in the Jijūden, set fire to it, and killed themselves. Many of the treasures of the hall were reduced to ashes (Note: following the Azuma Kagami; that he did not appear when summoned follows the Gukanshō and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Hirotsuna became the adopted son of his elder brother Nakatsuna (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). On Yoritomo's recommendation he was appointed Suruga-no-kami, Governor of Suruga, but was not permitted to take part in the affairs of the province. Hirotsuna petitioned but was refused. When Yoritomo was appointed Ukonoe-no-taishō, Great General of the Right Palace Guards, he was likewise not allowed to join the ceremonial procession. Resenting this, he took religious vows and disappeared, hid himself on Kami-Daigo, and never again appeared in the world (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). His descendants lived in Tamba (Note: following the Tada Keizu) and called themselves the Ōta clan (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Tada Keizu). Kunimasa was in fact a son of Kunihira, Saiin-no-jisuke, Assistant Director of the Office of the Saiin, but became Yorimasa's adopted son and was called Yamagata-no-Saburō. Kanetsuna was in fact a son of Yorimasa's younger brother Yoriyuki, but became Yorimasa's adopted son, was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower, and was appointed Saemon-no-jō and served as Kebiishi, Police Commissioner (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). When Yorimasa withdrew in defeat at the Battle of Uji, Kanetsuna alone remained to hold the line and fought on, and not one of the arrows he shot missed. The enemy were overawed, and none would face him directly. Fujiwara-no-Tadatsuna tried to grapple with him, but instead he was shot by Tadatsuna, pierced through the forehead, and died (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki; the Heike Monogatari has also been consulted and taken into account. That not one arrow missed follows the Gyokuyō).

Hasebe-no-Nobutsura

¶Hasebe-no-Nobutsura was a son of Tametsura, Uma-no-jō, Third-Rank Officer of the Bureau of Horses (Note: following the Azuma Kagami; the office of Uma-no-jō follows the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari). By nature he was full of daring and courage. At only sixteen years of age (Note: the age of sixteen follows the Yasaka-bon Heike Monogatari) he guarded the palace as a warrior of the Takiguchi. Among his colleagues there was a man who struck others violently; he was sturdy and none could restrain him, but Nobutsura pulled him down with ease and dragged him outside, and people praised his strength. On another occasion robbers broke into the Tokiwa Hall, killing people and seizing goods, but the guards on night duty were afraid and did not at once pursue them. Nobutsura threw himself into the chase and cut down four men on the spot. One of the robbers struck back and wounded Nobutsura's cheek, but Nobutsura in the end captured him (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). For this deed he was appointed Sahyōe-no-jō, Third-Rank Officer of the Left Gate Guards (Note: following the Heike Monogatari).

¶Later he served Prince Mochihito. In the fourth year of Jishō (1180) the prince's plot with Minamoto-no-Yorimasa to destroy the Taira was discovered, and Taira-no-Kiyomori sent the Kebiishi, Police Commissioner, Minamoto-no-Mitsunaga and others with troops to surround the prince's residence. Yorimasa's son Kanetsuna was among the troops of the encirclement and informed Yorimasa of it. Yorimasa hastened to warn the prince of the danger and urged him to flee to Onjōji. The matter was so sudden that the prince was greatly startled; he summoned Nobutsura, told him how things stood, and asked what should be done. Nobutsura said, "This can be dealt with easily. Let Your Highness not be troubled." He then went into the inner chamber, took a woman's garments and a hat, had the prince put them on to pass as a lady-in-waiting, and brought him out of the residence under cover of night (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). Fujiwara-no-Munenobu carried the umbrella, and a page boy, Tsurumaru, carried the baggage, and they accompanied him. Nobutsura then hid the ladies of the household and put away the utensils (Note: following the Heike Monogatari). The prince always kept with him two precious flutes named Semiore and Koeda, but when he left the residence he forgot them, and the prince longed for them and grieved. Nobutsura searched them out afterward, caught up with the prince, and presented them to him. The prince was pleased and ordered Nobutsura to go with him as well (Note: following the Yasaka-bon Heike Monogatari).

¶Nobutsura said, "The Kebiishi are about to surround the residence, and if there is not a single guard, and base fellows are allowed to trample on a prince's residence, I would be deeply ashamed. That I serve in the prince's household is known to all the world; if I were to flee, it would be said that I ran away because I valued my life. I beg you to let me return at once to the residence and guard it." The prince wiped away his tears and parted from him. Nobutsura returned to the residence, opened the gate, and waited for the enemy. At dawn the Kebiishi surrounded the prince's residence. Kanetsuna stayed outside the gate, but Mitsunaga rode his horse in through the gate and cried in a loud voice, "The prince's treason has been discovered. The Kebiishi have come bearing an imperial edict to fetch him. Let the prince come out at once." Nobutsura answered, "It is you who are discourteous. The prince has just gone out in secret to another place." The Kebiishi then tried to have his officers search the interior of the residence. Nobutsura rebuked them angrily, "It is you fellows who are discourteous. To enter the prince's gate on horseback, and moreover to let base fellows burst into the residence, what irreverence is this! Here stands Chō-no-Hyōe-no-jō Nobutsura; come, and let us settle it together." He drew his sword and waited, and fifty and more officers and soldiers came pressing into the residence in uproar. Nobutsura fought furiously, in every direction, and not one of them could match him (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki; variant texts of the Heike Monogatari have also been consulted and taken into account).

¶Among Mitsunaga's men was one Shichirō Yasukiyo, who combined the strength of ten men, and he came forward to face Nobutsura. Nobutsura closed with him and they grappled; he tucked Yasukiyo under his arm and shouted toward Mitsunaga, "I have caught the strong man you keep. If you want him alive, come and rescue him." Mitsunaga was afraid and could not advance. Nobutsura pulled Yasukiyo down and dashed him to the ground, and Yasukiyo lost consciousness and presently revived (Note: following the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari). Besides this, the dead and wounded numbered more than ten. Nobutsura's sword was broken, and he tried to face the enemy with bare hands. The officers and soldiers, fearing his ferocity, would not come near, and shot arrows at him, one of which struck his left thigh. One man came forward holding a naginata, and Nobutsura tried to seize it, but was stabbed in the right thigh and wounded. The officers and soldiers then gathered together and captured Nobutsura. Bound, he cursed them in a loud voice: "You country louts have no idea of the way of things at all. I am a Yugei-no-jō, Third-Rank Officer of the Gate Guards; why must you bind me with cords? Do you think I am a man who would flee and hide?" And so Nobutsura was sent to Rokuhara.

¶Taira-no-Munemori sat on the nageshi, the lintel beam, and rebuked Nobutsura, saying, "Officers came bearing an imperial edict to seize the prince, and why did you kill and wound them? Put him to torture, press him hard on the details of the prince's secret plot, and once the truth of the matter is made clear, have him beheaded without delay." Nobutsura replied, "I do not in the first place know where the prince is. Even if I knew, I ought not to tell you, so how much less can I speak when I do not know. Lately I have heard that fierce brigands from the provinces have slipped into the capital in secret, and, aiming at the residences of court nobles and warriors, commit robbery under pretense of an imperial edict. I always make my rounds of the palace to guard it. This morning the Kebiishi came and attacked the prince's residence in armor and with weapons in hand. I took them for villains falsely claiming a command to commit robbery, and so I fought with all my strength to defend it, and that is all. If, supposing, savage thieves forged an imperial edict and forced their way into the residence of a court noble, and the warriors under his banner, in fear of words claimed to be an edict, allowed them to plunder at will, how would you regard that?" His words and his spirit were stirring, and he showed not the least flinching. The generals and officers who stood by were all filled with admiration and marvelled at his spirit (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki; the Heike Monogatari has also been consulted and taken into account).

¶Kiyomori judged his courage admirable, spared him the death penalty, and exiled him to Hino in Hōki (Note: following the Heike Monogatari). After the fall of the Taira, Nobutsura went to Kamakura, and Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, recognizing his service, took him into his own service as a retainer, made him of the Aki Kebiishi-dokoro, the Police Commissioners' Office of Aki, and gave him the Ōya estate in Noto. In the sixth year of Kenpō (1218) he died at Kawarada in the Ōya estate (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The Genpei Seisuiki says that Munemori sent Nobutsura down to the Left Prison. After the fall of the Taira he is said to have gone to Hōki and lived at Kamochi. It also says that in the second year of Bunji (1186) Yoritomo summoned him to the Kantō and, wishing to preserve the blood of a brave man for later ages, had him marry the widow of Yuri-no-Kotōta. This differs from the content of the main text, and is added here for reference). His descendants lived in Noto for generations and took Chō as their clan name.

Minamoto-no-Yukiie

¶Minamoto-no-Yukiie at first called himself Yoshimori (Note: following the Azuma Kagami, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the Sonpi Bunmyaku; the Gyokuyō gives Yoshimori as Yoshitoshi). He was the tenth son of Tameyoshi, Saemon-no-daijō, Senior Third-Rank Officer of the Left Gate Guards (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the Hōgen and Heiji disturbances his father, his brothers, and many of the clan were destroyed by the Taira, and so Yukiie hid himself secretly in Kumano and lodged at Shingū, and for that reason was called Shingū-no-Jūrō.

¶In the fourth year of Jishō (1180), Prince Mochihito, intending to distribute edicts of command through the provinces, loudly proclaim the crimes of the Taira, and attack them, was looking for a suitable messenger. Yukiie happened to be in the capital, and Minamoto-no-Yorimasa recommended him. The prince at once summoned Yukiie and made known his purpose. Yukiie said to the prince, "I met the misfortune of my house in childhood and have lain hidden in Kumano. Day and night I have ground my teeth, wishing to avenge the wrong and wipe away the shame. That I should now be granted this mission is an honor beyond any other. I will summon my kinsmen and old acquaintances, have each of them raise a righteous army in his own region, and relieve Your Highness of the long-accumulated wrath you have borne." The prince was pleased and gave Yukiie the edict of command. Yorimasa said, "Yoshimori has already become the messenger of the edict, but I beg that you grant him an office, so that its weight may be shown in all quarters." The prince at once appointed Yukiie Kurōdo, Chamberlain, and had him change his name to the present one (Yukiie). Yukiie disguised himself as a shugenja, a mountain ascetic, and went about persuading the people of the provinces of Ōmi, Mino, Owari, Shinano, Kai, Hitachi, Izu, and others. The Minamoto of the provinces all rose up, and there was none who did not respond.

¶When Yukiie first set out for the eastern provinces, he sent a letter to the armed monks of Shingū, saying, "Kiyomori has gone against the Way and defied it, he has confined the Retired Emperor, and his crimes and wickedness pierce the heavens. The Takakura Palace, unable to bear his indignation, is raising troops in the provinces in order to punish the rebel on the strength of the great cause. Yukiie is traveling through the Kantō and urging his kinsmen and old acquaintances. As the raising of troops is near at hand, I ask you, gentlemen, to await my return and help the great cause together with me." The armed monks discussed it among themselves in secret, and in the end the matter leaked out and was noticed even by the armed monks of Hongū (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). In the fifth month, the prince and Yorimasa were defeated and killed at Uji. In the eighth month, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, formerly Uhyōe-no-suke, raised troops in Izu in response to the edict, and the provinces of the Kantō, seeing his momentum, submitted one after another. The capital shook in alarm, and the Taira sent out troops in great numbers to attack him (Note: following the Gyokuyō, the Azuma Kagami, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the Heike Monogatari).

¶In the first month of the first year of Yōwa (1181), Yukiie led several thousand riders into Owari, meaning to pacify Mino and Ōmi. In the second month he advanced to Itakura in Mino and took up a position there, but was defeated in battle with the Taira, withdrew, and held Nakahara. Yoritomo sent his younger brother, the monk Gien, with troops to support him, and the army regained some strength (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). In the third month he faced Taira-no-Shigehira, Koremori, and others across the Sunomata River (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Genpei Seisuiki). His troops numbered only a little over a thousand, and a day was set for the engagement. That night Gien wished to go forward himself in the vanguard, and Yukiie, thinking that Gien might be greedy for merit and get ahead of him, sent a man to look into it, and sure enough Gien was not there. Yukiie therefore chose two hundred picked horsemen and crossed the river under cover of night (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶The Taira army had prepared for this in advance and sent out troops to meet him (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Yukiie pressed into the enemy line and fought, risking his own person, but his son Yukiyori was captured and Gien was killed in battle. Yukiie barely escaped alone (Note: that Yukiyori was captured follows the Azuma Kagami. The Genpei Seisuiki says that Yukiie's son, one Akuzenji, with more than seven hundred men, including Izumi-no-Tarō Shigemitsu of the Owari Minamoto, made rafts and crossed the river at night from upstream, but the Taira detected them and attacked them from all sides, and most were cut down, taken, or drowned, and both Akuzenji and Shigemitsu were taken prisoner. In the Yasaka-bon Heike Monogatari the two characters "Ensei" are attached beneath Akuzenji; the Itō-bon gives "Ensei" with different characters. Checking the Kikki, it also records the victory report from Sunomata, but says only that the one called Akuzenji was a younger brother of the Kurōdo and does not record his name. Genealogies do not show him, and as there is no means of verifying it, it is not adopted. Also, Yoritomo had a younger brother, Akuzenji Zenjō, and it seems this may be the same person. The various accounts are probably errors of hearsay). Yukiie gathered his remaining troops, withdrew, and encamped at Oguma. The Taira divided an army of seven thousand into five bodies and advanced in turn to attack. Yukiie shot down and drove back four of the bodies, but Shigehira and Koremori advanced in relays. When the four bodies joined again, Yukiie, outnumbered, retreated fighting. When he reached the Yahagi River in Mikawa, the soldiers of Nukata joined him as a whole district, and his army regained strength again.

¶When the enemy army caught up, Yukiie had three old soldiers disguise themselves as laborers going up to the capital, carrying provisions and with fodder troughs on their backs, and sent them past beneath the Taira camp. The enemy soldiers asked, "Have you seen any routed troops?" The old soldiers answered, "I saw some four or five hundred men fleeing east." They asked again, "Are the troops of the eastern provinces coming too?" The old men replied, "The vanguard has already reached the Kikugawa, and the rear army fills Hashimoto and Mitsuke. They cover the fields and cover the mountains, and who knows how many thousands upon tens of thousands they are." Hearing this, the Taira were seized with fear, withdrew their troops, and returned to the capital. Yukiie sent messengers galloping to Mino and Owari to announce, "The Taira have collapsed of themselves and fled. Anyone who does not shoot a single arrow at them along the road will be counted an enemy of the Minamoto." The districts of the provinces, fearing the calamity that would follow, vied with one another in pursuing the Taira and shooting at them. The Taira army fled home in confusion (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki. The Heike Monogatari says that in a report by express rider from the Mokudai, Deputy Governor, of Mino it was stated, "The troops of the eastern provinces have already reached Owari and the roads are blocked. Troops should be sent out at once to attack them," and so Tomomori, Kiyotsune, and others led thirty thousand horsemen to attack them. Yukiie and Gien led more than six thousand riders and took position on the Owari River, facing the Taira, and crossed the river under cover of night to attack. The Taira surrounded them and drove them back. Gien was killed in battle, and Yukiie, utterly defeated, fled to Mikawa. The Taira pursued him. Just then Tomomori fell ill, and the armies secretly turned back to the capital. Checking the Gyokuyō and the Azuma Kagami, in the twelfth month of the previous year Tomomori attacked the Ōmi Minamoto, and in the second month of this year he fell ill and returned to the capital. According to this, the statement of the various books that he confronted Yukiie on the Owari River is an error and is not adopted).

¶Yukiie meant to advance on the capital, and presented a written prayer to the Grand Shrine of Ise, praying for the destruction of the Taira (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Genpei Seisuiki). The Shinto priests, however, refused and would not accept it. He also sent a letter to Enryakuji asking for help, but there was no reply (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Yukiie then went to Kamakura, stayed at the Matsuda mansion, and petitioned Yoritomo, "I have fought the Taira in eight engagements, great and small, and have lost many troops. I beg you to grant me one small province so that I may mourn those who fell in battle." Yoritomo answered, "Since I raised troops, thanks to those who have gathered to the righteous army, I have come at last to hold ten provinces. Yoshinaka, too, holds five provinces by his own efforts. You, sir, should also exert your own might and prestige and work out a way to govern a province. How could Yoritomo give you a province or a town as a private gift?" (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari; the number of provinces follows the Genpei Seisuiki). Yukiie was disappointed, and at length discord arose between him and Yoritomo, and he went to Shinano to rely on Yoshinaka. Yoritomo heard that Yukiie was plotting with Yoshinaka to attack him, and led troops to attack them. Yoshinaka judged that they should not cross swords, and withdrew to Echigo to avoid him. Yoritomo withdrew and encamped in Musashi, sent a messenger to rebuke Yoshinaka, and demanded that Yukiie be handed over. Yoshinaka could not bear to give Yukiie up, and sent his son Yoshitaka as a hostage and made peace.

¶In the fourth month of the second year of Juei (1183), the Taira attacked Yoshinaka with a great army. Yoshinaka sent out his generals and officers to meet them, but was defeated again and again. In the fifth month the Taira divided their army in two and advanced to take positions on the two mountains of Tonamiyama and Shioyama. Yoshinaka had Yukiie lead more than ten thousand riders separately and sent him to Shio, but he fared badly in battle against Taira-no-Moritoshi. When Yoshinaka went to relieve him, Moritoshi was defeated (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). From then on Yoshinaka won victory after victory. In the seventh month he advanced and took up a position at Enryakuji. Yoshinaka from Seta, and Yukiie from Uji, entered the capital by separate roads. The Taira fled to the Western Seas, and Yukiie, together with Yoshinaka, in battle dress, had an audience with the Retired Emperor at the Rengeō-in (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki; the Gyokuyō, the Kikki, and the Heike Monogatari have also been consulted and taken into account). The Retired Emperor gave Yukiie the south hall of the Hōjūji as a residence (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari). Before long the court ordered the generals to divide the guarding of the various parts of the capital among them, and Yukiie guarded from the riverbank south of Shichijō eastward to the border of Yamato (Note: following the Kikki). For his service he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Ichidai Yōki) and was appointed Bingo-no-kami, Governor of Bingo, but he would not accept the appointment, saying that it was not what he desired (Note: following the Gyokuyō, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the Heike Monogatari). It was therefore changed to Bizen-no-kami, Governor of Bizen (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari), and he was granted admission to the Retired Emperor's residence (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶Gradually he came into favor, to the point of entering the palace and attending the Retired Emperor in games of gambling. At this time robbery and plunder were rampant in the capital, and the Retired Emperor, thinking that it was because the troops of the northern provinces had newly entered the capital and had not yet been given enough provisions, on the basis of a deliberation of the high nobles (Note: following the Gyokuyō), divided the confiscated Taira estates and distributed them to Yoshinaka and Yukiie. Even so the plundering did not stop (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Genpei Seisuiki). The Retired Emperor summoned Yoritomo, but Yoritomo reported that for his own reasons he could not come, and in his place sent his younger brothers Noriyori and Yoshitsune to the capital to oversee the delivery of tribute. Yoshinaka was suspicious and afraid, and meant to meet them in battle, and also planned with Yukiie and others to carry the Retired Emperor off to his camp. Yukiie did not join in this plan and reported it to the Retired Emperor. The Retired Emperor sent a man to remonstrate with Yoshinaka. Yoshinaka thought that Yukiie had leaked it, and from this time there was bad blood between the two (Note: following the Gyokuyō; the matter of Noriyori follows the Genpei Seisuiki). In the ninth month Yukiie submitted a memorial saying, "The Taira are repeatedly raiding the coast, plundering tribute, and have attacked into Bizen. The troops under my command are few and weak, and I have no power to defend against them. I wish to go there myself and attack them." The Retired Emperor granted it. But Yoshinaka obstructed this and had it stopped (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki).

¶Before long the Taira advanced down the San'yōdō, and their military strength grew ever greater (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Genpei Seisuiki). Yoshinaka's troops fought the Taira several times without winning, and Yoshinaka meant to go out and attack them himself (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). But when he heard that Noriyori and Yoshitsune were entering the capital, he turned back midway and prepared against them (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Genpei Seisuiki). In the eleventh month Yukiie led three thousand horsemen (Note: following the Kikki and the Nagato-bon Heike Monogatari; the Gyokuyō says more than two hundred and seventy, and the Genpei Seisuiki says one thousand. This book says that he set out with three hundred riders, but the Gyokuyō's account is probably also close to the facts), and went by way of Tamba to Harima. Taira-no-Noritaka and others massed their troops at Muroyama and met him. Yukiie was utterly defeated and fled to Izumi. At this time Yoshinaka's violence grew worse and worse, and all the people suffered under him and were sick of him.

¶In the third year of Juei (1184) Yukiie at last went to Kawachi and, taking up a position in Ishikawa Castle (Note: the Yasaka-bon and Itō-bon Heike Monogatari both give it as Nagano Castle, but the Genpei Seisuiki and the Nanto-bon Heike Monogatari are followed for now), turned against Yoshinaka. Yoshinaka sent his general Higuchi-no-Kanemitsu to attack him. Yukiie abandoned the castle and fled to Nagusa in Kii (Note: the Genpei Seisuiki gives Nagusa as Kōya). Kanemitsu pursued him, but just then heard the news of Yoshinaka's death in battle and turned back (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki and the Heike Monogatari).

¶Yukiie went back and forth between the Western Seas and the capital, and, borrowing the prestige of Yoritomo, plundered wherever he went. Earlier, because Yukiie had repeatedly broken military discipline on his campaigns, Yoritomo had never recommended him. When the Western Seas had been pacified, military authority came to belong wholly to Yoritomo, and Yukiie in the end never formed a bond with Yoritomo. Yoritomo came to hate him all the more. Yoshitsune too was shunned by Yoritomo and lived in gloom, unable to realize his ambitions. Yukiie relied on Yoshitsune and secretly took shelter in the capital. In the ninth month of the fifth year of Bunji, Yoritomo sent Kajiwara-no-Kagesue to the capital, ordered Yoshitsune to attack Yukiie, and had Kagesue observe Yoshitsune's movements (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Kagesue and his father had long been on bad terms with Yoshitsune, and when Yoshitsune planned rebellion they took advantage of it to concoct slanders. Yoritomo ordered Tosabō Shōshun to attack Yoshitsune, but Yukiie rescued him. Yoshitsune captured Shōshun and had him beheaded. Yukiie seized those who were in attendance on the Kantō and took over the Higashi-no-Tōin mansion and moved into it. Before long, together with Yoshitsune's son, he sought an imperial edict to attack Yoritomo. The Retired Emperor had no choice and granted it, making Yoshitsune jitō, land steward, of the Nine Provinces (Kyūshū) and Yukiie jitō of Shikoku. Yoritomo was angered by this and meant to lead troops himself to attack them, and advanced as far as the Kise River (Note: following the Azuma Kagami; the Gyokuyō, the Genpei Seisuiki, and the Heike Monogatari have also been consulted and taken into account).

¶Yoshitsune and Yukiie avoided him and headed for the Western Seas. In the eleventh month, they tried to cross the sea from Daimotsu-no-ura in Settsu and advanced as far as Kawajiri. The local residents, Tada-no-Yukitsuna and others, blocked and attacked them, but Yoshitsune and Yukiie defended against them and broke them. When it came time to put out the ships, a great wind suddenly arose and the ships were wrecked and damaged (Note: following the Gyokuyō, the Azuma Kagami, and the Genpei Seisuiki). Yukiie was separated from Yoshitsune and drifted ashore in Izumi (Note: following the Gyokuyō and the Yasaka-bon Heike Monogatari). The Retired Emperor again, at Yoritomo's request, issued orders through the home provinces to search for Yoshitsune. At this time Yukiie was hiding in the house of Hyūga-no-gon-no-kami Kiyozane (Note: his surname is not known), a zaichō kanjin, local provincial official, of Izumi, but Taira-no-Tokisada, leading Hitachibō Shōmyō, struck him by surprise, and Yukiie was captured, beheaded at Akaigawara, and his head was sent to Kamakura (Note: following the Azuma Kagami).

¶Note: the various texts of the Heike Monogatari say the following. Taira-no-Tokisada heard that Yukiie had fled and was hiding in Yagi district in Izumi, and meant to attack him. Hitachibō Shōmyō went in response to a call for volunteers. When Yukiie saw Shōmyō burst in, he swung his sword to left and right and defended himself. Soon he was grappling with Shōmyō, but Yukiie was strong and Shōmyō could not hold him down. Tokisada's retainer Muneyasu threw a stone and struck Yukiie on the forehead, and Yukiie laughed and said, "To strike an enemy one ought to use a blade. Why do you use pebbles?" Soldiers came running one after another, and at last he was captured. Yukiie was made to sit, and had Shōmyō inspect his own swords. Shōmyō's sword had more than forty nicks, but Yukiie's two swords were in the end unmarked. Shōmyō said, "I have often fought wicked monks in the mountains, but I have never met anyone of such fine skill as yours. How do you judge my ability?" Yukiie thought and said, "I am already your prisoner; what is there to say now?" And so he was beheaded at Akaigawara, and his head was sent to Kamakura. Yoritomo gave Shōmyō no reward, and on the contrary sentenced him to exile. People found this strange, but afterward he was recalled and given an estate, and Yoritomo said, "That one of low station should have killed a fine commander I feared would be ill-omened to accept, and so for a time I exiled you to stop the mouths of the critics, and that is all." Comparing the various texts of the Heike Monogatari, their wording differs from one to another, so for now the general sense is excerpted and added here.

¶Yukiie's sons were Mitsuie (Note: this book gives Iemitsu, but the Azuma Kagami is followed for now) and Yukiyori (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Mitsuie was called Tarō, was appointed Kurōdo, and then Saemon-no-jō, and served as Kebiishi, Police Commissioner, and was killed together with his father (Note: according to the Genpei Seisuiki, when Higuchi-no-Kanemitsu attacked Yukiie at Ishikawa Castle, he killed Kurōdo-hōgan Iemitsu. Also according to the entry for the eleventh month of the first year of Bunji in the Gyokuyō, when Yukiie put in at Daimotsu-no-ura with Yoshitsune, a great wind arose, Yukiie drifted ashore in Izumi, and his pursuers captured Iemitsu and displayed his head. Since Mitsuie was already Kurōdo-hōgan, it is hard to think there was yet another Kurōdo-hōgan among Yukiie's men. The characters "Iemitsu" and "Mitsuie" have probably simply been transposed, and in fact they are the same person. But there is no way to investigate further). Yukiyori was called Jirō. In the battle at the Sunomata River the army was defeated and he was captured (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. In the record for the first year of Bunji in the Gyokuyō it says that Yukiie's son Keishun Risshi, Lecturer-Priest, led troops to Ōmi and the Retired Emperor himself bestowed armor on him. But this is not found in the other books. The Sonpi Bunmyaku says that among Yukiie's sons who became monks there were two, Saijō and Gyōkan, but the name Keishun does not appear. It is added here for reference for the time being).