Biographies XCIV: Fujiwara-no-Michihira, Fujiwara-no-Tsunetada, Fujiwara-no-Morotomo, and Others

Fujiwara-no-Michihira

¶Fujiwara-no-Michihira was the eldest son of the Kampaku Kanemoto (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His house was called Nijō (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the Einin era (1293-1299) he became Jijū, Chamberlain (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). He was appointed Sakonoe-no-shōshō, Lesser Captain of the Left Palace Guards, was granted Junior Third Rank, was transferred to Ukonoe-no-chūjō, Middle Captain of the Right Palace Guards, advanced to Junior Second Rank, and received the post of Gon-no-chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor. In the first year of Shōan (1299) he was moved to Gon-no-dainagon, Provisional Major Counsellor, and advanced to Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Ichidai Yōki). In the second year of Kengen (1303) he concurrently became Ukonoe-no-taishō, Commander of the Right Palace Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Ichidai Yōki, and the Rekidai Kōki). Fujiwara-no-Saneie had originally ranked below Michihira in seating, but he was suddenly made a Jun-daijin, Associate Minister; Michihira was aggrieved and displeased, and so he resigned his post, closed his gate, and did not attend at court (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). At the beginning of Tokuji (1306-1308) he was summoned and made Sakonoe-no-taishō, Commander of the Left Palace Guards, and received the post of Naidaijin, Minister of the Center. Before long he resigned the command. In the second year of Enkyō (1309) he became Udaijin, Minister of the Right (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Ichidai Yōki, and the Rekidai Kōki). In the Shōwa era (1312-1317) he concurrently served as Tōgū-no-fu, Tutor to the Crown Prince (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Ichidai Yōki). He was transferred to Sadaijin, Minister of the Left, with Junior First Rank, and became Kampaku (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Ichidai Yōki, and the Rekidai Kōki); he became Chief of the Clan (Ujino-chōja) and was granted the oxhide-covered weapons of a guard escort. Before long he resigned as Minister of the Left (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Ichidai Yōki). When Emperor Go-Daigo ascended the throne, he resigned as Kampaku. In the second year of Karyaku (1327) he became Kampaku again. In the second year of Gentoku (1330) he was dismissed. At the end of Genkō, when the Emperor's carriage was in Hōki, an edict once more made Michihira Minister of the Left and Chief of the Clan and permitted him the right of Nairan, preliminary inspection of documents (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Rekidai Kōki). When the Emperor returned to the capital, he summoned Michihira to deliberate on the ceremony of his return to the palace, and what Michihira said accorded with his wishes (Note: following the Masukagami). Together with the Minister of the Right, Fujiwara-no-Tsunetada, Michihira was made to assist in the government, and no Kampaku was newly appointed (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki. Note: the Masukagami says that Michihira was made to take sole charge of all affairs, but this is probably a mistake). In the first year of Kenmu (1334) he again concurrently became Tutor to the Crown Prince, resigned as Nairan and as Chief of the Clan, and concurrently served as Hyōbu-kyō, Minister of Military Affairs. In the second year (1335) he died (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin), at the age of forty-eight (Note: following the Rekidai Kōki and the Sonpi Bunmyaku. Note: the Kugyō Bunin says forty-nine, which is mistaken). He was styled Go-Kōmyōshōin (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Zoku Sandaishū, and the Sakusha Burui).

¶Fujiwara-no-Tsunetada. Tsunetada was a son of the Kampaku Ihehira, and his house was called Konoe (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). At the beginning of Shōchū (1324) he received the post of Minister of the Right. In the second year of Gentoku (1330) he succeeded Michihira as Kampaku and was granted Junior First Rank. Before long he was dismissed. In the first year of Kenmu (1334) he again became Minister of the Right (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Together with Michihira he enjoyed the Emperor's favor (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). In the second year (1335) he became Minister of the Left. When Ashikaga Takauji set up the Retired Emperor Kōmyō and styled himself sovereign in the capital, Tsunetada received appointment as Kampaku. Tsunetada was not at ease in his position. In the following year he slipped away on his own and reached Yoshino (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin), and there he became Minister of the Left as before (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki). Emperor Go-Murakami received the throne at his residence (Note: following the Yoshino Shūi). In the seventh year of Shōhei (1352) he died (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku), at the age of fifty-one (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). He was styled Horikawa-dono (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Shoku Kokin Wakashū, and the Sakusha Burui). He had a son, Tsuneie (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Michihira had two sons, Yoshimoto and Yoshitada. Yoshimoto has a separate biography. Michihira's younger brother was called Morotomo.

Fujiwara-no-Tsunetada

¶Fujiwara-no-Morotomo, in the Shōwa era (1312-1317), passed through the posts of Sangi, Counsellor, and Ukonoe-no-chūjō, and was appointed Gon-no-dainagon. In the first year of Bunpō (1317) he was granted Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the third year of Genkō (1333) he was given the post of Dazai-no-gon-no-sotsu, Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu, and set out to attack Hōjō Hidetoki, the Tsukushi Tandai. Before he had departed, Hidetoki was put to death, and the expedition was cancelled. In the first year of Engen (1336), Ashikaga Takauji attacked the capital. By imperial command Morotomo set up camp at Mine-dō to defend against him, but could not prevail (Note: following the Taiheiki). Before long he concurrently became Hyōbu-kyō (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). When Takauji again attacked the capital, Morotomo accompanied the imperial progress to Enryaku-ji; there he received an order to go to the northern provinces, raised more than three thousand troops, and returned. At this time the imperial army had only recently suffered defeat, but relying on Morotomo's troops its morale was greatly lifted. Thereupon the Sakonoe-no-chūjō Nitta Yoshisada advanced on Takauji in the capital from Uchino, and Morotomo, together with Chiba Sadatane, Utsunomiya Kintsuna, and others, advanced from the riverbank. Takauji divided his forces to oppose Morotomo. Morotomo fought at Gojō-gawara (Note: following the Taiheiki) and cut down many; but before long he was defeated by Akamatsu Norisuke and withdrew. When the Emperor's carriage returned to the capital, Morotomo fled and hid in Kawachi (Note: following the Konshōin-bon Taiheiki). Later he came to Yoshino, was appointed Minister of the Left, and was advanced to Junior First Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). When Ashikaga Tadayoshi offered to submit, Morotomo argued that his request should be accepted, and the Emperor followed this advice (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the sixth year of Shōhei (1351) he received the post of Kampaku (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Sonpi Bunmyaku, and the Taiheiki). In the eighth year (1353), when the imperial army recovered the capital, an edict sent Morotomo and Fujiwara-no-Kinkata to take part in deciding the various affairs of government before the Emperor's return (Note: following the Entairyaku). On returning to the capital he resigned as Kampaku and shaved his head (Note: compare the Kugyō Bunin and the Taiheiki). In the fifteenth year (1360), Imperial Prince Mutsuyoshi, the Seii Shōgun, rebelled at Ginkō. By imperial command Morotomo attacked him with more than a thousand troops. They fought for a day and a night (Note: "a day and a night" follows the Saigen'in-bon; some editions of the Taiheiki read "three"), and in the end he defeated the prince and put him to flight. In the following year he joined Hosokawa Kiyouji and others in attacking Ashikaga Yoshiakira in the capital and put him to flight (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the twentieth year (1365) he died (Note: following the Daijōin Nendaiki. Note: the Shinyō Wakashū contains three poems by the Former Kampaku and Minister of the Left, the Lay Monk of Kōmyōdai-in, and this is probably Morotomo. The Saisai Yōki also says that Morotomo cut off his hair and took the name Kōmyōdai-in).

¶His sons were Norimoto (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku) and Noritada. In the eighth year of Shōhei (1353), Norimoto joined Yamana Tokiuji in attacking Ashikaga Yoshiakira in the capital (Note: following the Entairyaku). Later he became Kampaku and Minister of the Left (Note: compare the Tenju Gannen Uta Awase, the Shinyō Wakashū, and the Kugyō Bunin). Noritada was Ukonoe-no-taishō (Note: following the Gentai Ryaku). In the seventh year of Shōhei (1352) he was killed in battle at Nara (Note: following the Entairyaku and the Kōno Monjo).

Fujiwara-no-Morotomo

¶Fujiwara-no-Sadafusa was a descendant of Tsunefusa, Gon-no-dainagon of Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His father was named Tsunenaga and was Gon-no-dainagon (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Kugyō Bunin). His house was called Yoshida (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the Kenji and Tokuji periods (1275-1308) Sadafusa passed through the posts of Sangi, Uemon-no-kami, Commander of the Right Gate Guards, and Kebiishi-no-betto, Chief of the Police Commission, and was appointed Gon-no-chūnagon, reaching Senior Third Rank. In the second year of Genkō (1322) he was moved to Gon-no-dainagon (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). When Emperor Go-Daigo was still in the princely residence, Sadafusa served and instructed him, and for that reason received especially generous favor (Note: following the Masukagami). Once, to avoid an inauspicious direction, the Emperor made a progress to Sadafusa's residence (Note: following the Rekidai Kōki), and he was specially granted Junior First Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Masukagami). In Sadafusa's house, for generations back, no son or younger kinsman had been appointed to a post in the Konoefu, the Palace Guards, but the Emperor specially made his son Munefusa a Konoe-no-shōshō (Note: following the Masukagami. Note: whether of the Left or the Right is unknown). When the Emperor fled to the western provinces, Sadafusa remained in the capital and served the Retired Emperor Kōgon (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). When the Emperor returned, Sadafusa was appointed Naidaijin and concurrently Minbu-kyō, Minister of Popular Affairs, but before long he resigned as Naidaijin (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the first year of Engen (1336), Ashikaga Takauji rebelled and attacked the capital, and the Emperor's carriage hurriedly made its progress to Enryaku-ji. Sadafusa rushed into the palace, gathered up the treasures handed down through the reigns, and caught up with the temporary palace to deliver them. When Takauji attacked again, he once more followed to Enryaku-ji. Before long he followed the Emperor back to the capital (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the following year the Retired Emperor Kōmyō stripped him of his office as Minbu-kyō. Sadafusa fled to Yoshino and died a little over a year later (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶From his father Tsunenaga onward, Sadafusa was thoroughly versed in the precedents and usages of the court. His diary is called the Kikkōki (Note: following the Kikkōki). Now the Emperors Go-Fukakusa and Kameyama were both sons of the Retired Emperor Go-Saga and came to the throne one after the other. But the Retired Emperor loved Kameyama above all and wished his descendants to hold the succession for all time. When Go-Uda was born, he was at once made Crown Prince. Yet on the day Go-Fukakusa abdicated, he was specially granted the Chōkōdō estates and made them his own demesne. His intention was that in later ages he would pass these on to his own descendants as well. As the Retired Emperor was dying, he left a final edict to the Ōmiya-in and to Hōjō Tokiyori, saying: "You must not on any account alter what I have commanded." But afterward Tokiyori's son Tokimune, carrying on the wishes of Go-Fukakusa, set up Fushimi as Crown Prince to Go-Uda. Two years after Fushimi was set up, Tokimune's son Sadatoki in turn promoted Fushimi's son Imperial Prince Taneto as Crown Prince. This was Go-Fushimi. The Retired Emperor Go-Uda therefore sent Sadafusa to Kamakura and reproached Sadatoki for going against the edict of the late sovereign. Sadatoki had no choice but to set up Go-Nijō, a son of the Retired Emperor, and thereupon it was arranged that the lines of Go-Fukakusa and Kameyama would hold the throne in alternation, with a limit of ten years each. When Go-Nijō died, Sadatoki adhered to the earlier agreement and set up Hanazono, the younger brother of Go-Fushimi. But the Crown Prince was not yet decided, and some argued that Kuniyoshi, a son of Go-Nijō, should be set up. The Cloistered Emperor Kameyama had long loved that grandson deeply and wished him to receive the throne; he consulted with the Cloistered Emperor Go-Uda and again sent Sadafusa to persuade Sadatoki. In this way Emperor Go-Daigo succeeded Hanazono on the throne. The Cloistered Emperor Go-Uda, pitying Kuniyoshi for having lost his father in infancy, ordered that he be made Crown Prince to Go-Daigo; but the Emperor's true intention was to set up his own son Takayoshi, and he was constantly on poor terms with Kuniyoshi. When the Cloistered Emperor Go-Uda passed away, the Emperor at last sought to depose Kuniyoshi. Sadatoki's son Takatoki declared this impermissible, and the plan was dropped. Before long Kuniyoshi died, and the Emperor sought to set up his own son Moriyoshi in his place, but Takatoki once again set up Kazuhito, a son of Go-Fushimi. The Emperor was enraged and said: "Never, since ancient times, have I heard of a subject interfering in the succession to the throne. Moreover, the final edict of the former reign is as clear as something hung up before a mirror. To violate it again and again, what will you do about Heaven's reproach?" He then once more sent Sadafusa with an edict to Takatoki, saying: "In the court, at every change of reign, there is endless going and coming of confusion, and in the end Heaven's will is never satisfied. Moreover, the descendants of Go-Fukakusa already hold the Chōkōdō estates. Even on the day of accession they keep these in addition, and their wealth only grows greater. The descendants of Kameyama, even while hidden dragons, that is, before taking the throne, likewise hold separate demesnes of their own, which is truly unreasonable. If you insist on carrying through the proposal of alternation every ten years, then it would be best for the Chōkōdō estates to be attached to my line during the ten years of its reign." But Takatoki in the end did not obey this command, and the realm at last fell into great disorder (Note: compare the Kikkōki, the Jinnō Shōtōki, the Taiheiki, the Ihon Taiheiki, and the Baishōron).

¶Sadafusa had two sons. The elder, Munefusa, became Chūnagon. When Emperor Go-Murakami planned to recover the capital, he stopped at the Sumiyoshi shrine and had his attendants offer cloth offerings and horses to the god; it happened that a pine tree before the shrine snapped for no reason. Munefusa memorialized: "Portents cannot overcome virtue. What is there to fear?" Date and Arimasa heard this and sighed, saying: "Long ago, the emperor of Yin cultivated virtue, and so he was able to dispel the portent of a mulberry and a paper-mulberry tree sprouting. Today I do not know whether there is virtue enough to overcome this. In my view, the Emperor's carriage will surely not enter the capital." Before long the Emperor reached Otokoyama, but things went badly and he withdrew, and it turned out just as Arimasa had said (Note: following the Taiheiki). Munefusa ended his career as Dainagon (Note: following the Shinyō Wakashū and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). The younger son, Morifusa, rose to Junior First Rank and Dainagon. Sadafusa had once adopted Sukefusa as a son, but he rose only to Sangi (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

Fujiwara-no-Sadafusa

¶Fujiwara-no-Tamefuyu was a son of the Gon-no-dainagon Tameyo. He was appointed Sakonoe-no-chūjō and was granted Senior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). When Ashikaga Takauji rebelled, he followed the Nakatsukasa-kyō, Imperial Prince Takayoshi, on the campaign to the eastern provinces. Takayoshi's army was broken at Takenoshita, and he withdrew and fled to Sanohara. When the rebel forces pursued, Tamefuyu fought them and died there (Note: following the Taiheiki). Takauji had long been on friendly terms with Tamefuyu and particularly lamented his death (Note: following the Baishōron). His son Tameshige rose to Junior Second Rank and Gon-no-chūnagon in the reign of Emperor Go-Komatsu (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). At first Fujiwara-no-Tametō was compiling the Shin Go-Shūi Shū by command of the Retired Emperor Go-En'yū, but he died before it was finished. Tameshige received a fresh command and completed it, but afterward he was killed by robbers (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Shūgaishō). His second son Tametane became Sakonoe-no-chūjō and later became a monk (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

Fujiwara-no-Tamefuyu

¶Fujiwara-no-Mitsutsugu was a son of the Sangi Mitsuyasu (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku. Note: one manuscript of the Sonpi Bunmyaku says he was a grandson of Mitsuyasu and a son of Mitsunori, but it is not known which is correct). His house was called Horikawa (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the Shōchū and Karyaku periods (1324-1329) he passed through the posts of Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain, and Kunai-kyō, Minister of the Imperial Household, was appointed Sangi, and was granted Junior Third Rank. When Emperor Go-Daigo was driven from the capital and wandered in exile, Mitsutsugu left the capital and served the Retired Emperor Kōgon, and rose to Senior Third Rank. When the Emperor returned to the capital, he was lowered to Junior Third Rank. In the first year of Kenmu (1334) he was again advanced to Senior Third Rank, and before long became Governor of Shinano province (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). When Ashikaga Takauji rebelled, the Daichi-in-no-miya and the Danjō-no-in-no-miya set out from the Tōsandō to attack him, and Mitsutsugu joined them with two thousand troops and took Ōi castle by storm. In the following year he followed Takauji's trail to the capital and, together with the other commanders, attacked Takauji and put him to flight (Note: following the Taiheiki). Before long he was granted Junior Second Rank and appointed Gon-no-chūnagon. He remained Governor of Shinano as before (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). When the Emperor again made a progress to Enryaku-ji, Mitsutsugu accompanied him. When the Emperor's carriage returned to the capital, Mitsutsugu fled and hid in Kawachi (Note: following the Ihon Taiheiki). In the third year of Engen (1338) he was killed in battle at Nara (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). His sons were Mitsusue and Mitsuari (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

Fujiwara-no-Mitsutsugu

¶Fujiwara-no-Masatada (Note: "Masa" is written "Sei" in some texts) had the house name Bōmon (Note: on consideration, since Masatada already used Bōmon as a house name and yet used the character "tada" in his name, he is probably of the line of Kiyotada. But Masatada is not recorded in the genealogies, and there is now no way to investigate this). He was appointed a general of the Konoe (Note: whether of the Left or the Right is unknown). At the time of the Genkō campaign, Ashikaga Takauji had already offered to submit, but the Emperor still harbored doubts, and so he had Masatada, together with Akamatsu Norimura, lead several hundred village troops to encamp at Iwakura, to guard against the unforeseen. Then, together with the monk Ryōchū and others, he advanced and attacked Rokuhara. In the Engen era (1336-1340), he accompanied the imperial progress to Enryaku-ji and, together with the Nakatsukasa-kyō, Imperial Prince Takayoshi, defended against the enemy on the Nishizaka road, and died there (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Fujiwara-no-Masatada

¶Fujiwara-no-Yasunaga was a descendant of the Kampaku Morimichi. His great-grandfather Masahira first took the name Hōshōji. His father was Chikayasu, of Junior Third Rank. Yasunaga was appointed Sakonoe-no-chūjō and Sahyōe-no-kami, Commander of the Left Gate Guards (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku. Note: Sahyōe-no-kami is from the Taiheiki). In the seventh year of Shōhei (1352), when Ashikaga Yoshiakira attacked Otokoyama, the Emperor had Yasunaga defend against him. Yasunaga made the Yodo River a natural barrier, removed the bridge, and held the opposite bank. But Yamana Moroyoshi crossed with two thousand troops, churning up the stream (Note: following the Taiheiki), and the imperial army was thrown into alarm and disorder (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). Yasunaga threw himself into the fight, cut down three of the enemy with his own hand, and withdrew. The pursuing enemy soldiers shouted: "Will even a general turn his back and flee?" Yasunaga said, "What difficulty is there in that?" and, turning his horse, went back to fight. As far as Otokoyama he did this seventeen times in all. When the enemy pressed upon the main camp, Yasunaga picked eight hundred troops, had them mark their hats with a sign, attacked the camp of Hosokawa Kiyouji by night, and greatly defeated it. Before long the Emperor, to break through the encirclement and return to Yoshino, rode out in military dress and mingled among the soldiers. Many of the court nobles and officers fell fighting. Ikku Aritane caught up and was on the point of reaching the Emperor. Yasunaga cursed him loudly, saying, "I will let you feel the strength of my arm," dismounted, swung his long sword, and struck him down. Even so, the enemy still pressed in pursuit and shot arrows like rain. Yasunaga threw himself into the fight, turning this way and that, and broke the encirclement, and the Emperor was able to escape thanks to him. Later he followed the Dainagon Fujiwara-no-Takatoshi and attacked Ashikaga Yoshiakira together with Yamana Tokiuji, but what became of him afterward is not known.

Fujiwara-no-Yasunaga

¶Fujiwara-no-Yukifusa was a son of Tsunetada, of Junior Second Rank. His house was called Ichijō, and from his ancestor Yukinari onward it had been a house renowned for generations for calligraphy (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Yukifusa rose to Kurōdo-no-tō (Note: following the printed Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Taiheiki) and Sakonoe-no-chūjō. When Kasagi castle fell, Yukifusa fell into the enemy's hands (Note: following the Taiheiki). Before long he escaped and returned, and accompanied the Emperor on his progress to Oki (Note: following the Masukagami and the Taiheiki). His manner of service was so extremely modest and careful that the Emperor held him in special regard. But when the Retired Emperor Kōgon ascended the throne and it came time to choose a person to write the screen poems for the Yuki and Suki ceremonies, it was said that there was no one suited to the task in the capital, and it was proposed that Yukifusa be summoned back. The Emperor heard this and was dejected (Note: following the Masukagami). In the following year the Emperor's carriage returned to the capital. On this occasion all the attending ministers were in full armor, but by imperial command only Yukifusa and Fujiwara-no-Mitsumori were made to attend in civil dress. Nitta Yoshisada was Yukifusa's brother-in-law, the husband of his sister (Note: the base text has "daughter," but here the Sonpi Bunmyaku is followed). In the Engen era (1336-1340), when Yoshisada went to the northern provinces escorting the Crown Prince, Yukifusa went with him. When Kanegasaki castle fell, Yukifusa died there (Note: following the Taiheiki).

¶He had two sons, called Yukizane and Naritomo (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Yukizane became a Konoe-no-shōshō (Note: the name "Yukizane" is from a variant text), and with his father accompanied the Crown Prince to the northern provinces and encamped at Akuwa. When Wakiya Yoshisuke met the enemy at Sabanami and raised a fire to signal his plight, Yukizane led more than two hundred men and rushed to his rescue; before long he led more than five hundred troops to attack Ashikaga Takatsune at Kuromaru castle, and fought before the Kokuryū shrine, but things went badly and he withdrew, and what became of him afterward is not known. Yukifusa's sister entered the harem of Emperor Go-Daigo, became Naishi-no-jō, Handmaid, and served as Kōtō, Senior Lady-in-Waiting, and her talents were outstanding. Once, while on night duty, Nitta Yoshisada saw her playing the koto beneath the moon and was drawn to her, and secretly sent her a poem to convey his feelings, but received no reply. The Emperor heard of this and took pity on her. At the beginning of Engen (1336), when the Emperor's carriage returned to the capital, he held a private banquet and gave Yoshisada wine, and at the same time bestowed the Handmaid upon him as a gift. Yoshisada loved her exclusively and could hardly bear to be parted from her, and he lost all will to go off on campaign. While he lingered in this way, the arch-rebel (Takauji) in the end preserved his life, the smoldering embers burned up again, the Emperor's carriage was once more driven into wandering, and the work of the Restoration was not accomplished. Critics of the age regretted this. When Yoshisada set out for the northern provinces, he did not take her along because of the dangers of the road. Later he sent to fetch her, but by the time she arrived Yoshisada had already fallen in battle, and the Handmaid returned again to the capital. It happened that the enemy was exposing his head in the capital. The Handmaid went to the place beneath it and wept, and her grief moved the hearts of the passersby. In the end she cut her hair and became a nun, and lived beside the Ōjō-in in the west of the capital (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Fujiwara-no-Yukifusa

¶Minamoto-no-Sadahira was at first called Yoshisada and was a son of Sadanari, Governor of Mutsu (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Akamatsu Keizu, and the Taiheiki). His house was called Nakanoin, and he served Emperor Go-Daigo and was appointed Sakonoe-no-chūjō. When the Emperor made a progress to Kasagi, Sadahira followed the Dainagon Fujiwara-no-Morokata to Enryaku-ji (Note: following the Taiheiki). When the army was defeated he fled to the temporary palace (Note: following the Nanto-bon Taiheiki). When the temporary palace fell, he fled and hid at Yamazaki. Akamatsu Norimura raised troops and attacked Rokuhara, but was badly defeated. He therefore put forward Sadahira, falsely styling him the Shōgoin-no-miya, set up camp at Yamazaki, then led his troops in by way of Toba and again attacked Rokuhara, but again without success. When Rokuhara was pacified, Sadahira returned to the capital with the Seii Taishōgun, Imperial Prince Moriyoshi. At that time Osaragi Takanao and others held Nara, and so by imperial command Sadahira, together with Kusunoki Masashige and others, attacked and subdued them, and then returned. When Fujiwara-no-Kinmune plotted rebellion, by imperial command Sadahira and Nawa Nagatoshi, Governor of Hōki, and others were sent to seize and behead him. When Nitta Yoshisada defended against Ashikaga Takauji at Hyōgo, Sadahira followed him there and fought hard but was defeated and returned, and accompanied the imperial progress to Enryaku-ji. By imperial command Sadahira led troops to encamp at Uji, but the fighting went badly. When the Emperor's carriage returned to the capital, Sadahira fled and hid at Tōjō in Kawachi (Note: following the Taiheiki. Note: "Tōjō" is from the Konshōin-bon). He reached Yoshino and received the post of Dainagon (Note: following the Shin'yō Wakashū. Note: on consideration, the Aso Shrine documents say that around Kōkoku and Shōhei a certain "Nakanoin Former Chūnagon" followed the Seisei Taishōgun, Imperial Prince Kaneyoshi, to Tsukushi and took charge of military affairs. This is probably Sadahira. But that name is not recorded in the present work, and there is now no way to investigate). Later he became a monk, and what became of him afterward is not known. He had two sons, called Sadakiyo and Masahira (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Sadakiyo became Sakonoe-no-chūjō and was appointed Governor of Etchū (Note: following the Akamatsu Keizu). In the Kenmu era (1334-1338) he was transferred to Governor of Noto. When the Ashikaga rebelled, the Etchū shugo Fumon Toshikiyo raised troops and responded to them. Sadakiyo held his home province's Isurugiyama and defended against him. When a great army pressed in, Sadakiyo led the monks in a hard fight and died there (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Minamoto-no-Sadahira

¶Fujiwara-no-Kiyotada was a son of the Sakonoe-no-chūjō Toshisuke. His fifth-generation ancestor Takakiyo had been Sangi and Sahyōe-no-kami in the Kenpō era (1213-1219). At first they took Bōmon as their house, and afterward they came to be called Bōmon (Note: compare the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Kiyotada passed through the posts of Ōkura-kyō, Minister of the Treasury, and Kōfuku-ji Zō-chōkan, Chief of Construction at Kōfuku-ji, and was appointed Sa-daiben, Major Controller of the Left, and Sangi, and was granted Junior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the second year of Kenmu (1335), Ashikaga Takauji plotted rebellion and sent up a memorial asking for the punishment of Nitta Yoshisada. Yoshisada also sent a memorial enumerating Takauji's crimes and reporting also the killing of Imperial Prince Moriyoshi. By imperial edict a council of the court nobles was held, but no one had anything to say. Kiyotada alone stepped forward and said: "Looking at what Yoshisada has said, Takauji's eight rebellious crimes each amount to a crime in themselves. And if the killing of the Prince is a fact, Takauji's guilt would not be enough atoned for even by execution. It would be best to wait for word to arrive from the Kantō and then decide his guilt." Just then the news of Imperial Prince Moriyoshi's death arrived, and so the edict for the subjugation of Takauji was issued. In the first year of Engen (1336), Takauji raised troops in Chinzei and advanced by land and sea; the capital region trembled greatly. Yoshisada encamped at Hyōgo and guarded the strategic point. By imperial command Kusunoki Masashige, Governor of Kawachi, went to support Yoshisada. Masashige proposed: "The rebels' momentum cannot easily be met. It would be best to recall Yoshisada, have the Emperor's carriage make a progress to Enryaku-ji, let the rebels enter the capital, and cut their supply lines. I will advance in concert with Yoshisada and can destroy them in a single stroke." The court nobles all said: "Military affairs should be left to the ministers who are the generals." Kiyotada said: "From the time the royal army marched east until the rebels fled west, wherever its august power reached, there was never a case where it did not overcome the many with the few. This was Heaven's aid, not the result of strategy. Moreover, the troops the rebels now lead are not necessarily more numerous than those that came from the east not long ago. And when the Commander has not yet fought a single battle, will Your Majesty so lightly abandon the capital? If within one year there were to be another progress to Enryaku-ji, by what then could the weight of the Ten-Thousand-Chariot sovereign be shown? In my view, it would be best to send Masashige at once and have him fight a decisive battle outside the capital." The Emperor accepted his words. Masashige went to Hyōgo and engaged Takauji's army, and in the end died in the fighting. The imperial army was defeated, and Takauji advanced and took the capital. The Emperor then made a progress again to Enryaku-ji. When Takauji sought to surrender, Kiyotada accompanied the Emperor back to the capital (Note: following the Taiheiki). Before long he followed the progress to Yoshino. In the third year of Engen (1338) he died (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). While in office Kiyotada, together with Fujiwara-no-Sadafusa, enjoyed the Emperor's favor and was frequently consulted by him. When the two died one after the other, the Emperor mourned them especially and wrote a poem, in which he lamented that with the two gone there was now hardly anyone to speak with about affairs, and that the closing years of his own reign had grown solitary (Note: following the Shin'yō Wakashū).