Biographies C: Nitta Yoshiaki, Nitta Yoshioki, and the Wakiya Brothers

Nitta Yoshiaki

¶Nitta Yoshiaki, called Kotarō, was a son of Nitta Yoshisada (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Taiheiki). He constantly accompanied his father on campaign, and for his merit became Shugo, Military Governor, of Echigo. When Yoshisada marched on his expedition to the eastern provinces, Yoshiaki remained in Kyoto to guard the capital together with Yūki Chikamitsu, Nawa Nagatoshi, Hōki-no-kami, Governor of Hōki, Kusunoki Masashige, Kawachi-no-kami, Governor of Kawachi, and other commanders. When the battle of Ōwatari was lost, he commanded the rear guard with more than three thousand men, and sixty thousand of the enemy pursued them. Yoshiaki fought fiercely several times over and himself received wounds in several places (Note: following the Taiheiki). He was helped onto a horse and made his way to the courtyard of the Shishinden, where the emperor himself came out to console him; he then accompanied the imperial progress to Enryaku-ji (Note: following the Mōri-ke text of the Taiheiki).

¶When Yoshisada entered Kanegasaki Castle, he entrusted two thousand soldiers to Yoshiaki and ordered him to raise troops and horses in Echigo to serve as reinforcements. Yoshiaki first tried to enter Somayama together with his uncle Wakiya Yoshisuke, but Uryū Tamotsu refused them and would not admit them. Yoshiaki set out for Echigo, but most of his men deserted, and only two hundred and fifty remained with him. He therefore turned back toward Kanegasaki, and they took counsel about raising a new force later.

¶At that time a man of Echizen named Imajō Jōkei, answering the call of Ashikaga Takatsune, had taken up a position on difficult ground and was preparing to meet them there. Yoshisuke said: "Jōkei is probably of the following of Imajō Hisatsune. Hisatsune formerly served in our army and owes us a debt of gratitude. Is there no one who could go and try to persuade him?" Yura Mitsuuji agreed and rose, and rode forward alone, saying: "Lord Wakiya is going to Kanegasaki to take counsel on the war. If you should mistakenly loose even a single arrow, how will you escape the guilt? Withdraw your troops at once and open the road." Jōkei answered: "My father Hisatsune once had the honor of serving under your banner, but I now belong to the Owari-no-kami (on the Ashikaga side). I am only blocking the way in the hope of escaping blame. If you will grant me the head of one or two known warriors from among your marching ranks, I can use that as my pretext, and I will do as you say." Yoshisuke heard this and fell silent.

¶Yoshiaki said: "There is reason in what Jōkei says. But I have sworn bonds like those of father and son with the soldiers who have followed me in this campaign. I would rather stand in their place than bear to make them stand in mine. Go and tell Jōkei this once more. If he still will not listen, I shall die in battle together with them all, and so uphold the duty of honoring one's men." Mitsuuji pleaded again, but Jōkei would not listen. Mitsuuji dismounted, took off his armor, and said: "Even our commander is willing to give up his life in place of all of you. How could the warriors who follow him fail to fulfill their duty?" Then he drew his sword and made to stab himself. Jōkei, deeply moved, ran to him in haste and stopped him, saying: "Commander and warrior alike are steadfast in righteousness. How could Jōkei fear any guilt?" He stood down his troops and, wiping away tears, crouched at the side of the road. Yoshisuke and Yoshiaki were greatly pleased; they unfastened the gold-mounted sword at the belt and gave it to Mitsuuji, saying: "Even if we should fall in battle, should anyone of our house revive its fortunes, we will surely take this sword as proof of your loyalty."

¶Yoshiaki's soldiers, who at first had been frightened by what they heard of Jōkei and fled, were now reduced to only sixteen. Yoshiaki led them, broke through the encirclement, and entered Kanegasaki Castle. Before long a great host again surrounded the castle, and the provisions inside ran out. Yoshisada secretly left the castle and made for Somayama to gather reinforcements. Yoshiaki remained to hold the castle, with more than eight hundred men (Note: the current text of the Taiheiki gives one hundred and sixty, and also says that more than three hundred died following Prince Takayoshi, so the two figures contradict each other; here we follow the other variant texts of the Taiheiki). He faced the enemy for more than twenty days, until a hundred thousand enemy troops closed in on the castle from all sides and stormed it. The defenders, long tormented by hunger, were so worn down that even when crowded together like wheels jostling one another they could hardly move; sitting in the towers and clinging to the walls, they were reduced to gasping their last breaths. At length Yoshiaki took his own life together with Prince Takayoshi. Doi Michiharu, Bingo-no-kami, Governor of Bingo, Yura Tomoshige, Nagahama Akihiro, and others fought in defense but, their strength exhausted, all died in battle. Fujiwara-no-Yukifusa, Sakonoe-no-chūjō, Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, Satomi Yoshiuji, Ōi-no-suke, Takeda Yoichi, Kehi Ujiharu and his son Nariharu, the Hōgen Kenkaku, and the soldiers and rank and file all took their own lives to the last man; only four escaped, and only twelve surrendered (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Nitta Yoshioki

¶Nitta Yoshioki, whose childhood name was Tokujumaru (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Taiheiki), was a half-brother of Yoshiaki by a different mother. Because his mother was of low standing, Yoshisada did not love him greatly. He spent his childhood in Kōzuke. In the second year of Engen (1337), when Minamoto-no-Akiie, Chinjufu-shōgun, Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Command, marched as far as the provincial seat of Musashi intending to attack Kamakura, Yoshioki also raised thirty thousand troops in response; but, foreseeing that Akiie's advance would be delayed, he planned to take Kamakura first with his own force alone. Soon Akiie's army arrived, and the two armies joined, took Kamakura, and went west together with Akiie. In the spring of the following year they fought at Aonogahara and defeated Uesugi Noriaki. When Akiie fell in battle, Yoshioki followed Akiie's younger brother, the Shōshō, Minor Captain, Akinobu, and held Otokoyama. But the imperial forces were defeated and fled to Yoshino. The emperor received Yoshioki in audience, praised his talent and said, "You will be able to revive your father's house." He had Yoshioki's coming-of-age ceremony performed in his presence, bestowed the name he now bore, and appointed him Sahyōe-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Left Gate Guards (Note: the Sonpi Bunmyaku gives Senior Fifth Rank Lower and Sakonoe-no-shōgen, Lieutenant of the Left Palace Guards). He then ordered him, together with Hōjō Tokiyuki, to assist Prince Noriyoshi in pacifying the eastern provinces. Crossing the sea by ship, they met a violent storm and the various forces were scattered from one another (Note: following the Taiheiki). Yoshioki's ship drifted ashore at Ishihama in Musashi (Note: following the Konshōin text of the Taiheiki), and from there he lay hidden in the eastern provinces.

¶In the spring of the seventh year of Shōhei (1352), together with his younger brother Yoshimune and his cousin Yoshiharu, he raised troops and attacked Kamakura. Ashikaga Takauji left his son Motouji to guard Kamakura and himself led troops to meet them at Kanaigahara (Note: this text gives Kotesashihara, but here it is corrected on the authority of the Tsurugaoka Shamuki and the Kitsuregawa genealogy). The imperial forces drove Takauji back, and Yoshimune pursued him. Yoshioki and Yoshiharu, seeing a unit with a white banner withdrawing, took it for Takauji's army and pursued it as well. Just then men who had come to surrender appeared one after another and bowed to receive them before their horses. The two, taking these for genuine, and with their soldiers also pressing forward eagerly in pursuit of the fleeing enemy, were left with only three hundred men at hand. Then an ambush rose on all sides and surrounded them, and the two fought in person. Yoshioki was wounded in three places; Yoshiharu's sword broke, and he fought with a naginata until its blade was notched like a saw. More than a hundred of their men died, and they barely broke out of the encirclement, but they had lost touch with Yoshimune. Yoshioki said: "Our troops are exhausted, and even if we try to withdraw we cannot. We had better strike directly at Kamakura and settle the contest with Motouji." That very night he passed through Sekido. Just then Ishidō Yoshifusa, Miura Takamichi, and others came to surrender with several thousand troops. Yoshioki was greatly pleased and led them to Kanagawa, where, finding the enemy unprepared, he attacked. Yoshioki rode into the enemy ranks himself and cut down three horsemen. When his reins were cut and trailed on the ground, he leaned down over the saddle and knotted them again; though the enemy rushed in and slashed at him wildly, he did not flinch. The enemy were greatly astonished and, thinking it uncanny, went away. Before long Yoshiharu also, leading over a hundred men, fought and defeated the enemy commander Minami Munetsugu. Motouji fled. Yoshioki and Yoshiharu remained in Kamakura and gave orders to the eight provinces of the Kantō.

¶About half a month later, they heard that Takauji had already defeated Yoshimune at Fuefuki-mine and was turning back his army to attack Kamakura. Yoshioki and Yoshiharu consulted about holding on to the death, but someone said: "It would be better to escape and hide for the time being, learn how matters stand in the capital, join hands with the commanders of the northern provinces, and plan to rise again." Yoshioki and Yoshiharu followed this advice, fled into Kōzuyama, and took up a position at Kawamura Castle (Note: following the Taiheiki). When Takauji came with troops to attack, they abandoned the castle and fled (Note: compiled from the Taiheiki and the Kitsuregawa genealogy). Afterwards they held Echigo together with Yoshimune and the others.

¶The powerful families of Musashi and Kōzuke sent letters asking to take Yoshioki as their commander, and made a joint covenant swearing that they bore no double heart. Yoshimune and Yoshiharu were suspicious and did not respond, but Yoshioki, resolved to achieve some extraordinary feat, went with only a hundred or so men, moving from place to place between the two provinces, and his commanders and warriors gradually came to follow him. Motouji and Hatakeyama Kunikiyo sent troops many times to attack Yoshioki, but he vanished at once. Once he was ambushed on the road, but with a few horsemen Yoshioki broke through the encirclement and escaped. He came and went like a spirit, appearing and disappearing so that no one could guess where he was, and Kunikiyo was greatly troubled by him.

¶Formerly, at the battle of Musashino, there had been a man named Takezawa Yoshihira among Yoshioki's followers, who afterwards surrendered to Ashikaga Yoshiakira. Kunikiyo enticed this Yoshihira with gain and had him trap Yoshioki. Yoshihira pretended to have been charged with an offense and stripped of his domain, and sent a man to approach Yoshioki in friendship. Yoshioki was suspicious and would not meet him. In Kyoto Yoshihira found a beautiful woman called Shōshō, made her his adopted daughter, dressed her splendidly, and presented her to Yoshioki. Yoshioki doted on her. Yoshihira again sent men, repeatedly pressing the sincerity and singleness of his loyalty, and at last obtained a meeting with Yoshioki. He presented three sets each of saddles, horses, and armor, gave a banquet for the warriors who followed Yoshioki, and gave each of them weapons and clothing. Yoshioki came to trust Yoshihira as well. After about half a year, even his military counsels and secret plans were all shared with Yoshihira.

¶Then, on the night of the thirteenth day of the ninth month, Yoshihira planned to hide troops and attack and kill Yoshioki. Just as Yoshioki was about to set out, Shōshō sent word by letter that she had had an ill-omened dream, and this stopped him. His retainer Ii Naohide (Note: for Ii Naohide, see the Ii-ke Fu and the Saigen'in text of the Taiheiki) also urged that he should not go, so Yoshioki pleaded illness and did not go. Yoshihira suspected that Shōshō had leaked the plot, and killed her. Yoshioki did not know this and sent letters again and again to ask how she was, but Yoshihira pretended to have fallen ill and did not reply (Note: the passage from "sent letters again and again" onward follows the Saigen'in text of the Taiheiki).

¶Yoshihira sent a man to Kunikiyo to say: "I have firmly ascertained where Yoshioki is. If you summon Edo Takashige, we can accomplish the deed together." Takashige was Yoshihira's cousin. Kunikiyo then again seized Takashige's domain and installed a new deputy. Takashige drove him out, built a castle and gathered troops, outwardly pretending to plot rebellion. Yoshihira used this as a pretext and sent word to Yoshioki: "Dōyo has taken my domain for no reason and I have nowhere to stand. I wish to avenge this grievance, but my troops have no one to command them and my warriors will not follow. I wish to serve you, my lord, as our commander. My kinsmen in Kamakura number several thousand, and if I lead them to pacify Sagami and then sweep the eight provinces of the Kantō, it will not be hard to settle the realm." Yoshioki believed this and prepared to go to Kamakura. Yoshihira and Takashige and the others said, "If you go with many troops, people will grow suspicious," and Yoshioki followed this advice.

¶In the tenth month he sent his warriors ahead and, with only a dozen or so men, set out for Kamakura at dawn. Yoshihira and Takashige had tampered beforehand with the plugs of a boat, prepared the boat at the Yaguchi ferry, and hidden an ambush on the bank. When Yoshioki reached the middle of the river, the boatman pulled out the plugs and fled. As the boat was about to sink, the ambush rose all at once, and beating on their quivers, they burst into laughter. Yoshioki, in anger, cursed them: "To think that I should be deceived by men of such great disloyalty! Through seven rebirths I will hate you." Together with Serata Umanosuke, Ii Naohide, Ōshima Suō-no-kami, Yura Hyōgo-no-suke, and Yura Shinzaemon he took his own life. Doi Saburōzaemon, Minamiseguchi Rokurō, and Ichikawa Gorō threw off their clothes, took their swords in their mouths, swam to the shore, cut down five of the enemy and wounded thirteen, and in the end died in battle.

¶Yoshihira and Takashige gathered up the head and presented it to Motouji in his camp at the Iruma River. In discussing rewards, Motouji kept Yoshihira in his camp and sent Takashige back to his domain to search out the remnants. When Takashige returned to the Yaguchi ferry, the boatmen met him with wine and food loaded on the boat. When the boat reached the middle of the river, a sudden thunderstorm arose, the waves surged violently, and the boat capsized so that all aboard were drowned. Takashige saw this, was horrified, and fled for several ri. Then something like a black mist covered his head, and he saw Yoshioki, in a dragon-crested helm and mounted on a white horse, chasing him and shooting arrows. He changed horses on the spot, but vomited blood and collapsed in agony. Carried home, he thrashed about like a drowning man and died seven days later. Kunikiyo too dreamed that Yoshioki, with a fierce and terrible face and followed by demon-like beings, drew a fiery cart into Motouji's camp. At that very moment a lightning fire broke out and burned more than three hundred houses of the people along the Iruma River. Afterwards, it is said, strange lights appeared repeatedly at the Yaguchi ferry. The local people built a shrine and worship him there to this day, calling him Nitta Daimyōjin (Note: following the Taiheiki. Takashige's name follows the Edo genealogy).

Wakiya Yoshisuke

¶Nitta Yoshimune, after his elder brother Yoshiaki died, was established as heir. He was then six years old (Note: following the Taiheiki). He was appointed Musashi-no-kami, Governor of Musashi, and Sahyōe-no-suke (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku), and was permitted to enter the imperial court (Note: following one account in the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Taiheiki). Later he was appointed Sakonoe-no-shōshō, Minor Captain of the Left Palace Guards (Note: following the Taiheiki). Together with his elder brother Yoshioki and his cousin Wakiya Yoshiharu, he lay hidden in the eastern provinces for a long time, watching for an opportunity.

¶In the spring of the seventh year of Shōhei (1352), when Ashikaga Yoshiakira proposed peace to Yoshino, the emperor outwardly consented and sent Yura Shin'a to proclaim to Yoshimune and the others: "The court's making of peace is in truth only a temporary expedient. Watch for the time, raise troops, annihilate the chief of the rebels, and relieve the sovereign's anxiety." Yoshimune therefore circulated a call to arms, gathered troops, and took the field in western Kōzuke with eight hundred men. Old acquaintances among the commanders who came hurrying with their troops numbered almost a hundred thousand in all. When he advanced as far as Musashi, Ashikaga Takauji met him at Kanaigahara, and the outcome was evenly balanced. The sixty horsemen led by the enemy commander Aeba Ujinao were all young and sturdy, and wore plum blossoms on their helmets. Our army's Kodama band, more than seven thousand strong, all carried banners painted with fans. Yoshimune said, "A fan makes wind; it will be able to scatter the blossoms," and sent them to attack. Ujinao was indeed defeated, and the enemy troops gave way in his wake and fell into disorder past recovery. Yoshimune then led five hundred horsemen and pursued at their head; sighting Takauji's standard, he rode several ri and pressed as far as Ishihama, almost seizing him. More than twenty men at Takauji's side fought hard and died in battle. Takauji barely escaped, gathered his troops, and held the bank ahead. Yoshimune, seeing that the day was already ending and that no army was following behind, gnashed his teeth and turned back.

¶Returning to Kanaigahara, he found that he had lost touch with Yoshioki and Yoshiharu. The commanders deliberated: "Our army is small, and it will be hard to remain long. We should withdraw under cover of darkness, hold Fuefuki-mine, levy troops from Echigo and Shinano, and plan to rise again." Yoshimune followed this advice; the troops who gathered again numbered more than twenty thousand, and they raised Prince Munenaga as supreme commander. At this time Yoshioki and Yoshiharu had taken Kamakura and were holding it. But Takauji attacked Fuefuki-mine first, and Yoshimune led the various forces to meet him at Kotesashihara (Note: the form "Kotesashihara" written with different characters follows the Rika-shū and the Kitsuregawa genealogy), but after a fierce battle the situation turned against him and he withdrew.

¶When night fell, Yoshimune looked toward the enemy camp and saw the watch fires stretching over five or six ri. The watch fires of the imperial army were sparse, like stars at dawn. Yoshimune said to those at his side: "Why should we be reduced to this by being defeated once in the daytime's fighting? There must surely be men who have deserted." He at once set up barriers to stop them. And considering that a strong enemy pressed before them while behind them lay the lands of their homes, among the soldiers there were some who said, "Perhaps our commander's heart is lingering on his home country." Yoshimune therefore took off his own armor to show that he had no intention of withdrawing, and the army at last calmed down. In the middle of the night he saw another force hastening to the enemy camp, its watch fires lighting the road without a break. Uesugi Noriaki, seeing this, fled first. Yoshimune could not stay on alone and led his troops in flight to Echigo (Note: following the Taiheiki. In the Hōjō-ke text and the Nanto text of the Taiheiki, Yoshimune fled to Echigo first and Noriaki withdrew afterwards).

¶When the emperor himself led an army and sought to recover Kyoto, he sent Kojima Takanori to urge Yoshimune and the others to join him. Yoshimune set out with seven thousand troops together with Momonoi Naotsune, Kira Mitsusada, Ishidō Yoshifusa, and others, but before they arrived the army at the palace had been routed, and Yoshimune and the others withdrew their troops and returned. Afterwards, together with Yoshioki and Yoshiharu, he took half of Echigo, and built castles and held them (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the seventh month of the twenty-third year (1368), he raised troops with Yoshiharu, but failed to win in battle against Uesugi Norimasa and others, and died in battle (Note: following the Kitsuregawa genealogy).

¶His son Yoshinori was appointed Sagami-no-kami, Governor of Sagami (Note: Yoshinori's name follows the Kitsuregawa genealogy), and together with his son Gyōbu-no-shōyū, Junior Assistant Minister of Justice (Note: the source also has an account making him a cousin, and it cannot be known which is correct), he lay hidden at Ōkawara in Shinano. In the Kōwa years (1381-1384), the people of that region turned against them and attacked in great numbers. The Prince (Note: the source does not give his name, but he is Prince Munenaga) and all the Nitta clansmen died in battle at Namiai, and Yoshinori and his son barely escaped. They went to Mutsu and took lodging at Sakabe in Iwaki.

¶In the second year of Genchū (1385), they secretly planned to raise troops and circulated a call to arms between Kōzuke and Musashi to summon old acquaintances, but before long the matter leaked, and the messengers were seized by the Kamakura-side commanders Kajiwara Michikage and Iwamatsu Hōshō, and the plan did not come to pass. In the early years of Ōei, Oyama Wakainumaru came secretly to Mutsu and, conspiring with Tamura-no-shōji and Sakanoue Kiyokane (Note: the Kitsuregawa genealogy gives Kiyokane as Norikane), raised troops, took Yoshinori and his son as their commanders, and advanced into Shirakawa, Kōzuke, and Musashi. Those who rallied to the cause all came hurrying, but Ashikaga Ujimitsu came with a great army and attacked, and the armies of Oyama and Tamura were greatly defeated. Yoshinori and his son therefore fled to Sagami, relied on a man named Kiga Hikoroku, and hid at Sokokura on Mount Hakone, where they shaved their heads, and Yoshinori changed his name to Gyōkei.

¶In the tenth year (1403), a man of that place named Fujita, with a large band, attacked them; Yoshinori defended against them himself but could not prevail and died in battle. At this time Gyōbu-no-shōyū happened to be elsewhere and so escaped the disaster. In the seventeenth year (1410), when Ashikaga Mitsukane died, he secretly planned to raise troops and circulated a call to arms to old acquaintances, but the matter was exposed and he was killed by Chiba Kanetane (Note: following the Kamakura Ōzōshi).

Wakiya Yoshiharu

¶Wakiya Yoshisuke, called Jirō, was a younger brother of Nitta Yoshisada (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Taiheiki). When Hōjō Takatoki sent out troops to attack Yoshisada, each of the men had a plan for refusing, and the discussion came to no conclusion. Yoshisuke stepped forward and said: "The Hōjō have held power for more than a hundred years; their troops are strong and the people submit to them, so they are by no means a match for us. Even if we manage to hold them off for now, we shall not endure long; we shall scatter and flee, and die in want wherever we go. Then all under heaven will think that the Nitta sat idly by and killed the envoy from Kamakura, and were put to death for it. Could anything be more shameful? For what purpose, after all, did we receive the imperial rescript? Let us simply raise troops, rouse righteousness, and sally out into the districts and counties; then the people will either go willingly toward Kamakura, or else there is nothing for it but to die." The men followed these words, finally accomplished the deed, and Yoshisuke became Hyōgo-no-suke, Assistant of the Arsenal Bureau.

¶In the first year of Kenmu (1334) he entered Kyoto with Yoshisada, became a member of the Mushadokoro, Warriors' Office (Note: "Mushadokoro" follows the Sonpi Bunmyaku), and concurrently served as Shugo of Suruga. When Yoshisada went down to the eastern provinces and struck at Ashikaga Takauji, Yoshisuke separately escorted Prince Takayoshi and, with seven thousand troops, fought Takauji at Takenoshita. When the forward army went badly, the enemy, riding on their victory, pressed straight at the main body. Yoshisuke advanced his troops to meet them, fought fiercely, and then withdrew. At this time his son Yoshiharu happened to be left behind amid the enemy. Yoshisuke again rode in, rescued him, and fought all the harder, cutting down more of the enemy than could be counted. Before long Ōtomo Sadatoshi and Enya Takasada suddenly turned double-hearted and went over to the enemy. The enemy's strength grew ever greater, and Yoshisuke could not hold out; he escorted Prince Takayoshi and withdrew west. The enemy troops pursued, and Yoshisuke withdrew fighting. Just then Yoshisada came back from Kyoto.

¶In the following year, when Ashikaga Takauji attacked Kyoto, Yoshisuke, together with Fujiwara-no-Kin'yasu, Gon-dainagon, Provisional Major Counsellor, Utsunomiya Yasufuji, and others, led seven thousand troops and defended at Yamazaki. The battle went badly, and he withdrew his troops with Yoshisada and accompanied the imperial progress to Enryaku-ji. With Yoshisada he took Onjō-ji, entered Kyoto, and with the other commanders encamped at Shōgunzuka. When the enemy commander Kō-no-Moroyasu attacked there, Yoshisuke sent out more than six hundred archers, hid them in the woods, and had them shoot at random. The enemy hesitated and did not advance, so he loosed his troops and broke them. Then he joined the other armies, defeated Takauji, and Takauji at last fled west. For this merit he was appointed Uemon-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Right Gate Guards, and was permitted to enter the court (Note: "was permitted to enter the court" follows the Sonpi Bunmyaku. But in what year this was is unknown, and it is recorded here for the time being).

¶Again he followed Yoshisada and besieged Akamatsu Norimura's Shirahata Castle, but for a long time could not take it. Yoshisuke remonstrated: "Formerly the Hōjō raised the troops of the whole realm and attacked Mount Kongō alone, and for that reason the whole country fell to pieces. This should serve as a warning. Now, if we keep our troops lingering beneath a small castle, our provisions will run out and the enemy's morale will double. Takauji has already swept through Kyūshū and is coming east on the strength of that keenness; whether we advance or withdraw, either will be difficult. It would be better to divide the army, seize Funasaka, open the Sanyō road, and gather the troops of the Chūgoku region. Before the enemy arrives, we should strike straight at Tsukushi." Yoshisada followed this, and sent twenty thousand troops to attack Funasaka. But the mountain was steep and well guarded, and though they attacked all day they could not take it.

¶At this time Kojima Takanori raised troops at Kumayama, and it was agreed to catch the enemy in a pincer on a set day. Yoshisuke took the field at Nashihara and disposed the commanders: he had Eda Yukiyoshi lead more than two thousand troops toward Sugisaka, and had Ōida Ujitsune command five thousand men drawn from the following of Kikuchi Taketoshi, Utsunomiya Kimitsuna, and others to attack Funasaka and wear down its garrison. Hata Tokiyoshi, Yura Shinzaemon, and others led some three hundred picked troops, with Itō Koremura as guide, bound their horses' mouths, and passed secretly through the steep paths. Coming out directly west of Mitsuishi, they advanced setting fires. The garrison of Mitsuishi Castle was small and could not come out to defend. Funasaka, receiving the enemy front and rear, was at a loss. Tokiyoshi and Ujitsune attacked from both sides and at last took that castle. Yukiyoshi advanced into Mimasaka and conquered it; Ujitsune advanced to Fukuyama Castle and held it; and Yoshisuke remained where he was and attacked Mitsuishi Castle.

¶Takauji advanced by both water and land and took Fukuyama Castle. Yoshisada recalled Yoshisuke, and together they turned their army back to Hyōgo. But they lost the battle, and the imperial progress moved again to Enryaku-ji. Yoshisuke defended Higashi-Sakamoto. The enemy pressed on the castle, carried up great quantities of firewood and grass to fill the moat, and tried to burn the castle. From within the castle bows were loosed all together, and more than three thousand were shot dead. The enemy camp fell into confusion, and each man scrambled to hide behind a shield and avoid the arrows. Yoshisuke saw this and, with the other commanders, opened the gates and charged. The land army of Shiratori struck the enemy's left, and the fleet on the lake shot at its right. The enemy was greatly defeated and withdrew, and kept to guarding their camp and did not come out again. When the armies of Higashi-Sakamoto and Nishi-Sakamoto both sallied out and struck the enemy, Yoshisuke led five thousand troops, burned five hundred enemy encampments as he fought, and the enemy troops were greatly defeated. Again he led two thousand troops and attacked Sasaki Takauji at the Shina ferry, but, the situation turning against him, he withdrew.

¶When Yoshisada went toward the northern provinces, he had Yoshisuke lead more than a thousand troops and hold Somayama, raising troops there to serve as reinforcements. Uryū Tamotsu came out as far as Sabanami to meet him and treated him generously. But before long he went over to the enemy side, closed the gates of the castle, and did not admit Yoshisuke. Tamotsu's younger brother, the monk Gikan, visited Yoshisuke by night and said, "Please entrust your son to me; I will have him serve as reinforcement for Kanegasaki." Yoshisuke entrusted his son Yoshiharu to Gikan, saying, "Whether he lives or dies, I leave it to you."

¶The next day Yoshisuke tried to return to Kanegasaki, but his soldiers had almost all deserted along the way, and only sixteen remained with him. At night he came to Miyamadera and, asking a woodcutter on the road, learned that a large number of enemy troops were gathered there and that entry would not be easy. Each man therefore untied his sash and tied it to the branches of the trees to make a feint, as if reinforcements were present; at daybreak they plunged into the enemy's ring and shouted in a loud voice, "Twenty thousand horsemen of reinforcements have arrived!" The enemy troops, seeing the banners in the mountains, were greatly startled, took them for arriving reinforcements, lifted the siege and left, and so Yoshisuke and his men were able to enter the castle. Soon they were again surrounded; Yoshisuke followed Yoshisada and secretly returned to Somayama, and Kanegasaki Castle fell soon afterwards.

¶When Yoshisada rose again at Somayama Castle, the warrior monks of Heisen-ji took up a position at Mitsumine in response, and asked that a commander be sent to them, so Yoshisuke was sent to lead their host. Yoshisuke, with more than a hundred commanders and warriors, set up camp at Sabae to inspect. Ashikaga Takatsune's commander Hosokawa so-and-so and others learned of this and attacked unexpectedly with five hundred troops and surrounded him. Yoshisuke fought fiercely, and the enemy crossed the river and withdrew. When the commanders wished to pursue, Yoshisuke said: "That we won against many with few was only by chance. If we cross the river and press them, at the slightest stumble the enemy will surely turn back and bring us to grief. We should at once raise smoke signals to inform the various camps and wait for reinforcements to arrive." Our men saw the smoke and rallied in haste, and at last advanced and took Fujō.

¶The emperor ordered Yoshisada to relieve Otokoyama. Yoshisada had Yoshisuke lead twenty thousand troops there, but when they reached Tsuruga they heard that Otokoyama had burned down. While they lingered several days, Otokoyama fell, and they withdrew their troops and returned. In that year Yoshisada attacked Takatsune at Asuwa and died in battle. Yoshisuke led his troops back to Ishimaru Castle, but many of his commanders and warriors had become estranged and full of doubt. One night fires were set three times, and afterwards men surrendered or deserted one after another, until about two thousand remained. He therefore had Kawashima Koreyori hold Mitsumine, Uryū Shigeru and his younger brother Teru hold Somayama, and Hata Tokiyoshi hold Minato Castle, while he himself led more than seven hundred men back to Fuchū.

¶In the autumn of the following year, he summoned the various forces and planned to seize Asuwa. Hata Tokiyoshi, Yura Mitsuuji, Horiguchi Ujimasa, and others took dozens of the enemy's forts, advanced, and joined forces at Kawai. Yoshisuke himself led three thousand troops and attacked the enemy for three days and three nights, took seventeen forts, captured seven enemy commanders, and cut down more than five hundred; at last, together with the other forces, he pressed upon Asuwa. Takatsune, in fear, burned his castle and fled in the night.

¶When Emperor Go-Murakami took the throne, he issued an edict to Yoshisuke: "By the late emperor's dying command, our favor toward you is exceptionally great. In matters of war and state, act as convenience requires. Decide first and report afterward, as was the precedent in Yoshisada's case." (Note: this text places Yoshisuke's capture of Asuwa after the edict following Emperor Go-Daigo's death, but this is an error, and it is corrected here.)

¶When Ashikaga Takauji sent troops to attack, Yoshisuke was defeated and fled to Mino and held Neo Castle. Attacked by Toki Yoritō and others, he was defeated again, and with seventy-three men, in disguise, he went to Atsuta in Owari and relied on Fujiwara-no-Masayoshi. He stayed more than ten days at Hazusaki Castle, gradually gathered those who had been scattered, and then secretly went to Yoshino. The emperor wiped away tears and for a long time consoled and praised him. The next day Yoshisuke was raised one rank in court rank and appointed Gyōbu-kyō, Minister of Justice. His kinsmen and the soldiers who had followed him were each granted court ranks and gifts (Note: in what year he was appointed Gyōbu-kyō is unknown, and it is recorded here for the time being).

¶In the spring of the first year of Kōkoku (1340), the people of Iyo raised troops and petitioned that a commander be sent. In the court's deliberations it was decided to send Yoshisuke, but both the water route and the land route bordered on enemy territory and could not easily be passed. Then Akura Nobutane of Bizen sent a courier at full speed to petition: "I am now raising troops on Shōdoshima, intending to break the rebels' momentum and cut the route of sea transport to Kyoto. I ask that a general be sent to Jōdō." Yoshisuke was therefore appointed commander and sent to Shikoku. The armies of the western provinces were all placed under his command. The imperial forces along the way prepared many warships, provisions, and weapons, and escorted Yoshisuke as far as Imaharinoura. Fujiwara-no-Arisuke, Konoe-no-shōshō, Minor Captain of the Palace Guards and Kokushi, Provincial Governor, of Iyo, the Shugo Ōdachi Ujiakira, Doi Tokunō, Doi Kawada, Takechi Hiyoshiuji, and others were greatly heartened. The imperial forces recovered their strength, and the enemy, hearing only rumor, abandoned more than ten castles and fled. Yoshisuke entered the provincial seat and made his residence there, but in the fifth month he fell ill and died. The various armies lost heart, and Shikoku fell one place after another. His son was Yoshiharu (Note: following the Taiheiki).

¶Wakiya Yoshiharu constantly followed Yoshisuke's army (Note: following the Taiheiki), was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku), was appointed Saemon-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Left Gate Guards (Note: following the Taiheiki), and became Shikibu-no-taifu, Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). At the battle of Takenoshita he was only thirteen years old, but with three attendants he was left behind amid the enemy. He let his hair fall loose and threw away his hat so that the enemy could not recognize him. Yoshisuke led three hundred horsemen, rode deep into the enemy and searched for him, and the enemy force flinched and drew back. Yoshiharu saw this, deliberately turned back and pretended to fight, crying, "Men, why are you afraid?" (Note: from "deliberately" onward follows a variant text of the Taiheiki), and spurred his horse toward Yoshisuke's army. Two enemy soldiers took this for one of their own side galloping, so Yoshiharu signaled to his attendants to cut them down, and at last he was able to escape and return.

¶In the following year, Uryū Tamotsu and his younger brother the monk Gikan, escorting Yoshiharu, gathered troops to serve as reinforcements for Kanegasaki and took Ashikaga Takatsune's Shinzenkōji Castle. As a result Yoshiharu's name and authority gradually rose, gifts arrived one after another from the districts and counties, and he was entertained at banquets every day. But Yoshiharu remained downcast and took no pleasure. When Gikan asked the reason, Yoshiharu answered despondently: "That we won against the enemy just now is truly a matter for joy. But the Crown Prince and my father and the rest of our kin have long been under siege, fighting a hard battle, and their provisions must be exhausted. Whenever I think of this, I cannot bring myself to enjoy myself even at a feast." Gikan, deeply moved, wept and stood up. Utsunomiya Yasufuji and Yamanodera Masauji, who had overheard this behind a wall, said: "This young man has a fine capacity. How could we fail to help and support him and fulfill his wish?" Tamotsu and the others then gathered troops to relieve Kanegasaki, but were defeated by the enemy on the way, and nothing came of it.

¶After Yoshisuke died, Yoshiharu lived in hiding in Kōzuke. In the sixth year of Kōkoku (1345), Kojima Takanori raised troops in Bizen and invited Yoshiharu to be his commander, planning to enter Kyoto secretly with troops and attack Ashikaga Takauji. But the matter was discovered, and Yoshiharu fled and hid in Shinano together with Takanori. Afterwards, with his cousins Nitta Yoshioki and Yoshimune, he attacked Takauji at Kanaigahara, and then, with Yoshioki, seized Kamakura. About half a month later, hearing that Takauji was turning back with a great army, he fled and held Jikumura Castle. Afterwards he was in Echigo with Yoshimune (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the twenty-third year of Shōhei (1368), he raised troops with Yoshimune but could not win, and fled to Dewa (Note: following the Kitsuregawa genealogy). Nothing is known of his later fortunes.