Biographies CIII: Fujina Yoshitsuna, Ōe Kageshige, Teshigawara Naoshige, Akizuki Tanemichi, and Others

Fujina Yoshitsuna

¶Fujina Yoshitsuna was a member of the Sasaki clan (Note: following the Taiheiki). He was called Saburō (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki and the Baishōron. Comment: the Kenmu nenki lists a Fujina Jirō Mitsukiyo as a member of the Musha-dokoro watch, and it is suspected that he was an elder brother of Yoshitsuna). He became a Kebiishi, a police commissioner. In the early years of Genkō, Hōjō Takatoki had the emperor removed to Oki. In the following year, troops rose in various places and a movement in support of the Court arose. Takatoki feared this and ordered Sasaki Kiyotaka, the Protector of Oki, to gather further troops from the neighboring provinces, to increase the guard, and to patrol the temporary palace by day and night. Kiyotaka set Yoshitsuna to guard the middle gate. Yoshitsuna secretly planned to seize the imperial carriage and raise a righteous army, and wished first to report the situation to the emperor, but was troubled for want of an opportunity. It happened that one night the emperor had a lady-in-waiting bestow wine on the soldiers on night duty at the middle gate. Yoshitsuna thought that his chance had come, and after thanking the emperor for his kindness, he memorialized him as follows: "Your servant humbly ventures to report what he has heard. Of late Kusunoki Masashige has taken his stand on Mount Kongō and has crushed the million-strong army of the Kantō. Akamatsu Noriyoshi, acting on the edict of Prince Ōtō-no-miya, has encamped on Mount Maya, and his power shakes all the provinces of the capital region. Itō Koremura has built a fortress at Mitsuishi and blocked the San'yō road. Doi Michiharu and Tokunō Michitoki have attacked Hōjō Tokinao, the Chinzei Tandai of Nagato, and put him to flight. They are gathering many ships and intend to receive the imperial carriage. Some say that they mean to make straight for the capital. The imperial armies on all sides respond without any prior agreement. The time for the restoration of the imperial line is about to arrive. Yet in the meantime there is a baseless rumor that Takatoki is giving fresh play to his wicked designs, intends to commit regicide, and has already issued the order. If what is reported is true, the course of events will be hard to foresee (Note: from this sentence onward follows the Kinshō-in text). On the day your servant stands guard, may Your Majesty make haste to proceed between Izumo and Hōki. The warriors of those two provinces will surely respond to the edict in great numbers. Your servant too will lead troops and accompany you, feigning to pursue the imperial carriage." The emperor thereupon bestowed the lady-in-waiting on Yoshitsuna, to probe whether this was true or false. Yoshitsuna was moved, and his resolve to exert himself in loyal service grew still firmer. The emperor then issued an edict to Yoshitsuna and had him summon soldiers. Because Yoshitsuna and Enya Takasada, the Protector of Izumo, both came from the Sasaki clan and were of one kin, he first went to Takasada to persuade him. But Yoshitsuna was seized by Takasada. When the emperor proceeded to Mount Senjō, Takasada at last released Yoshitsuna, and they went together to the temporary residence. Although Yoshitsuna's plan was not carried out, the emperor's progress to Mount Senjō was in truth opened up by his words (Note: following the Taiheiki. Comment: the Senjōroku attributes this matter to the scheme of Nawa Nagatoshi, but this is probably mistaken. The "Hōki volume" says that Yoshitsuna left Oki in the emperor's company and landed at Satanoura in Izumo. Yoshitsuna said to the emperor, "The Protector Enya Takasada is a kinsman of your servant. I beg you to rely on him." The emperor followed this. But the imperial horse drew back and would not advance, so the emperor changed direction and boarded a boat. Takasada sent out troops in pursuit, but they were too late. The next day the party reached Kizukinoura, and Yoshitsuna landed to seek food. Shrine priests caught up with them, and the imperial boat escaped. Yoshitsuna was in the end seized by the priests. This differs from the present work). Six years after this, Ōe Kageshige appears.

Ōe Kageshige

¶Ōe Kageshige bore the house name of Sanjō. Kageshige served in the Hokumen, the Northern Guard, of the Retired Emperor Go-Uda and was always close to his person (Note: following the Keijinki and the Masatoshiki quoted in the Bishamondō records. Comment: the house name follows the Kinshō-in text of the Taiheiki). In the time of Emperor Go-Daigo he became Gyōbu-no-tayū, Senior Assistant Minister of Justice. In the Engen era, Ashikaga Takauji rebelled. Before long Takauji falsely submitted, and the emperor returned from Enryakuji and entered the Kazan'in. Takauji separated and confined the attendants on the emperor's left and right, but Kageshige alone was permitted to remain in attendance. After a little more than a month, Kageshige memorialized the emperor through the Kōtō-no-naishi: "Nitta Yoshisada holds Kanegasaki Castle and has repeatedly defeated the rebel forces. Moreover, the monks of Hiei and Hakusan have taken Nata Castle from the Togashi assistant governor and mean to serve as reinforcements for Yoshisada. The imperial armies in Hokuriku have regained their strength. Again, of the officers who accompanied you and were seized by the rebels, such as Kikuchi Takeshige and Hie Kaga Hōgen, many have now escaped and returned and are raising righteous armies in their home provinces, and the moment to destroy the wicked rebels has already begun to show itself. May Your Majesty take advantage of this opening to proceed to Yamato, hold a strong defensive position there, send edicts in all directions to swell the voice and strength of the righteous armies, and make the imperial influence shine throughout the realm." The emperor was pleased. On the night after that, he put on women's clothing, had the naishi carry the Three Sacred Regalia, and escaped through a broken fence. Kageshige lifted the emperor onto a horse, took the regalia and carried them on his back (Note: following the Taiheiki). He accompanied the emperor together with the chamberlain Tadafusa (Note: the surname is missing). The night was deep and dark, so that one could not make out what lay before one's eyes. When the emperor looked beside the road, he faintly saw what appeared to be a shrine. He turned and asked about it, and Tadafusa replied, "That is an Inari shrine." The emperor then composed a poem, in which he said that he was wandering along a dark road in the black of night and wished that the three lamps might be lent to him as adornment. Having shown due reverence, they passed on. Suddenly a red cloud rose above the shrine and lit the road as bright as day, and they went south following its light (Note: combined by comparing the Yoshino Shūi and the Taiheiki). At daybreak they reached Anō, and the emperor sent Kageshige to summon and instruct the monks of Mount Yoshino. Sōshin, the abbot of Yoshimizu-in, and the others all responded, and sent three hundred warrior-monks to receive the imperial carriage. Kusunoki Masatsura and other commanders arrived one after another, and the royal army was again in vigor (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the seventh year of Shōhei (1352), Ashikaga Yoshiakira attacked the temporary palace at Otokoyama, and the imperial army was routed, but Kageshige fought bravely and died there. At that time a man named Nakahara Akioki also died together with Kageshige (Note: following the Entairyaku).

Teshigawara Naoshige

¶Teshigawara Naoshige bore the surname Tanji (Note: following the Tanji genealogy). He was called Tan Saburō and became Saemon-no-jō, Lieutenant of the Left Gate Guards (Note: combined by comparing the Taiheiki and the Tanji genealogy. The Mōri-ke text of the Taiheiki gives Nakatsukasa-no-jō). He was a man of Musashi (Note: following the various variant texts of the Taiheiki. Comment: the current texts say he was a man of Shinano). When Ashikaga Takauji attacked the capital, he followed Nitta Yoshisada and fought in defense at Ōwatari, but when both Uji and Yamazaki were lost, he withdrew and returned to the capital. Hearing that the emperor was to proceed to the eastern provinces, he said, "To see danger and give up one's life is a way that has not changed from ancient times to the present. With what face could I willingly accept the rule of rebels?" He therefore returned with his two sons to the side of the Rajōmon gate and disemboweled himself and died (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Akizuki Tanemichi

¶Akizuki Tanemichi was a man of Chikuzen and a descendant of Ōkura-no-Haruzane, Tsushima-no-kami, Governor of Tsushima (Note: following the Harada genealogy and the Akizuki genealogy). Haruzane once put down Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo and gained great distinction (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki). When the Jurchen invaded Tsukushi, Haruzane's grandson Taneki, together with his son Mitsuhiro, led troops and struck the raiders, and likewise won merit (Note: following the Chōyō Gunsai, the Shōyūki, and the Ōkagami). Afterward his descendants were known in the world generation after generation, and the two houses of Harada and Akizuki were the most famous. Tanemichi became Chikuzen Gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Chikuzen (Note: following the Harada genealogy and the Akizuki genealogy. Comment: the Taiheiki gives Bizen-no-kami, but this is probably a mistake). In the middle of the Kenmu era, Tanemichi rose in arms in support of the Court together with the Kikuchi and Uji kinsmen, and soon afterward resisted Ashikaga Takauji at Tatarahama. When the army was defeated, he fled to Dazaifu. The enemy troops caught up, and Tanemichi turned back with more than twenty of his band and fought, and all of them were killed in battle (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Akizuki genealogy). The Akizuki house had lived for generations on the western frontier and the clan was fairly numerous, but their undertaking was not accomplished, and the people of the time regretted it (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Kawashima Koreyori

¶Kawashima Koreyori was called Sakon Kurōdo and was a man of Echizen. In the early years of Engen he received an edict and pacified his home province. When Nitta Yoshisada went north with the Crown Prince, Koreyori followed him and entered Kanegasaki Castle. The defense of the castle became extremely desperate, and Yoshisada, together with his younger brother Wakiya Yoshisuke, with Koreyori as guide, slipped away by night to Somayama Castle. Soon afterward he followed Yoshisuke in holding Mitsumine Castle. He also followed Yoshisuke in fighting Ashikaga Takatsune at Sabae and routing him. Later, when Yoshisada was killed in battle and Yoshisuke returned to the provincial capital, Koreyori remained and held Mitsumine Castle. When Yoshisuke took seventeen castles, including Oda and Tanaka, Koreyori distinguished himself (Note: following the Taiheiki). Nothing is known of his later fortunes.

Kehi Ujiharu

¶Kehi Ujiharu (Note: the Kinshō-in text gives Chikaharu) was called Yasaburō Tayū and was a man of Echizen, the Kehi Daiguji, Chief Priest of the Kehi Shrine. At about the time the emperor again proceeded to Enryakuji, Ujiharu built a castle at Tsuruga and became a backer of the imperial army. Nitta Yoshisada, escorting the Crown Prince and Prince Takayoshi, came north to Tsuruga. Ujiharu, together with his son Nariharu (Note: "son" follows the Saigen-in text), received them into Kanegasaki Castle with three hundred soldiers. The enemy commander Ogasawara Sadamune attacked, but Nariharu, who was strong by nature, together with Yajima Shichirō and others, drove him back. Soon, however, the castle fell, Prince Takayoshi took his own life, and Ujiharu died with him. Nariharu fled, found a small boat, and put the Crown Prince aboard; but in the haste there was no oar, so he tied a rope to his own arm and swam through the sea for more than thirty chō to Kaburagi-no-ura. There he entrusted the Crown Prince to the local people and said, "This person will in later days be the master of the land of Japan. Spare no effort, and take him to Somayama." Then he swam back to the castle, cut his own throat, and died beside his father's corpse (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Fujiwara-no-Masayoshi

¶Fujiwara-no-Masayoshi was a descendant of Sadatsugu, Chūnagon, Middle Counsellor. His ancestor Suekane served as Owari Mokudai, deputy governor of Owari (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku), and married a daughter of Owari-no-Kazumoto, the Atsuta Daiguji, Chief Priest of Atsuta Shrine, and had a son, Suenori. Kazumoto bestowed the office of Daiguji on Suenori, and his descendants held that office hereditarily (Note: following the Gyokuyō Wakashū and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Masayoshi's great-grandfather Norinao, because he had rendered service to the Court during the Jōkyū Disturbance, was deprived of his office by Hōjō Yoshitoki. His grandfather Norihiro and his father Ienori were both Daiguji (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the time of Emperor Go-Daigo, Masayoshi became Daiguji (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Sonpi Bunmyaku) and was appointed Settsu-no-kami, Governor of Settsu (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Kenmu nenki). He served on duty in the Musha-dokoro (Note: following the Kenmu nenki). When Hōjō Tokiyuki fled from Kamakura to Owari with Miura Tokitsugu as his commander, Masayoshi seized him and presented him. When Nitta Yoshisada marched east against Ashikaga Takauji, Masayoshi raised troops and joined him, and together with Utsunomiya Kintsuna and others broke the rebel forces at Sagisaka. When Yoshisada was forced to retreat, Masayoshi followed him back to the capital. When Takauji again attacked the capital, Masayoshi accompanied the emperor to Enryakuji. Soon he returned to the capital (Note: "returned to the capital" follows the Mōri-ke text. Comment: the Tenshō-bon says that Masayoshi followed the Crown Prince to Echizen, and it is not known which is correct), and then went back to live in Atsuta, where he shaved his head and took the name Gen'yū. When the Chinjufu Shōgun Minamoto Akiie advanced west, Masayoshi led more than five hundred men and followed him. When Akiie died, he returned to Atsuta (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the middle of the Shōhei era he raised troops and, together with Hara, Hachiya, and others, attacked the deputy protector of Owari and routed him (Note: following the Entairyaku). Nothing is known of his later fortunes.

Uji Korenao

¶Uji Korenao was called Hachirō and was a man of Higo, a son of Koretoki, the Aso Daiguji, Chief Priest of Aso Shrine (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents. Comment: "called Hachirō" follows the Taiheiki). In the third year of Genkō, Kusunoki Masashige took his stand on Mount Kongō and held off the troops of the Kantō (Note: following the Taiheiki). Koretoki had always been loyal to the Court (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents) and sent Korenao and other kinsmen to join it. When they reached Tomonotsu in Bingo, they happened to receive a prince's edict (Note: this work says only "a prince's edict," but it was probably that of Prince Moriyoshi). They therefore returned to their province, raised troops, and struck the rebels (Note: following the Uji Koresumi petition). Later he followed Kikuchi Taketoshi and resisted Ashikaga Takauji at Tatarahama. Korenao was gravely wounded, fled to Ogi-no-yama, and took his own life (Note: following the Taiheiki). His younger brother Koreshige (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents) was called Kurō and fought the enemy together with his elder brother, but was defeated and captured (Note: following the Taiheiki). He was eventually put to death. In the middle of the Kōkoku era, certain manor lands were granted to Koretoki in recognition of the merit of his two sons. Among Koretoki's kinsmen was Koresumi (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents).

Uji Koresumi

¶Uji Koresumi was called Era Kojirō (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents). He returned from Bingo together with Korenao, struck the rebels, and distinguished himself. In the early years of Engen he followed Kikuchi Taketoshi in attacking Shōni Sadatsune and defeated him (Note: combined by comparing the Koresumi petition and the Taiheiki). In the defeat at Tatarahama, Taketoshi withdrew (Note: following the Taiheiki). Imagawa Kurōdo, a general of Ashikaga Takauji, pitched camp at the provincial seat of Higo and summoned his partisans. Taketoshi too raised troops and fought at Torakawa, Toyofukubaru, and elsewhere (Note: following the Shōdai-shi documents), and Koresumi always pressed forward ahead of the others (Note: following the Koresumi petition). When the emperor returned from Enryakuji to the capital, the imperial armies everywhere lost heart (Note: following the Taiheiki), and many went over to the rebels, but Koresumi alone did not yield; he took his stand on Kōsadake as a stronghold and brought the rebel bands of the neighborhood to submission. An Aiba, a retainer of Shōni Yorihisa, launched several hundred troops against him. Koresumi resisted at Yamazakibara, but his horse was wounded and fell. Koresumi fought on foot with great vigor, cut down several tens of men, and the enemy withdrew (Note: following the Koresumi petition). Before this, Kikuchi Takeshige had escaped the rebels' custody and returned to Higo, where he again raised a righteous army (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Shōdai-shi documents), and Koresumi and Uchikawa Yoshinao responded to him. Takauji therefore sent Isshiki Noriuji to Higo to attack them (Note: following the Koresumi petition and the Shōdai-shi documents). Koresumi followed Takeshige, struck Noriuji at Inuzukabaru and broke him, and cut down his younger brother Yoriyuki (Note: following the Koresumi petition). The Court for its part sent Prince Itsutsuji as great general to command the troops of Kyūshū (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents). His officer the Sanjō Shōshō (Note: both given name and surname are missing) came with troops to reinforce them. They again fought Noriuji at Moritomi Manor. The Shōshō's troops were nearly beaten, but Koresumi took their place and fought several engagements. They fought from day into night, and in the end broke the enemy and put him to flight. In the third year, Shōni Yorihisa launched several thousand troops against Kōsa Castle. Koresumi met them with only thirty-odd horsemen; many of his own men were killed or wounded, but the enemy too withdrew. Soon he led troops to the borders of Hyūga and took the two castles of Nojiri and Oguni. He then repaired Oguni Castle and held it. A kinsman of the Ōtomo launched the troops of Bungo against him. Koresumi met them and cut down several hundred (Note: following the Koresumi petition). In the middle of the Kōkoku era, Prince Kaneyoshi, the Seisei Taishōgun, Great General Who Subdues the West, arrived, rewarded Koresumi's services, and granted him the office of jitō of Sonezaki Manor in Hizen and of Moritomi Manor in Higo (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents). There was a man named Ichinoshita Dōe, who set up Magokumamaru, a descendant of Sakanashi, a kinsman of Koretoki, as his commander, took his stand in Nangō Castle, and rebelled. Koresumi set out to attack him. Just then the troops of the two provinces of Bungo and Higo came in great force, so Koresumi, together with his younger brother Korekata, met them on the road; both were wounded and many of their men died. Koresumi pressed forward and cut down several tens of men, and afterward finally took Nangō Castle, and beheaded Magokumamaru, Dōe, and more than sixty others. In the early years of Shōhei, Uchikawa Yoshinao was in Yatsushiro Castle, and Shōni Yorihisa, wishing to attack it, himself led troops to Moriyama Barrier and broke through the barrier to enter. Koresumi was then in Ogawa Castle; he sallied out and put him to flight, cut down a dozen or more, and captured all the enemy's arms. The next day he pursued the fleeing enemy, advanced his camp along the way, and took two enemy castles. The enemy again stationed troops at Yatsushiro, separating them from Koresumi's camp and cutting the road by which our side came and went. Koresumi too moved his camp and faced the enemy. Yorihisa separately sent troops to attack Yatsushiro Castle and took it. Koresumi then joined forces with the troops of a certain Takezaki, advanced to strike the enemy, and drove him back. Yoshinao was able to enter the castle again (Note: following the Koresumi petition). In the third year, in recognition of his services, he became Chikugo Gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Chikugo, and soon afterward concurrently took charge of the administration of Hyūga. He therefore sent troops into Hyūga and struck the rebels of Takachiho, then in turn followed Prince Kaneyoshi and attacked Yamaga Castle, and in all of these won merit (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents). Before this, Koretoki had rebelled against the Ashikaga and submitted to them, but afterward his attitude was not steady. Koresumi alone kept his loyalty, secretly allied himself with Kikuchi Takemitsu, and for years on end fought with Shōni, Ōtomo, and their like (Note: combined by comparing the Aso Shrine documents and the Koresumi petition). In the thirteenth year, Koretoki at last rebelled again (Note: following the Taiheiki). The Court made Koresumi the Aso Daiguji and head of the whole clan. He died several years later (Note: following the Aso Shrine documents). Koresumi passed through hundreds of engagements great and small, always striking the many with the few, took castles beyond counting, was often wounded, and lost many of his kinsmen, yet it is said that in the end he showed no sign of yielding (Note: combined by comparing the Aso Shrine documents and the Koresumi petition).

Ōta Morinobu

¶Ōta Morinobu (Note: "Morinobu" follows the Kinshō-in text of the Taiheiki) was called Saburō Zaemon, was appointed a Kebiishi, and became Protector of Tajima. In the middle of the Genkō years, Hōjō Takatoki confined the imperial prince Tsuneyoshi in Tajima and set Morinobu to watch over him. When Minamoto Tadaaki and the other generals attacked Rokuhara, Morinobu raised a righteous army with Prince Tsuneyoshi, advanced into Tanba, and joined Tadaaki there. Tadaaki was greatly pleased, and so they acclaimed Prince Tsuneyoshi as supreme commander and attacked Rokuhara together. Suyama Michitomo and others defended and counterattacked at Nijō, and Morinobu was defeated in battle and died. Those who died with him numbered more than three hundred (Note: following the Taiheiki. From "died with him" onward follows the various texts of the Taiheiki).

Tsumori Kuninatsu

¶Tsumori Kuninatsu was a man of Settsu and a descendant of Kisshō, Ukyō Daiben, Senior Controller of the Right and Sumiyoshi Saishu. His father Kunifuyu served as Kannushi, head priest, and ended his life as Sakonoe-no-shōgen of Junior Fourth Rank Upper. Kuninatsu was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper, and succeeded to the post of Kannushi. In the Karyaku years the Sumiyoshi Shrine was rebuilt, and Kuninatsu was given the governorship of Settsu and charged with the overthrow of Hōjō Takatoki. The emperor issued an edict ordering Kuninatsu to pray for a settlement. When Takatoki was destroyed, Kuninatsu advanced to Junior Third Rank (Note: following the Tsumori genealogy). In the seventh year of Shōhei (1352), when the emperor was about to return to the capital, he reached Sumiyoshi and stayed at Kuninatsu's residence for eighteen days, and for this reason Kuninatsu's rank was advanced to Senior Third Rank (Note: combined by comparing the Taiheiki and the Entairyaku. Comment: the Taiheiki gives Junior Third Rank). He died soon afterward, at the age of sixty-five.

¶Kunifuyu was well versed in poetry and the flute, and Kuninatsu inherited a good deal of this (Note: following the Tsumori genealogy), and was also skilled at beating the tsuzumi, the hand drum. When Emperor Go-Daigo once held a celebratory ceremony in the lecture hall of Enryakuji, Kuninatsu attended and took part in the music. When the music began, Kuninatsu arrived late and had no time to take up the drumsticks, so he pulled off the shoe he was wearing and threw it at the drum from a distance to keep in time (Note: following the Mōri-ke text and the Tenshō-bon of the Taiheiki). He had three sons, Kunikazu, Kunitaka, and Kunizane. Kunikazu succeeded as Kannushi (Note: following the Tsumori genealogy. Comment: the Entairyaku says he yielded the post to his younger brother). In the fifteenth year of Shōhei (1360), the emperor made a progress to Sumiyoshi, granted Kunikazu Senior Fourth Rank Lower, and also bestowed a poem on him. In it the emperor told him to know that, though he had climbed past the mountain of rank, this was an age in which the gods too added their radiance (Note: following the Shin'yō Wakashū). He successively held the posts of Shuri-no-daibu, Master of the Office of Palace Repairs, and Settsu-no-kami (Note: following the Tsumori genealogy), and rose to Junior Third Rank (Note: following the Tsumori genealogy and the Shin'yō Wakashū).

Honma Tadahide

¶Honma Tadahide (Note: the name follows the Kenmu nenki. Comment: the Honma genealogy gives Mochisue, and the Taiheiki and its variant texts give Shigeuji) was called Magoshirō and was a man of Sagami (Note: following the Taiheiki). His ancestry went back to Minamoto-no-Yorisada, Sangi, Counsellor, and his father was named Sukesue (Note: following the Honma genealogy). Tadahide was unrivaled in horsemanship and archery; at first he served Ashikaga Takauji, and when Takauji submitted, Tadahide followed him in submitting (Note: following the Taiheiki). He became Saemon-no-jō and served on duty in the Musha-dokoro (Note: following the Kenmu nenki). Soon afterward he followed Nitta Yoshisada and resisted Takauji at Wada-no-saki, and the two sides faced each other by sea and by land. Before any engagement had begun, Tadahide rode out alone, took up his bow, mounted in the saddle, and said, "I hear that many courtesans have been brought aboard the General's ship. Allow me to present something to go with their wine." Just then a seabird flew past carrying a fish, and Tadahide meant to take it alive, so he loosed an arrow and cut off one of its wings, and it fell onto the tower of Takauji's ship (Note: "the tower of Takauji's ship" follows the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). The fish was still in its claws. Takauji was startled and called out from the boat, asking his name from afar. Tadahide answered, "My family name is surely not known to anyone. But if you ask among the skilled archers of Bandō, perhaps someone may happen to remember it. Allow me to loose one more arrow to make my name known." The arrow flew more than six chō, its head pierced the planking of the ship, and it reached the armor of an enemy soldier. His name was carved on the shaft, and it was passed from hand to hand within the enemy's ranks, and none who saw it failed to be astonished and to marvel. Tadahide waved his fan and shouted, "I am sorry to lose the arrow I shot. I beg you to shoot it back." An enemy came out and shot, but his arrow was weak and soon dropped, and our whole army burst into laughter. Later the enemy general Kō no Moroshige attacked Mount Hiei, put five hundred sturdy troops from Kumano in the vanguard, and pressed up the slope at close quarters. Their momentum was extremely keen. Tadahide went forward first, and Tadahide and Tadashige loosed arrows at each other's side and shot them dead. The enemy host took fright and would not advance, and the two men then turned to our troops and said, "The battle is about to begin. First set up a target and let us show our shooting." Our troops raised a red fan painted with the moon and drew back about two chō. The two said to each other, "We must not shoot the moon itself. Let us pierce it at the side." They loosed their arrows, one striking to the left and one to the right, and then called out their names in a great voice to the enemy ranks, saying, "Try the hardness or softness of your armor on our arrows." The host of ten thousand shrank from this and fell back (Note: in this work's entry on "calling out names," the reading "Sugata-uji" is a mistake). Afterward he followed the imperial carriage into the capital. Takauji had him beheaded at the Rokujō riverbank (Note: following the Taiheiki). There was a man who learned the art of horsemanship from Tadahide and asked how many secret principles there were. Tadahide laughed and said, "There is something called the art of walking the plank road. If you master it, there is nothing you cannot do." The pupil eagerly begged to learn it. Tadahide rode out with the pupil, side by side, far into a valley among the mountains, and when they came to a certain perilous plank road he said, "Watch carefully." He dismounted, led his horse slowly across the plank road, and mounted again. The pupil, puzzled, asked about it. Tadahide said, "The secret lies in the whole body. It is not a matter of seeking out danger to show off one's skill. Even a cliff or ravine several jō deep can be leapt with a single stroke of the whip, and how much more so a plank road. Yet if you, still unpractised, grew used to seeing me leap across danger, I would only be teaching you danger." It is said that his method of mounted archery was handed down in the world (Note: following the Bunroku Seidan). His son Sukeuji was called Hikoshirō and was likewise excellent in horsemanship (Note: following the Honma genealogy).