Biographies CVIII: The Shōguns, Part III: Minamoto-no-Yoriie, the Priest Kōgyō, and Minamoto-no-Sanetomo

Minamoto-no-Yoriie

¶Minamoto-no-Yoriie was named Ichiman in childhood and at first was called Manju (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The Shōgun Shikken Shidai and the Teiō Hennenki give "Jūman"). He was the eldest son of Yoritomo. At only seven years of age he put on armor and learned to ride, and at nine he studied archery under Shimokōbe Yukihira (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). As he grew up his movements were quick and he excelled in the martial arts (Note: following the Gukanshō). In the sixth year of Kenkyū (1195) he went up to the capital in Yoritomo's train (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the eighth year (1197) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper, and became Provisional Lesser Captain of the Right Palace Guards. In the ninth year (1198) he concurrently became Provisional Assistant Governor of Sanuki (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the first month of the first year of Shōji (1199) Yoritomo died. In the same month Yoriie was transferred to Provisional Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami), and an edict ordered that he should exercise general authority over the military governors and stewards of the provinces just as in Yoritomo's time (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Hyakurenshō). In the third month Gotō Motokiyo was found guilty of an offense and dismissed from the post of military governor of Sanuki, and Kondō Kunihira took his place. In the fourth month the Monchūjo, the Board of Inquiry, was moved outside the compound. Yoriie's mother Masako forbade him to hear lawsuits himself, and ordered thirteen men, Hōjō Tokimasa, Yoshitoki, Ōe-no-Hiromoto, Miyoshi Yasunobu, Nakahara-no-Chikayoshi, Miura Yoshizumi, Hatta Tomoie, Wada Yoshimori, Hiki Yoshikazu, Adachi Morinaga, Tōmoto, Kajiwara Kagetoki, and Fujiwara-no-Yukimasa, to take part in and decide every matter, great or small, and no one else was permitted to petition him directly. At that time Ogasawara Nagatsune, Hiki Saburō, Wada Tomomori, Nakano Yoshinari, and Hosono Rō had won his favor by flattery, and Yoriie ordered Kajiwara Kagetoki and others to proclaim: "Even if the families of these five behave with violence, neither warriors nor commoners may oppose them; whoever disobeys will have his name recorded and be punished." He further declared: "Apart from these five, no one is to be received in audience without a summons." In the seventh month he sent Adachi Kagemori to attack the rebel of Mikawa, Muronohira Shigehiro, who fled. Yoriie had long heard that Kagemori's concubine was beautiful and had repeatedly sent her letters courting her, without success. Taking advantage of this occasion, he watched for Kagemori to be away, sent Nakano Yoshinari to seize the woman, and had her lodged in the residence of Kujō Yoshitsune, then soon moved to the Kitamuki Gosho, where his favor toward her was the greatest of the age. Only the five, Nagatsune and the others, were permitted to come and go. In the eighth month, when Kagemori returned, Kagetoki slandered him, saying that he resented the seizure of his concubine and was voicing discontent. Yoriie summoned the five and plotted to put Kagemori to death, and the shogunate was thrown into uproar. Masako hurried to the residence of Kagemori's father Morinaga and sent a messenger to rebuke Yoriie, saying: "Your late father has departed this world, and Sanman has died close behind him. Yet you forget your grief and play with weapons; this is the source of disaster and disorder. Kagemori has long been bound to us by deep ties, and your late father treated him with particular generosity. If there is real proof that he has committed a crime, I will examine him myself and fix his offense. Now, without establishing the truth of the matter, you rashly seek to put him to death. If it proves groundless, will regret do any good? And if you still send troops, I will take the first arrow myself." Yoriie then gave up the plan. Fearing that the quarrel might flare up again, Masako the next day took a written oath from Kagemori, sent it to Yoriie, and admonished him: "What happened yesterday was far too rash. Looking over your conduct generally, you neglect government and take no heed of the sufferings of the people; you indulge in song and dance and do not fear the censure of the world; you put loyal men aside and favor crooked flatterers. How can one who behaves so bring peace and order to the realm? Your late father was devoted to the harmony of his kin, and his bounty reached even his in-laws, so that the Minamoto house and the Hōjō were always generously treated. But since you came to the headship, favor and courtesy have grown thin and men harbor resentment. If you keep this in mind, you may yet escape disaster." Yoriie, however, did not mend his ways. In the tenth month the generals jointly signed a complaint that Kajiwara Kagetoki had used slander to bring men to ruin. Kagetoki fled to Ichinomiya. In the twelfth month Oyama Tomomasa became military governor of Harima (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the first month of the second year of Shōji (1200) Yoriie advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Upper, and was permitted to wear the forbidden colors (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami). Kagetoki plotted rebellion and was about to set out for the capital, so Yoriie sent Miura Yoshimura, Kasuya Arisue, and others to attack him. Kagetoki got as far as Suruga, where he was killed by local people. In the fifth month Yoriie banned the nenbutsu priests and had their surplices stripped off and burned. There was a priest of Ise named Shōnen who spoke boldly: "The cap and sash and the black robe each have their own use; why must the robes be stripped away? Besides, looking at the state of government now, both the Buddhist Law and the law of the world are on the point of perishing." Priests of the Imakumano shrine in Mutsu, disputing the boundaries of the temple's lands, came bringing documents and a map to bring suit. Yoriie took up a brush and drew a line through the middle of the map, saying: "Whether land is broad or narrow can be settled by a single order; there is no need to send envoys to investigate in detail. From now on, whenever land suits are decided, all are to follow this. If anyone is dissatisfied, he must not dare contend further." In the eighth month Sasaki Tsunetaka was found guilty of an offense and dismissed from his posts as military governor of Awa, Awaji, and Tosa. Yoritomo had earlier ordered that the stewards of the districts and townships of Mutsu and Dewa should keep to the arrangements of Fujiwara-no-Hidehira and his sons, yet there were still frequent disputes over boundaries. In this month he ordered the Rusudokoro to notify all parties that boundary limits were to follow exactly what Hidehira had laid down. Before this he had repeatedly sent envoys to Mutsu to summon Shibata Jirō, who pleaded illness and did not come. He therefore ordered Miyagi Shirō to attack him, and Shibata fled in defeat (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the tenth month Yoriie was transferred to Sa-emon-no-kami, Commander of the Left Gate Guards, and was granted Junior Third Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Azuma Kagami, and the Shōgun Shikken Shidai). In the first month of the first year of Kennin (1201) Jō-no-Nagamochi led troops into the capital and attacked Oyama Tomomasa at Tōnoin. Tomomasa was at that time attending an imperial progress, and his household troops left to guard his residence held off the attack. Nagamochi withdrew and went to the retired emperor's residence to ask for permission to attack Yoriie, but it was not granted, and he fled into hiding in Yoshino. In the second month he was hunted down and put to death. Soon afterward Nagamochi's nephew Sukemori rose in arms holding Torisaka in Echigo, and the neighboring districts trembled with fear. Sasaki Moritsuna was sent to attack him, and in the fifth month Sukemori fled in defeat (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In this year Satomi Yoshinao was sent to guard the capital (Note: following the Teiō Hennenki. The Buke Bunin gives Ōtomo Yoshinao instead). In the fifth month of the second year of Kennin (1202) he issued an order that those whose brothers quarreled and went to law against one another were to be reconciled without regard to who was in the right. In the seventh month he was again granted Junior Second Rank and concurrently became Seitō Taishōgun (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Azuma Kagami). In the intercalary tenth month he issued a further order that the military governors of the provinces were forbidden to exceed their duties and meddle in the administration of the provinces, and that offenders would be dismissed. In the first month of the third year of Kennin (1203) his son Ichiman went to worship at the Tsurugaoka shrine, where an entranced shrine maiden declared: "This year there will be a disturbance in Kamakura, and the heir will not be able to succeed to his position. It is like a tree on a bank whose root has already withered, and men, not knowing this, climb up into its topmost branches." All who heard this were uneasy. In the fifth month he exiled his uncle the priest Zenjō to Hitachi, and soon had him killed. He also had Zenjō's son Yorizen killed in the capital. In the eighth month he made Miura Yoshimura military governor of Tosa. In this month Yoriie's illness grew grave, and Masako ordered him to divide the stewardships of the thirty-eight provinces west of the barrier to his younger brother Senman, and to hand over to his son Ichiman the stewardships of the twenty-eight provinces of the Kantō and the post of Sōshugo, General Military Governor of the whole realm. When this disposition was settled, Ichiman's maternal grandfather Hiki Yoshikazu had Ichiman's mother tell Yoriie: "Now, if the stewardships are divided and passed to Lord Senman, uncle and nephew will stand side by side, and this may seem to keep matters secure. But when authority is split between two, it only breeds strife. Unless the Hōjō are destroyed and the threat removed, how can we hope for the safety of the heir?" Yoriie was startled, called Yoshikazu into his bedchamber to confer secretly, and they resolved to act. Masako learned of the plot, secretly informed Tokimasa, and had Yoshikazu lured out and killed. Yoshikazu's kinsmen took Ichiman and shut themselves up in the Kogosho. Masako ordered Yoshitoki to attack them, and the other commanders, Wada Yoshimori, Hatakeyama Shigetada, and the rest, all followed. Yoshikazu's sons and nephews fought desperately to defend the place, and the commanders were somewhat pressed, but Shigetada took over the attack. The defenders could hold no longer; they set fire to the building and killed themselves, and Ichiman was burned to death as well. Many of the in-laws and friends were killed, exiled, or fled. In a lucid interval of his illness Yoriie heard of the deaths of Ichiman and Yoshikazu, was greatly enraged, and sent Hori Chikaie with a letter ordering Wada Yoshimori and Nitta Tadatsune to attack Tokimasa. Yoshimori feigned agreement and showed the letter to Tokimasa. Tokimasa seized and killed Chikaie, and Tadatsune was killed by Katō Kagekado. Yoriie had thus come into conflict with Tokimasa, and Masako, holding that Yoriie could no longer bear the heavy burden of government, forced him to take the tonsure and confined him in Shuzenji in Izu, and, upholding Senman, petitioned the court for the shogun's appointment. This was Sanetomo (Note: the Gukanshō says that in the ninth month, when Yoriie's illness grew grave, Tokimasa had him moved to the residence of Ōe-no-Hiromoto and also sent men to kill Ichiman, but Ichiman's mother carried him off and fled; and that in the eleventh month Tokimasa ordered a retainer named Tōma to kill Ichiman. This differs from the present account). Yoriie sent letters to Masako and Sanetomo, asking to keep his old attendants beside him to ease the loneliness of confinement, and saying that if he could also have Adachi Kagemori he would be content. Masako sent Miura Yoshimura to tell him: "This request cannot be granted. You are never to send letters again" (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the seventh month of the following year, Tokimasa secretly sent men to kill Yoriie. Yoriie's body was agile and they could not approach him, so they waited until he was in the bath, threw a rope over his neck, and stabbed him to death (Note: following the Hōryaku Kanki and the Jōkyūki. Also consulted the Gukanshō; the year and month follow the Azuma Kagami. The Gukanshō records that Yoshitoki killed Ichiman and, following that, says that Yoriie too was killed, so one may suspect that Yoshitoki killed him on Tokimasa's orders, but since that passage is not clear, it is not taken up here). He died at the age of twenty-three (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Teiō Hennenki. The Hōryaku Kanki gives thirty-three, which probably mistakenly takes over the statement in the Azuma Kagami's entry for the first year of Genkyū that he died at thirty-three. The age is here fixed by inference from the Azuma Kagami's entry on Yoriie's birth in the eighth month of the first year of Juei).

¶At first Yoritomo had given deep attention to military government and was exact in his manner of command, but when Yoriie succeeded to the headship he was arrogant, ignorant of what was right, and idle; he would not keep to the discipline of the house, took no interest in drawing close to his retainers or handling the day-to-day business of government, and gave himself without limit to amusements as the mood took him. He was especially fond of kemari, and petitioned the Retired Emperor Go-Toba to obtain Ki-no-Yukikage as his teacher, and amused himself at it day and night. Even when disasters and portents struck he did not know enough to take warning. The bonds of order were loosened, men's hearts left him, and in the end he brought ruin on himself (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). He had three sons: the eldest was Ichiman, the second the priest Kōgyō, and the third Senjumaru (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku. Senjumaru follows the Hōryaku Kanki. This work writes "Senju" with the character for "hand" in place of the character for "longevity," and says that Senju had a younger brother, the priest Zengyō, but Zengyō is not found in any other book. Also, the Azuma Kagami says that Senjumaru was raised by Owari Nakatsukasa-no-jō, but this "Nakatsukasa" was probably the husband of his nurse and not an adoptive father. At present, however, there is no further material for investigating the point). In the first year of Kenpō (1213) Izumi Chikahira of Shinano plotted to put Senjumaru forward and put Yoshitoki to death; his band gradually grew, and he sent the priest Annen to win over the commanders. Annen came to Chiba Shigetane's residence at Amanawa, but Shigetane seized him and sent him to Yoshitoki, and all the conspirators were taken. The plot was exposed and Chikahira fled (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. That Senjumaru was to be put forward follows the Hōryaku Kanki). Senjumaru took the tonsure and became a disciple of the priest Eisai (Note: following the Gukanshō), and changed his name to Eijitsu (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Shomonzeki-fu). In the eleventh month of the following year, remnants of the followers of Wada Yoshimori, who were then in the capital, plotted to put Eijitsu at their head and attack Rokuhara. When retainers of Ōe-no-Hiromoto heard of it, they attacked them at their lodging in Ichijō. The conspirators scattered and Eijitsu killed himself. He was fourteen years old (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The age of fourteen follows the Gukanshō. This work writes "Zenji" and the Hyakurenshō writes "a priest," but neither gives a name. The Teiō Hennenki says "the Zenji's childhood name was Senju," and the Shomonzeki-fu likewise says "Eijitsu's childhood name was Senju." On this basis the Zenji of this work, that is, of the Gukanshō, is certainly Senjumaru. Further, the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Shomonzeki-fu both place Eijitsu's death in the tenth month of the seventh year of Kenpō, but that is not adopted here).

The Priest Kōgyō

¶The priest Kōgyō was named Zenzai in childhood (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). When disaster overtook Yoriie, Kōgyō was four years old (Note: following the Jōkyūki). Masako had him raised as an adopted son of Sanetomo. He studied under the priest Jōgyō, afterward changed his name to the present one, and later shaved his head and entered Onjō-ji, where he studied under Kōin, Sōjō of the Myōō-in, and was appointed Bettō of Tsurugaoka (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Kōgyō always resented that his father had been deposed and had met an unnatural death, and meant to kill Sanetomo and Yoshitoki and avenge him (Note: drawn together from the Gukanshō, the Hōryaku Kanki, and the Azuma Kagami). Once he had been appointed Bettō, he declared that he had a long-held vow and undertook a thousand days of prayer at the Tsurugaoka shrine. From then on he let his hair grow and would not return to his monastery quarters, and sent envoys to pray at the Ise Grand Shrine and other shrines. People thought this strange (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). When Sanetomo was appointed Minister of the Right, he performed the ceremony of thanks at the Tsurugaoka shrine. When the ceremony was over and he was about to descend the stone steps, Kōgyō leapt out and cut him down, crying in a loud voice, "I, Bettō Kōgyō, am avenging my father!" Sanetomo's attendants were all outside at the time and rushed to the spot on hearing of the disturbance, but it was dusk and a dark night, and they could not tell where the assassin was. Someone reported, "Kōgyō called out his own name in the seat of the senior officials," and only then did the people learn who had done it (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Gukanshō. The Jōkyūki was also consulted). They then surrounded his monastery quarters at Yukinoshita, but Kōgyō, carrying Sanetomo's head, went straight to the lodging of the Bitchū Ajari. While a meal tray was offered to him, the head was still in his hands (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Miura Yoshimura was the husband of Kōgyō's nurse, and Yoshimura's son Komawakamaru was Kōgyō's pupil (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Jōkyūki). Kōgyō thought that Yoshimura would take his side, and sent a messenger to say: "The shogun's seat is now vacant. I should fill that office. You must make plans for me." Yoshimura, hearing this, was astonished and wept, and replied falsely, "First come into my house. I will send men to receive you." He immediately reported the matter to Yoshitoki, and Yoshitoki, on Masako's orders, sent men to kill Kōgyō. Yoshimura gathered his kin to discuss it. They said, "Kōgyō's valor is beyond compare, so no one should lay hands on him lightly." Yoshimura therefore chose Nagao Sadakage, who set out with five stalwart warriors. Kōgyō, unable to wait for Yoshimura to come, started across Tsurugaoka toward Yoshimura's house. On the way he met Sadakage and fought hand to hand with Sadakage's men. Sadakage cut him down from the side and sent his head to Yoshitoki. He was nineteen years old (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The Gukanshō was also consulted. The age of nineteen follows the Jōkyūki. The Jōkyūki says that as Kōgyō was making for Yoshimura's house, crossing Tsurugaoka at night through heavy snow, he missed his footing and fell onto a roof, and the master of the house, taking him for a burglar, beat him to death. The Hōryaku Kanki says that when Kōgyō reached Yoshimura's house, Yoshimura killed him, and also that he starved to death in the hills of Tsurugaoka. None of these is adopted here). Earlier there had been a strange apparition in the shogunate, in the form of a woman, moving as swiftly as if flying, whom no one could pin down, and all who saw it took it for a spirit. It is said that only after this incident did people learn that it had been Kōgyō (Note: following the Jōkyūki).

Minamoto-no-Sanetomo

¶Minamoto-no-Sanetomo was named Senman in childhood (Note: some copies of this work write "Senman" with different characters), and was Yoriie's full brother. In the ninth month of the third year of Kennin (1203), when Yoriie was deposed, Masako settled the matter in consultation with her father Tokimasa and others, and petitioned the court to receive Sanetomo as the head of the warriors (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). He was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower, and appointed Seii Taishōgun (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Ichidai Yōki, and the Azuma Kagami. The Gukanshō says he was appointed Seii Taishōgun in the twelfth month of that year). In the tenth month he came of age, at twelve years old (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). The court bestowed the name "Sanetomo" (Note: following the Gukanshō). He sent Hiraga Tomomasa, Governor of Musashi, to guard the capital (Note: the Teiō Hennenki places this in the first year of Shōji), and all the retainers who held stewardships in the western provinces were placed under him. He also sent envoys to reassure the retainers in the capital region and urged them to be loyal and harbor no divided heart, and took written oaths from them. In this month he was appointed Assistant Commander of the Right Military Guards. In the eleventh month he reduced the year's land taxes in the eastern provinces to relieve the burden on the people. In the twelfth month he issued an order that, in the lawsuits of warriors and commoners, if no judgment was given within three days after a complaint was filed, the responsible official would be punished for negligence. In the second month of the first year of Genkyū (1204) he issued an order that the estates of all provinces were to follow Yoritomo's old precedents (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the third month he was appointed Lesser Captain of the Right Palace Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Shōgun Shikken Shidai). In this month Taira-no-Mototsune and Taira-no-Moritoki and others rose between Iga and Ise, blocked the Suzuka barrier, and cut off travelers. The military governor Sudō Tsunetoshi fled, and Hiraga Tomomasa crushed them. Tomomasa was appointed military governor of Ise. In the fifth month, on the petition of the provincial governors, it was ordered that levies on mountain and sea fishing and hunting by stewards should follow the discretion of the provincial offices, that one third of the salt households should be assigned to the stewards, that the fine of roasted rice should be paid to the governors, and that each should follow the actual conditions of the locality without disturbing old custom. In this month he had the handwritten letters Yoritomo had given the commanders brought in, and examined the institutions and measures of that time. In the seventh month Yoriie died in Izu, and his retainers secretly plotted to raise troops. Hōjō Yoshitoki sent Kanakubo Yukichika and others to destroy them all. In the tenth month the provincial governors and the proprietors lodged a complaint that stewards, under pretext of rewards for merit, were exceeding the regulations and seizing taxes, and so he issued an order to the stewards that the tax income of the named fields should all be as it had been handed down from the former gesu, and that offenders would be stripped of their posts. In the first month of the second year of Genkyū (1205) he was transferred to Provisional Middle Captain of the Right Palace Guards and concurrently became Assistant Governor of Kaga (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami). In the sixth month Hōjō Tokimasa slandered Hatakeyama Shigetada and sent troops to kill him. An order was issued that the military governors of the eastern provinces, in judging the status of stewards, were not to exact more than the regulations allowed. In the seventh month the lands of Shigetada's kin were divided among meritorious retainers. In the intercalary seventh month, Sanetomo had earlier been staying in Tokimasa's residence, and Tokimasa's wife, the Maki-no-kata, plotted to murder Sanetomo and raise her son-in-law Hiraga Tomomasa in his place. Masako sent commanders to move Sanetomo to Yoshitoki's residence. The soldiers Tokimasa had gathered all left Tokimasa and followed Sanetomo. The next day Tokimasa was confined at Hōjō, Yoshitoki was ordered to act for him in military government, and the commanders in the capital, Sasaki Hirotsuna, Gotō Motokiyo, and others, were ordered to kill Tomomasa there. In this month, because Kōno Michinobu had often performed deeds of valor, thirty-two retainers under the command of the Iyo military governor's office were released from it and placed under Michinobu. In the ninth month he sent Fujiwara-no-Suetoki to guard the capital (Note: "Fujiwara" follows the Buke Bunin. The Teiō Hennenki gives the seventh month, which is mistaken). In the first month of the first year of Ken'ei (1206) he issued an order that commanders who had been granted stewardships in Yoritomo's time were not to be deprived of them arbitrarily except in cases of grave offense. In the seventh month, when Tomomasa had earlier put down the disorder in Ise, officers and men of neighboring districts who had failed to answer his call had been stripped of their stewardships; now each stated his reasons, and those with legitimate proof had their posts restored (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the first month of the first year of Jōgen (1207) he was granted Junior Fourth Rank Upper (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami). In the third month he ordered the stewards of Musashi to open up wasteland (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the fourth month of the third year of Jōgen (1209) he was advanced to Junior Third Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami). In the eleventh month the provincial offices complained that the military governors of the provinces were neglecting their duties and that bands of robbers had suddenly arisen to plunder estates and fields. Those who deliberated said: "If one man alone is made military governor, he will tend to rely on precedent and grow negligent. It would be better to organize them in rotating watches, changing each year, and have them devote their hearts to their duties. If they still do not mend, inspections should be made through the provinces and the disloyal replaced." The discussion was not settled, and letters of those appointed military governors were called in to distinguish whether they held their posts by favor or by merit.

¶In the first month of the first year of Kenryaku (1211) he was granted Senior Third Rank and concurrently became Provisional Governor of Mimasaka. In the tenth month of the second year of Kenryaku (1212) he sent envoys through the eastern provinces to investigate the wrongs and sufferings of the people (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the twelfth month he was granted Junior Second Rank. In the second month of the first year of Kenpō (1213), in reward for his work in repairing the Kan'in palace, he was granted Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Azuma Kagami, and the Masukagami). Izumi Chikahira plotted to put Hōjō Yoshitoki to death, but the matter was exposed and he fled. In the fifth month Wada Yoshimori plotted to destroy Hōjō Yoshitoki, raised troops, and surrounded the shogunate. Hōjō Yoshitoki and Ōe-no-Hiromoto took Sanetomo to shelter in the Hokkedō, and had Hōjō Yasutoki and Ashikaga Yoshiuji defend against the attack. Yoshimori was killed in battle and his band was wholly put down. In the summer of the second year of Kenpō (1214) there was a drought. Sanetomo fasted and purified himself and read the Lotus Sutra aloud, and soon rain fell. He ordered the eastern provinces that the taxes on the shogunate's own lands were to be reduced by two thirds in stages beginning with that autumn. In the eleventh month he had Yoriie's son, the priest Eijitsu, killed. In the twelfth month he ordered that commanders who sought office and rank should apply through the head of their house, taking account of the degree of service rendered and stating it fully in a document, and that junior sons were not permitted to apply directly. In the second month of the third year of Kenpō (1215) he ordered that barriers and ferries in the provinces were not to obstruct travelers. In the fourth month, since the guarding of retainers in the capital was often not in accord with the law, he issued an order of admonition. Henceforth rewards and punishments were to be given according to whether men were faithful or not. In the seventh month he fixed the number of merchants in Kamakura (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the sixth month of the fourth year of Kenpō (1216) he was appointed Provisional Middle Counselor. In the seventh month he was moved to a post concurrently as Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami). In the twelfth month he went to the Monchūjo and ordered that civil lawsuits be decided on the same day (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the first month of the sixth year of Kenpō (1218) he was moved to Provisional Major Counselor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami). Taira-no-Masashige secretly lay hidden at Shirakawa and plotted rebellion, but Gotō Motokiyo cut him down (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the second month Sanetomo repeatedly sent envoys to the capital asking to be appointed concurrently Commander of the Left Palace Guards. In the court's deliberations it was intended to keep to the precedent of Yoritomo and limit him to Commander of the Right, but because Sanetomo pressed his plea so strongly, Fujiwara-no-Michiie was made to resign as Commander of the Left Palace Guards and Sanetomo took the post concurrently (Note: drawn from the Azuma Kagami, the Gukanshō, and the Kugyō Bunin). Offices and ranks were also granted to his retainers (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). On that same day an envoy was dispatched, and by imperial command he became concurrently Sama-ryō Gokan, Supervisor of the Left Stables (Note: drawn from the Azuma Kagami and the Kugyō Bunin). The Retired Emperor Go-Toba had long disliked that the power of the Kantō was so heavy and hard to restrain, and hoped that it would grow arrogant and destroy itself, so that whenever Sanetomo asked for office or rank he gave him particularly high positions, often far beyond what he had hoped for (Note: following the Jōkyūki). When Sanetomo had first sought the post of Commander, Hōjō Yoshitoki said to Ōe-no-Hiromoto: "The late Lord of the Shogunate [Yoritomo] used to be fearful and cautious whenever he was granted an office, and declined it, wishing to leave that honor to his descendants. Yet the present shogun has not even reached full manhood, and his promotion is far too swift. Moreover the commanders, without going up to the capital, are receiving offices and ranks as they sit at home, which can only be called beyond their station. I would like to say this to him, but when I consider my own foolishness I cannot change the shogun's mind. I ask that you speak to him." Hiromoto replied: "You are right. I too have long been troubled and could only grieve. The late Lord of the Shogunate consulted me on every matter, but now it is not so and I have no opportunity to speak with full sincerity. The shogun has not won merit by his own hand and merely inherits the lingering glory of his predecessor; that he should be promoted beyond command of the provinces to Counselor and Middle Captain is something that could only be for the sons of the regent houses. I fear that high rank and glorious office cannot avoid the calamity of overflowing fullness. Let me try to put the matter to him gently." He then admonished Sanetomo: "There is a reason for leaving honor to one's descendants. It would be well to decline the other offices and bear only the post of Seii Taishōgun. When you have advanced in years, you might then seek the office of Commander." Sanetomo would not listen, and said: "What you say is quite right. But never has the true line of the Minamoto been in such peril as today. How can I hope for succession by descendants? Precisely for that reason I wish to reach the highest rank within my own lifetime and so make the glory of my house known to the world." Hiromoto said nothing and withdrew. In the sixth month he performed the ceremony of thanks at the Tsurugaoka shrine. The court bestowed two betel-palm-fiber carriages with half-lattice windows, a carved bow of the nine bestowals, costume, guards, saddles, and other items. Courtiers came and were entertained. In the seventh month he appointed Hōjō Yasutoki, Yamashiro Yukimura, Miura Yoshimura, Ōe-no-Yoshinori, and Iga Mitsumune as officers of the Samurai-dokoro (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). In the tenth month he was appointed Naidaijin, Minister of the Interior, retaining his post as Commander. In the twelfth month he was moved to Minister of the Right (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Azuma Kagami). In the first month of the first year of Jōkyū (1219) he held a great banquet. Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara-no-Tadanobu, Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara-no-Saneuji, and all those related by marriage came to Kamakura (Note: following the Masukagami and the Jōkyūki. The offices follow the Kugyō Bunin). The retired emperor bestowed carriages, horses, and garments and entertained them lavishly, and Sanetomo performed the ceremony of thanks at the Tsurugaoka shrine. Courtiers attended him, and a thousand mounted escorts lined up, so that the guard was very strict. On reaching the tower gate of the shrine he sent the escorts back, and only Minamoto-no-Nakaakira, Doctor of Letters, followed him carrying a sword. When the ceremony was over, he bowed to the courtiers, and as he descended the stone steps he was killed by his nephew Kōgyō. He died at the age of twenty-eight (Note: that he bowed to the courtiers when the ceremony was over follows the Gukanshō). On the following day he was buried beside the Shōchōju-in, but because Kōgyō had carried off the head, a lock of hair given by Hata-no-Kinuji was placed in the burial in its stead (Note: the Gukanshō says that Sanetomo's head was found in the snow, but the Azuma Kagami does not record this. It is noted here for reference). More than a hundred of his retainers took the tonsure in their grief (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. The Gukanshō gives seventy or eighty). In choosing the day and hour for the ceremony of thanks, it had at first been fixed for the hour of the Dog on the twenty-seventh. Hiromoto said, "At night, unforeseen danger cannot be ruled out. It would be better to hold the ceremony in broad daylight," but Nakaakira said, "By precedent it is always held at night" (Note: following the Jōkyūki). As Sanetomo was about to set out, Hiromoto came forward and admonished him: "I have never shed tears in front of others, but in coming into your presence today tears fell of themselves. This must surely have a reason. In the past, when the late shogun attended the dedication of Tōdai-ji, he wore armor beneath his clothes against any emergency. I beg you to follow that precedent." Nakaakira said, "I have never heard of anyone raised to so weighty a position as minister and commander wearing armor beneath his clothes." In the end Sanetomo followed Nakaakira's words. He had Hata-no-Kinuji comb his hair, pulled out a lock of his own hair and gave it to him, saying in jest, "Keep this as a memento." Seeing the plum tree in the garden, he composed a poem in which he said that although he was going out and the house would be left without its master, the plum by the eaves must not forget the spring. When he reached the south gate a dove gave an uncanny cry, and as he got down from his carriage he mistakenly broke the hilt of his sword, and people took these for ill omens (Note: following the Azuma Kagami).

¶Sanetomo had no children, and Yoshitoki, acting on Masako's wishes, consulted the commanders and petitioned the court to receive Yoritsune, son of the Minister of the Left Fujiwara-no-Michiie, as shogun (Note: following the Azuma Kagami, the Gukanshō, and the Hōryaku Kanki). Sanetomo was by nature gentle and refined; coming after the age of Yoritomo's suspicious temper, he was generous and simple in his handling of affairs, and so was liked and admired by his officers and men (Note: following the Masukagami). But he was indecisive and could not bring men's hearts to submit (Note: drawn from the general sense of the various books). He was always fond of letters and unskilled in military matters, and had Minamoto-no-Nakaakira lecture to him on the histories (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Gukanshō). He also selected attendants of talent and skill to serve in rotation in the Gakumonjo, the study hall, and had them tell of ancient affairs, which he listened to. He studied waka under Fujiwara-no-Sadaie (Note: following the Azuma Kagami), and left a collection, the Kinkai Wakashū (Note: following the Kinkai Wakashū). He was also fond of kemari, and once summoned and received the Sung Buddhist sculptor Chin Nakei. Nakei drew back and prostrated himself, saying: "In the past I declined the summons of the late shogun because he had cut off many lives and his sinful karma was exceedingly deep. You, my lord, were born into this world as an incarnation, and in a former life you were the elder of Mount Ikuō. I once stood among your disciples, and so now I meet you through a bond from a former existence." Sanetomo was pleased. Before this Sanetomo had dreamed that a priest told him of his former life, and since this happened to agree with Nakei's words, he came to believe them all the more. He then resolved to cross to Sung to see the land of his former life, ordered Nakei to build a ship, and chose more than sixty men to accompany him. Hōjō Yoshitoki, Tokifusa, and others remonstrated, but he would not listen. When the ship was completed it was tried afloat at Yuigaura, but it was too large to float, and nothing came of it. From childhood Sanetomo had depended wholly on his mother's kin, and whenever they made a request he bent his own wishes to comply. Thus Yoshitoki came more and more to hold power as he pleased, authority passed to those below, disaster arose from within his own family, and he could preserve neither his person nor his house, and the work that Yoritomo had built at last declined (Note: following the Azuma Kagami).