Biographies CXXIX: The Shogunal Retainers, Part XII: Hōjō Takatoki, Kanezawa Sadayuki, Nikaidō Sadafuji and others

Hōjō Takatoki

¶Hōjō Takatoki, whose childhood name was Narijumaru, was a son of Hōjō Sadatoki, Sagami-no-kami, Governor of Sagami. He was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Heishi Keizu) and became Sama-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Head of the Left Stables. In the fifth year of Shōwa (1316) he succeeded Hōjō Mototoki as shikken, the regent; he was then fourteen years old. In the first year of Bunpō (1317) he was appointed Governor of Sagami (Note: following the Keizu, the Shōgun Shikken Shidai, and the Hōryaku Kanki). Takatoki was a man of no restraint in conduct, and merely inherited the office of his forebears because he belonged to the senior line of the house (Note: following the Masukagami and the Hōryaku Kanki). At first he entrusted the affairs of government to two men, his wife's father Akita Tokiaki and the Naikanrei, Chief Steward of the Hōjō household, Nagasaki Enki (Note: Enki is also written with the character "Ki" alone); the two worked together in harmony and adhered strictly to the laws laid down by Yasutoki, so that the world was for the most part at peace. But when Enki grew old and retired from his post and had his son Takasuke take his place, Takasuke took advantage of his master's dullness to act as he pleased, wielding power without any restraint. The whole country was angry and resentful, and the hearts of the people drew further away day by day (Note: following the Hōryaku Kanki). Takatoki, meanwhile, grew ever more foolish and dissolute, and gave himself to wine and women day and night. Once, seeing dogs fight in his garden, he took great delight in it; he had dogs brought in from the households of his generals and officials, and even assigned them to the peasants to be handed over in place of tribute. Dogs presented from far and near numbered in the thousands. They were fattened on fine grain and meat, adorned with pearls and embroidery, and carried in basket-litters on the shoulders of the common people; those who met them on the road were said to dismount and prostrate themselves. Twelve times a month the dogs were divided into two sides and set to fight, and the generals were gathered to watch for his amusement. The howling of the packs shook the ground, as if men were quarreling. All who heard it frowned. Because the dengaku performing art was then flourishing in Kyoto, Takatoki kept many performers in his service and had each of his generals keep one as well, and at every banquet they performed in elaborate costumes. Takatoki and all the rest vied with one another in stripping off their garments to give them as gratuities, until the clothing heaped up at the banquets like hills, and the waste knew no bounds. People of the time all murmured that the Hōjō would not last long (Note: following the Taiheiki).

¶In the first year of Genkyō (1321), the Retired Emperor Go-Uda sent a messenger to announce that he would hand the conduct of government over to the emperor, and Takatoki received the message and complied (Note: following the Masukagami). In the autumn of the first year of Shōchū (1324), the emperor (Emperor Go-Daigo) plotted the overthrow of the Hōjō, but the plan leaked out to a considerable extent. Takatoki was greatly alarmed and sent envoys to seize Fujiwara-no-Suketomo, Chūnagon, Middle Counsellor, and Fujiwara-no-Toshimoto, Kurōdo-no-tō, Chief Chamberlain, and bring them to Kamakura (Note: following the Masukagami, the Hōryaku Kanki, and the Taiheiki). Takatoki even planned to depose the emperor, but the emperor, wishing to resolve the difficulty, sent Fujiwara-no-Nobufusa, Chūnagon, with a written oath, to explain that the imperial mind harbored no other intention. Takatoki thereupon abandoned his earlier proposal and apologized, saying, "Court affairs are properly not for us, your servants, to discuss," and the emperor had the written oath taken back (Note: on this the Taiheiki relates as follows. When the emperor sent down the written oath, Takatoki meant to have Saitō Toshiyuki read it. Nikaidō Sadafuji remonstrated: "There has never been a case since ancient times of a Son of Heaven granting a written oath to a military retainer. It would be best to decline firmly and not accept it." Takatoki would not listen. Before Toshiyuki had finished reading, he was seized by dizziness and a nosebleed, a boil formed in his throat, and he died. Takatoki was greatly frightened and is said to have dropped his earlier proposal. But according to the Jōrakuki, Toshiyuki died in the third year of Shōchū (1326), so this story is an exaggeration and is not adopted here). The following year Toshimoto was pardoned and returned to Kyoto (Note: following the Masukagami and the Taiheiki), and Suketomo was exiled to Sado (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶In the spring of the first year of Karyaku (1326), Takatoki fell ill and was in danger of death. Nagasaki Takasuke urged him to give up the regency (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki in the Mōri family collection), and Takatoki shaved his head and took the name Sūkan (Note: following the Keizu, the Hōryaku Kanki, and the Shōgun Shikken Shidai). Takasuke had long been on close terms with Kanezawa Sadaaki, and so recommended Sadaaki and had him installed as regent in Takatoki's place. Takatoki's younger brother Yasuie resented that he had not succeeded to the office and shaved his own head and entered religious life. But when Takatoki recovered from his illness, he was furious and meant to kill Sadaaki. Sadaaki was afraid, shaved his own head as well, and no longer appeared to conduct affairs. At this time the retainers vied with one another in shaving their heads, as if to follow suit (Note: following the Hōryaku Kanki), and those with shorn heads filled the courtyard of the shogunal headquarters; the people of the time took this as an ill omen (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki in the Mōri family collection). Takasuke again acted on his own judgment, recommending Akahashi Moritoki as regent (Note: following the Hōryaku Kanki) and Hōjō Koresada as rensho, co-signer (Note: following the Shōgun Shikken Shidai), so that discontent among the people grew still greater (Note: following the Hōryaku Kanki). In the spring of this year the Crown Prince died, and the court sent Fujiwara-no-Sadafusa, Dainagon, to convey the message: "The succession to the throne has broken off. It would be well to follow the dying instruction of Emperor Go-Saga." But Takatoki did not accept this command, and in the end petitioned that Imperial Prince Kazuhito (later Emperor Kōgon), a son of the Cloistered Emperor of the Main Line (the Retired Emperor Go-Fushimi), be installed as Crown Prince (Note: this follows a comparison of the Jinnō Shōtōki, the Masukagami, and the Baishōron). In the spring of the second year (1327), Fujiwara-no-Suenaga of Mutsu quarreled with his kinsman Gorō and brought a suit; but Takasuke accepted bribes from both sides and for a long time gave no judgment, so that the two at last attacked each other. Takatoki sent troops to put them down, but without success. From this time on, Takatoki began to be somewhat dissatisfied with Takasuke's conduct. In the autumn of the second year of Gentoku (1330), he secretly ordered Nagasaki Takayori to get rid of Takasuke, but the matter leaked out, and Takatoki laid the blame on Takayori and exiled him to Mutsu (Note: following the Hōryaku Kanki). Earlier, the emperor had summoned the monks Enkan and Monkan into the palace and had them lay curses on Takatoki. Takatoki heard of this, seized Enkan, Monkan, and Chūen, examined them, and confirmed that it was true. He now condemned Enkan and the others to distant exile (Note: following the Taiheiki).

¶In the first year of Genkō (1331), Takatoki again seized Fujiwara-no-Toshimoto. As a result the emperor, together with Imperial Prince Moriyoshi and others, pressed ever more urgently the plan to strike the Kantō (Note: following the Masukagami and the Taiheiki; the year, the first year of Genkō, follows the Masukagami). Just then the Retired Emperor Go-Fushimi also sent a messenger to report the court's plans in detail, and Takatoki assembled his generals to ask their counsel, but they only looked at one another and none dared to speak. Nagasaki Takasuke stepped forward and said, "Because you did not carry out the deposition of the emperor earlier, you have left this affliction behind. The best plan now is to move the emperor at once and send the Ōtō-no-miya (Imperial Prince Moriyoshi) into distant exile. If the plots of the court nobles are examined in advance, and they are seized and put to death, the matter will be settled." Nikaidō Sadafuji remonstrated: "It is already some hundred and sixty years since the authority of the country passed to the east. We have made our might felt throughout the realm, and our glory has been handed down through the generations. The reason is none other than that we have shown loyalty and constancy to the royal house and extended kindness to the common people. To restrain ministers of the court and to exile monks is already going too far. If on top of that we drive out the Son of Heaven and send the abbot into exile, what will people say? With the gods above us, have we nothing to fear? Even supposing our military might is truly great, if it is merely said that the court has issued different orders, who would dare to side with us? The ancients said, 'Even if the ruler does not act as a ruler, the subject must not fail in the way of a subject.' If we fulfill the duty of subjects ever more fully and never relax, how could the wrath of Heaven fail to be appeased?" Takasuke changed color and said, "In the use of the civil and the military there are different tendencies according to whether a matter is pressing or slack. The way of Confucius and Mencius is not something to be discussed today. If we do not bring this to a settlement by our own accusation, we may be struck down by an imperial command, and regret will come too late. The precedent of the Jōkyū disturbance is the model you ought to follow." Takatoki in the end followed Takasuke's words. In the autumn he sent Nikaidō Sadafuji and Jō Echigo-no-kami (Note: the names of these two follow variant texts), leading three thousand troops, to Kyoto; but when they arrived, the emperor had already left the palace in secret and gone on progress to Nara, and it had been announced that his seat was at the Enryakuji. Takatoki further dispatched sixty-three generals, beginning with Ōsaragi Sadanao, Kanezawa Sadafuyu, and Ashikaga Takauji, with more than two hundred thousand troops from the five provinces of Musashi, Sagami, Izu, Suruga, and Kōzuke (Note: the original text says "Takatoki heard that Masashige and others had raised troops and sent Sadanao and Takauji," but here the Kōmyōji Zōsho Zanpen is followed. The Kinshō-in text says "troops of seventeen provinces"). At this time the emperor was at Kasagi; Hōjō Nakatoki and Hōjō Tokimasu sent troops to surround his temporary residence, Kusunoki Masashige held Akasaka, and Sakurayama Koretoshi raised troops in Bingo (Note: following the Taiheiki). Sadanao and the others took Kasagi and Akasaka (Note: following the Genkō Nikki Uragaki and the Kōmyōji Zōsho Zanpen), and Koretoshi also took his own life. Takatoki had the emperor confined at Rokuhara, and sent Nikaidō Sadafuji and Akita Takakage to have the Crown Prince enthroned. This was the Retired Emperor Kōgon (Note: a comparison of the Masukagami and the Taiheiki was made). In the spring of the second year (1332), Takatoki had a monk's robe presented to the emperor and tried to induce him to request that his head be shaved, but the emperor would not consent (Note: following the Taiheiki). He then sent Nagai Takafuyu to request an edict from the new emperor, and moved the emperor to Oki (Note: following the Masukagami and the Taiheiki; the name Nagai Takafuyu follows the Masukagami). Chiba Sadatane, Oyama Hidetomo, and Sasaki Takauji escorted him with five hundred troops (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Masukagami), and the provincial constable Sasaki Kiyotaka took turns standing guard with soldiers of his home province and of Izumo (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Hōki Maki). Imperial Prince Takayoshi was moved to Tosa and Imperial Prince Sonchō to Sanuki. In the summer, Taira-no-Narisuke, Sangi, Counsellor, was killed in Sagami, Asuke Shigenori in Kyoto, Fujiwara-no-Suketomo, Chūnagon, in Sado, Minamoto-no-Tomoyuki, Chūnagon, in Ōmi, and Fujiwara-no-Toshimoto, Kurōdo-no-tō, in Kamakura. Fujiwara-no-Morokata, Dainagon, and the monk Shōjin were exiled to Shimōsa; Fujiwara-no-Kintoshi, former Gon-Dainagon, and Fujiwara-no-Suefusa, Sangi, to Shimotsuke; Fujiwara-no-Fujifusa, Chūnagon, to Hitachi; and the monk Shunga to Nagato. At this time Kusunoki Masashige retook Akasaka castle and went out to pitch camp at the Shitennōji. Hōjō Nakatoki and Hōjō Tokimasu soon sent troops to attack him, but without success. Takatoki sent Utsunomiya Kintsuna to support them. Imperial Prince Moriyoshi built a fortress at Yoshino (Note: a comparison of the Masukagami and the Taiheiki was made), Masashige built a fortress at Chihaya (Note: following the Masukagami and the Baishōron), and Akamatsu Norimura raised troops in Harima. Takatoki further had his adopted son Aso Tokiharu, Ōsaragi Takanao, Nikaidō Sadafuji, and others lead great armies and divide their forces to attack these positions (Note: following the Taiheiki). He also circulated letters to the generals and officers of the provinces, so that each might muster his forces (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki).

¶In the spring of the third year (1333), he moved the imperial prince Tsunenari to Etchū and sent men to kill him (Note: following the Shomonzeki Fu). Tokiharu took Akasaka castle (Note: following the Taiheiki). Sadafuji took Yoshino (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Yoshimizu-in Shinpen Gonjōjō) and, joining forces with Takanao, besieged Chihaya castle for more than a month. Takatoki sent messengers to urge the assault, and Takanao and the others attacked with all their strength but could not take it. In the meantime the emperor escaped from Oki and moved his seat to Mount Senjō, and the generals and officers of the western provinces vied with one another in coming over to him. Minamoto-no-Tadaaki, Sakon'e-no-chūjō, Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, and Akamatsu Norimura joined forces and attacked Rokuhara. Takatoki therefore had Nagoe Takaie and Ashikaga Takauji lead troops west, half to guard Kyoto and half to attack the emperor's temporary residence. In the summer Takaie fought Norimura at Yamazaki and was killed in battle, and Takauji went over to the imperial army. When Takauji set out, he had wished to take his family with him on campaign, but Nagasaki Enki urged Takatoki to have a written oath drawn up, and Takauji's wife and his son Senjuō were kept at Kamakura as hostages. Now Takauji, just as had been feared, changed sides, and Senjuō secretly fled. Takatoki sent men hurrying to learn Takauji's movements, but on the road they met a messenger from Rokuhara, heard that Takauji had gone over, and turned back. As a result the people of Kamakura were thrown into confusion. Takatoki called out troops from the six provinces of Musashi, Kōzuke, Awa, Kazusa, Hitachi, and Shimotsuke and meant to send them west under Yasuie. He accordingly levied military provisions from the districts and counties, and because the domain of Nitta Yoshisada was by nature wealthy, he imposed on it a levy of sixty thousand kan of cash and sent officials to press for it severely. Yoshisada had earlier made secret contact with the imperial army, and so he killed the officials and displayed their heads. Takatoki was greatly enraged and discussed calling off the western expedition in order to concentrate on punishing Yoshisada. But before troops could be sent, Yoshisada raised his army and came first to Musashino. Takatoki then sent Kanezawa Sadayuki, leading the troops of Kazusa and Shimōsa, to come out at Shimokōbe and hold the enemy's rear. Sakurada Sadakuni and Nagasaki Takashige and others defended the Iruma River with troops of Musashi and Kōzuke, but Sadakuni fought Yoshisada, both sides suffered heavy losses, and he was pressed back to Kume River, where he pitched camp. The next day he fought again and was beaten, and fell back as far as Bubai-gawara. Takatoki then sent Yasuie to support him. Yasuie fought and defeated Yoshisada, but the next day fought again and this time was heavily defeated (Note: following the Taiheiki). At this time Oyama Hidetomo and Chiba Sadatane both responded to Yoshisada, and at Tsurumi they met Sadayuki and defeated him (Note: following the Baishōron; the name Oyama Hidetomo follows the Taiheiki). The armies at last pulled back to Kamakura (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Baishōron). Just then the routed troops from Rokuhara arrived, and for the first time it was learned that Nakatoki and Tokimasu had died in defeat and that Kyoto had been retaken by the imperial army. High and low alike were at a loss, and understood that they could hold out no longer. After a day's interval Yoshisada set fires and pressed in from three sides. The townspeople fled in all directions with their goods. Takatoki sent a certain Kanezawa Echigo Shōgen and Hōjō Mototoki to the Kewaizaka, Ōsaragi Sadanao to the Gokurakuji slope, and Akahashi Moritoki to the Kobukuro slope to defend them. Moritoki's force was defeated first and wiped out, and Yoshisada advanced alone into Yamanouchi, but Sadanao fought fiercely and cut down the enemy general Ōdate Munauji, and the remnant troops withdrew. That night Yoshisada himself led picked troops to the Gokurakuji, but Sadanao had drawn up his forces on the slope, lined the shore with deer-antler abatis, and floated many large ships to shoot arrows into the enemy's flank, so that the enemy could not pass. But at dawn the sea water suddenly drew back more than twenty chō, and the ships were all swept away. Because of this Yoshisada galloped straight into Kamakura, the defending troops all broke and fled, and the armies advanced one after another, burning everything in their path. A violent wind arose just then, and the fires all spread inward, with smoke and flame filling the sky. In a moment they reached Takatoki's residence, and Takatoki himself, guarding his wife and children with more than a thousand men, fled into the Tōshōji. The Tōshōji was a temple associated with the ancestors of the Hōjō, but by this time the armies had already collapsed, and the great majority were dead, wounded, surrendering, or in flight. Takatoki at last took his own life. He was thirty-one (Note: the Hōjō Keizu and the Hōjō Kafu both give forty-two, but here the Keizu's statement that he was born in the first year of Kagen (1303), and the Hōryaku Kanki's statement that he was nine in the first year of Ōchō (1311), are followed). Those who followed him in death numbered more than eight hundred and seventy, and those who killed themselves in Kamakura more than six thousand (Note: some texts give seven for six). His eldest son Kunitoki, whose childhood name was Manjumaro and who was called Sagami-tarō, was captured and put to death. He was fifteen (Note: the childhood name and the age follow the Kafu). In this month Hōjō Hidetoki, Chinzei Tandai, Commissioner of Kyushu, was put to death in Chikuzen, Ōga Tokiharu in Echizen, and Nagoe Tokiari, constable of Etchū, in his home province. Hōjō Tokinao, Commissioner of Nagato, came out and surrendered, and Tokimichi soon died of illness. Earlier, Ōsaragi Takanao, Nikaidō Sadafuji, Nagasaki Takasada, and others had lifted the siege of Chihaya castle and withdrawn to Nara. In the seventh month they plotted to attack Kyoto, but the imperial army came against them, and Takanao and the others, pressed hard, shaved their heads and begged to surrender; they were all bound and sent to Kyoto, stripped of their monks' robes, and beheaded at Amidagamine. Only Sadafuji was specially pardoned, but soon afterwards he plotted rebellion and was put to death. The following year the monk Kenpō, a kinsman of Takatoki, held Iimori castle, and Akahashi Shigetoki held Tateeboshi castle (Note: following the Taiheiki). Retainers named Honma and Shibuya raised troops in Kamakura (Note: following the Shōgun Shikken Shidai), and Kiku Takamasa (Note: Kiku is given as Kazusa in a variant Taiheiki; the Kinshō-in text separately lists Kiku Tokiaki) and Itada Sadayoshi (Note: Sadayoshi is Yoshikazu in the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki and Yoritoki in the Kinshō-in text, and the Saigen-in text separately lists Sadayoshi) raised troops in Kyushu, but soon all of them died in defeat (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki and the Taiheiki).

¶From the time of Yoshitoki and Yasutoki, the Hōjō had sought to bear the Son of Heaven above them and keep the shogun in their midst, shifting both their powers to themselves, and by wit and force had pinned the court and the shogun between them, passing on their treacherous design through the generations. For nearly a hundred years the famous veteran generals and great houses stood in awe of their might and obeyed their orders, gradually adopting toward them the manner of subjects, and none dared to oppose them. The relatives and connections of the Hōjō branched widely and intertwined, and those who became constables and land stewards numbered more than eight hundred. But when the loyalist armies arose, Takatoki lost his head, and one after another the clan was destroyed, with scarcely a survivor. The schemes their ancestors had devised, just when they seemed to be fulfilled, suddenly collapsed (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki and the Taiheiki). His second son Tokiyuki has a separate biography.

Kanezawa Sadayuki

¶Kanezawa Sadayuki was a member of the Hōjō clan. His father Sadaaki became Shuri-no-daibu, Master of the Office of Palace Repairs, and was the first to take the name Kanezawa (Note: following the Hōjō Keizu and the Hōjō Kafu). Sadayuki became Minamikata, Southern Commissioner of Rokuhara, was appointed Governor of Echigo, and later was transferred to Governor of Musashi (Note: following the Shōgun Shikken Shidai). Later he met Nitta Yoshisada in Musashi, but without success. He fought again at Yamanouchi, received seven wounds on his body, and returned to Kamakura, where he met Takatoki at the Tōshōji. Takatoki praised his hard fighting, conferred on him the governorship of Sagami and the posts of Commissioner of both Nagato and Chikuzen, and gave him the letter of appointment. The two commissionerships were weighty posts, and the governorship of Sagami was an office title that the Hōjō had held for generations. Sadayuki was deeply moved; on the back of the letter of appointment he wrote, "I cast away a hundred years of my life to repay a single day of your favor," and with it in his breast he galloped into the enemy lines and died in battle (Note: following the Taiheiki). His son Tadatoki became Sakon'e-no-shōgen, Lieutenant of the Left Palace Guards (Note: following the Kafu), and then Governor of Echigo. When Yoshisada attacked Kamakura, he led thirty thousand troops to defend the Kewaizaka (Note: following the Taiheiki), but his army was defeated and he died in battle together with his father (Note: following the Kafu).

Nikaidō Sadafuji

¶Nikaidō Sadafuji was a descendant of Fujiwara-no-Yukimasa (Note: following the Nikaidō Keizu). He was known for his talent and learning (Note: following the Taiheiki). He became a Kebiishi, police commissioner, and concurrently Governor of Dewa. Later he shaved his head and changed his name to Dōun (Note: following the Keizu and the Taiheiki). When Hōjō Takatoki planned to depose the emperor, Sadafuji remonstrated earnestly, but Takatoki was unable to heed him. Sadafuji was ordered to attack Imperial Prince Moriyoshi in the castle of Yoshino and fought hard for seven days without taking it. Among his officers was a man named Gangikumaru, the Yoshino shugyō, who knew the terrain well, and he proposed turning the army by night to strike from behind and catch the enemy between two forces; Sadafuji followed his advice. When the castle fell, Murakami Yoshiteru took his own life in the place of Imperial Prince Moriyoshi. Sadafuji obtained his head and sent it to Kyoto. Before long he realized that this disposition had been mistaken, and he advanced of his own accord to attack Mount Kōya and search for Imperial Prince Moriyoshi, but did not capture him; he then shifted his troops to join Ōsaragi Takanao and attacked Chihaya castle, and was able to take it. Afterwards he surrendered together with Takanao and the others. The emperor had long known his name, and specially pardoned him without putting him to death, ordering him to take the revenues of his former domain. But before long he plotted rebellion and was put to death (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Andō Seishū

¶Andō Seishū (Note: Seishū is also written "Ken"), an uncle of the wife of Nitta Yoshisada, fought Yoshisada's army at the Inase River, was defeated, and returned. Takatoki had already fled into the Tōshōji, the buildings of the shogunal headquarters had burned down, and the officers and men had all scattered. Seishū was indignant and said, "In this grand place of a hundred years' standing, is there not a single man who will die for his duty and leave his body here?" With the hundred or so horsemen who remained, he went to the burnt ruins to take his own life. Just then Yoshisada's wife sent a letter urging him to surrender, and Seishū said in anger to the messenger: "To avoid death in the face of danger is the greatest of shames. My niece, born into a warrior house and become the wife of a warrior, has no sense of shame, and what can she teach her descendants? Still, there is no need to say much of that woman. If Yoshisada were a man who knows what is right, he ought to have rebuked her and stopped her; why did he let her do such a thing as urging me to surrender? How alike you two are, husband and wife!" Seishū gripped his sword together with the letter and took his own life (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Shiaku Seien

¶Shiaku Seien, when the imperial army attacked Kamakura, said to his adopted son Tadayori (Note: that he was an adopted son follows a variant text), "You have not yet entered service, so flee, become a monk, and pray for my repose in the afterlife." Tadayori replied, "The whole livelihood of our house comes from our lord's favor. Is it for me to speak now of whether I have served or not?" and on the spot stabbed himself in the belly and died. Seien then had a chair set out and sat down, composed a gatha, and chanted: "The five aggregates are not real; the four elements are empty from the first (Note: one text has 'Raise the fire, cut through the void'). In the midst of the great fire, a single clean breeze blows through." He stretched out his neck and had his second son Tadatoshi cut it off. Tadatoshi also took his own life (Note: following the Taiheiki; the name Tadatoshi follows the Kinshō-in text).

Nagasaki Takashige

¶Nagasaki Takashige was called Jirō and was a son of Takasuke. In valor he had no equal; together with the other generals he held off Nitta Yoshisada in Musashi, fought hard day and night, and was wounded. When the battle was lost, he galloped back to Kamakura with the heads he had taken and showed them to Takatoki. His grandfather Enki saw this and was glad, and said, "I have always feared that you might prove unworthy and have often taught and admonished you, but now I know my own mistake. Strive ever harder to repay your lord's favor." Before long Yoshisada's great army attacked Kamakura, pressing in at once along many roads; the generals fell in battle one after another, and the soldiers scattered in all directions and lost their ranks. Takashige threw himself into the fight, charging in all four directions, and all who stood in his way were broken. Changing horses and swords, he killed some thirty men with his own hand. He returned to Hōjō Takatoki and said: "The battle was not lost for want of strength, but when all the generals have been beaten there is nothing to be done. I beg that my lord not be shamed at the hands of the enemy. I shall now fight one more battle to my heart's content and die. Let it be a tale for us to tell, hand in hand, in the world below. Please endure death and wait for me." Then, riding his favorite horse Tokei, he visited the monk Shiun, stood in the courtyard, bowed, and asked, "How should a brave warrior conduct himself?" Shiun answered, "Even a keen-edged sword is not what it once was." Takashige was greatly pleased (Note: following the Taiheiki). Going out through the gate, he told his remaining troops, "You have fought well. Let us part here," but they would not listen, and calling to one another to share death together, they went forward (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). Takashige then ordered them to throw away their banners and sheathe their swords, intending to slip into the enemy ranks and stab Yoshisada to death. But someone among the enemy noticed him and directed his troops to surround him. Takashige realized that his plan would not succeed and fought in all directions. In time all his followers were killed in battle, and only eight men remained; with them Takashige turned back. The enemy's pursuit was fierce, and he fought a dozen or more times more on the way before reaching the Tōshōji. When he arrived, Takatoki was just then passing the wine cup and taking his last leave of those about him. Takashige went straight in, drank three cups, passed the cup to Settsu Dōjun (Note: Dōjun is also written "Dōshū"), and cut his own belly and died first. Dōjun laughed and said, "With such a relish before us, who could decline for want of capacity?" He drank about half of the full cup, passed it to Suwa Chokushō (Note: Chokushō is also written "Shinshō"), and cut his own belly and died. Chokushō slowly drained three cups, urged Takatoki, saying, "The young men have shown their arts and pressed wine on us. I am weary, but I cannot fail to respond at least a little. With this relish, let us pass the cup in turn," then cut his belly, drew out the blade, laid it before Takatoki, and died (Note: following the Taiheiki). Nagasaki Enki said, "I am an old man, so I shall lead the way for my lord," and stabbed himself, but could not die at once (Note: following the various texts of the Taiheiki). His grandson, a certain Shin'emon, stabbed him from the side, then cut his own belly and died leaning on Enki's body. Shin'emon was Takashige's younger brother and was then fifteen (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Kudō-no-Nanigashi

¶A certain Kudō, called Shinzaemon, constantly lamented, "Takatoki neglects the government, and the times are worsening day by day." He remonstrated often, but was not heard; so he withdrew to Mount Kōya, hid himself, became a monk, and vowed never to return to the secular world. When Kamakura fell, he went to that place to mourn. The mansions of the shogunal headquarters lay ruined like hills, and as far as the eye could see there was nothing but grass overgrown. Moved by the sight, he composed a poem of remembrance of the past. After that he wandered through the provinces (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). How he ended his days is not known.

Godaiin Munashige

¶Godaiin Munashige was Uemon-no-jō, Lieutenant of the Right Gate Guards. Takatoki had taken Munashige's younger sister into his household as a concubine, and she bore him a son, Kunitoki. When the Hōjō were defeated, Kunitoki was entrusted to Munashige. Munashige agreed, but on the same day offered his surrender to Nitta Yoshisada. Before long Yoshisada put a generous bounty on the remnants of the Hōjō, and Munashige thought, "If I cut the boy down and hand him over myself, people will look at me askance. It would be better to have someone else's hand dispose of him, while I take only the reward for informing." So he deceived Kunitoki, saying: "I hear that someone has informed on the young master's whereabouts. Pursuers will come tomorrow. Please flee quickly to Izu. I shall stay here and say that I know nothing. If that fails, I shall take my own life and leave no trace." Kunitoki believed this and fled under cover of night with a single servant. Munashige sent urgent word to Yoshisada's steward Funada Yoshimasa, and together with troops they seized Kunitoki at the Sagami River. Yoshisada hated what Munashige had done deeply, and meant to put him to death to punish a disloyal retainer. Hearing this, Munashige fled into hiding, had nowhere to take refuge, and in the end starved to death by the roadside (Note: following the Taiheiki; the Tenshō-bon was consulted).