Biographies CXXXV: The Shogunal Retainers, Part XVIII: Enya Takasada, Sasaki Takauji, Sasaki Ujiyori, Hosokawa Yoriyuki

Enya Takasada

¶Enya Takasada was a man of Izumo (Note: following the Hōki Maki and the Taiheiki). He was a great-grandson (in the fourth generation) of Sasaki Yoshikiyo, Oki-no-kami, Governor of Oki. His father Sadamitsu served as Saemon-no-jō and Kebiishi, and was the first to take Enya as his clan name. Takasada became a Kebiishi and was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He was appointed Shugo, Military Governor, of Izumo (Note: following the Hōki Maki and the Taiheiki). In the third year of Genkō (1333), when the Emperor (Emperor Go-Daigo) was at Oki, Hōjō Takatoki heard that loyalist armies had risen on every side and ordered Sasaki Kiyotaka to guard the temporary palace. Fujina Yoshitsuna secretly planned to raise troops in support of the Emperor, and the Emperor sent Yoshitsuna as his envoy to persuade Takasada; but Takasada detained Yoshitsuna and would not let him return (Note: the Senjō-roku says that Yoshitsuna conspired with Nawa Yasunaga to work for the loyalist cause, and that Yasunaga first came to Takasada to persuade him, but Takasada would not comply and drove him away. This differs from the present account, and which is correct is not known). When the Emperor then moved his progress to Mount Senjō, generals and officers of the neighboring provinces gathered one after another at the Imperial residence. Takasada, together with Yoshitsuna, led more than a thousand horsemen of his clan and was the first to raise troops (Note: following the Taiheiki), but he advanced as far as Yagi and went no farther. The Imperial army was about to set its forces in motion to attack him. Takasada hastened to Mount Senjō and apologized, but the Imperial army, suspicious, would not admit him into the fortress and kept him outside the walls (Note: following the Hōki Maki). When the Emperor's carriage returned to the capital, Takasada was ordered to go ahead of it by one day, leading his men as the vanguard. In the early Kenmu era, when the Emperor built the Baba-den, the Riding-ground Hall, at Takakura, Takasada obtained a horse of a thousand ri and presented it (Note: following the Taiheiki). Soon afterward he was appointed Oki-no-kami (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the second year of Kenmu (1335) he followed Prince Takayoshi, Nakatsukasa-kyō, Minister of Central Affairs, in attacking Ashikaga Takauji and fought at Takenoshita. When the vanguard was routed, Takasada at once surrendered to Takauji. In the third year of Engen (1338), when Wakiya Yoshisuke took Kuromaru Castle, Takauji had Takasada furnish three hundred warships from Izumo and Hōki and was about to send him to attack it. Just as Takasada was about to set out, he was suddenly struck down by a calamity that came through a woman, and died. The matter had begun when the Emperor had once bestowed a palace woman upon Takasada. Kō no Moronao, Takauji's shitsuji (steward), saw the woman's beauty and pressed his suit again and again without success; in the end he resolved to kill Takasada and take her, and falsely accused him of treason. Takasada, knowing he could not escape, determined to hold out in his province; leading more than thirty of his clan, he pretended to go hunting and left his residence before dawn. Separately, he had Hachiman Rokurō (whose given name is not recorded) and Yamashiro-no-kami Munemura, with some twenty others, guard his wife and children, and all of them were to return to Izumo by byways. Takasada's younger brother Sadayasu secretly informed Moronao (Note: the name of Takasada's younger brother follows the Sasaki Kafu), and Moronao reported at once to Takauji, who dispatched Momonoi Naotsune, Ōhira Yoshihisa, and Yamana Tokiuji with his son Moroyoshi to pursue them. Naotsune and Yoshihisa spurred their horses hard and caught up with Takasada's wife and children at Kageyama in Harima. Rokurō and the others hid the women and children in a farmhouse, turned back and fought, and killed or wounded several tens of men. Naotsune's troops raced up and surrounded them. Moronao gave orders to the army: "Even if you capture Takasada, if you let his wife slip through your hands, it will not be what the Shitsuji desires." Hearing this, Rokurō ordered Munemura to kill Takasada's wife and children first; then, falsely styling himself Takasada, he fought the pursuers for several hours, and finally set fire to the farmhouse and died by his own hand together with the others. Naotsune and his men saw the corpses in the ashes and, taking Takasada to be truly dead, withdrew their troops (Note: following the Taiheiki). Tokiuji and Moroyoshi pursued Takasada as far as Yamasaki, where a man called out from behind: "I am a messenger from the Shitsuji. Please halt for a while, all of you." The men reined in and waited. The man called out again: "I have run so hard that I am out of breath. Please come here and hear the order." Tokiuji and his son dismounted and sent several horsemen to question him. The man laughed and said: "In truth I am a soldier of the Enya house, called Kurumi Gorō. I happened to be away and could not follow my lord. I have come here now, wishing to die, in order to repay my debt to him below the earth." With that he advanced and fought desperately, wounded several men, and killed himself. Because of this, Takasada was able to get away (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). At nightfall Tokiuji encamped at Minatogawa, but Moroyoshi alone, with twelve horsemen, pressed the pursuit through the night and at dawn reached the Kakogawa in Harima. Takasada's younger brother Rokurō called himself Takasada, and with six of his followers turned back and fought, and was killed in battle. As Moroyoshi pressed on, another younger brother of Takasada, whose name is not given, with three men, likewise died in battle (Note: the name of Takasada's younger brother follows the Tenshō-bon). Takasada at last broke away and reached Izumo. On the following day Tokiuji and the others arrived and proclaimed throughout the province: "Takasada is a rebel. Whoever kills him will receive an extraordinary reward." As a result even his own kin harbored suspicions and plotted to kill him. Takasada dispersed the mounted men who had followed him, reconnoitered strongholds, and fled to Sagifu-yama with only Kimura Kanetsuna (Note: Kanetsuna's name follows the Tenshō-bon). When he reached the district of Shinji, a common soldier came and said, "The young lord has already been killed by the pursuers," and as soon as he had spoken, he killed himself. Takasada then cursed: "Old Moronao, I will surely repay you for this," and cut his belly and died. Kanetsuna cut off his head and buried it in the mud, then slit his own belly and died embracing Takasada's body. Tokiuji's men followed the traces, found Takasada's head, and sent it to the capital (Note: following the Taiheiki). Takasada had two sons, who had fled with their mother. The elder died with his mother at Kageyama. Hachiman Rokurō sought out the younger son and secretly entrusted him to a monk by the roadside, who took him as far as Izumo. When he grew up he excelled at archery and horsemanship and served Sasaki Ujiyori, and the men of his clan called him Izumo-dono, Lord of Izumo (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki. Also, the Sasaki Keizu says that Takasada had five sons and lists their names, but this is doubtful and is not adopted here).

Sasaki Takauji

¶Sasaki Takauji was a man of Ōmi and a great-great-grandson of Nobutsuna, Ōmi-no-kami. His great-grandfather Ujinobu took the name Kyōgoku and served as Tsushima-no-kami, Ōmi-no-kami, and Kebiishi. His grandfather Mitsunobu was Sado-no-kami. His father Munenji served as Kebiishi and Sado-no-kami. Takauji was styled Shirō, and became Sawa-no-kami and Kebiishi. When Hōjō Takatoki shaved his head, Takauji followed him and likewise took Buddhist vows, taking the name Dōyo (Note: consulted the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Sasaki Keizu). When Takatoki banished the Emperor's carriage to Oki, Takauji escorted it together with Chiba Sadatane and others and then returned. At this time he was also ordered to put Chūnagon Minamoto-no-Tomoyuki to death at Kashiwabara. Seeing that Takatoki's debauchery grew worse by the day, Takauji secretly urged Ashikaga Takauji to attack him, and in the end followed Takauji and came over to his side (Note: following the Taiheiki). When Takauji went east to attack Hōjō Tokiyuki, Takauji (Sasaki) served as vanguard. As the Imperial army won victory after victory, Tokiyuki's troops withdrew and made a stand at Hakone. Leading five hundred of his own men, together with Akamatsu Sadanori, he advanced straight on and defeated them (Note: consulted the Tenshō-bon and the Mōri-ke-bon Taiheiki). The enemy withdrew further, crossed the Sagamigawa, and waited across the river. There happened to be a sudden downpour and the river had risen (Note: following the Taiheiki). Takauji looked on and said, "To wade the river and cross first is the duty of my house from generation to generation." With his younger brother Tokimitsu and a dozen or so horsemen he swam across, fighting as he went (Note: Tokimitsu's name follows the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Takauji cut down two men with his own hand and finally reached the east bank. The other armies followed across, wheeled round behind the enemy, raised a shout from east and west, and defeated them utterly (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). When Ashikaga Takauji rebelled and the Imperial army came to attack him, Ashikaga Tadayoshi asked to go out and meet it, but Takauji publicly refused to listen. Takauji (Sasaki) therefore, together with Uesugi Norifusa and Hosokawa Kazuuji, urged Tadayoshi to take the field. At the Yahagigawa he crossed the river with Kira Mitsuyoshi, Toki Yoritō and others and fought to the death. But before long the generals were at a disadvantage, withdrew and fought at Sagisaka, were beaten again, and fought at Tegoshi. Takauji received several wounds; his younger brother Sadamitsu fell in battle (Note: Sadamitsu's name follows the Sonpi Bunmyaku), and he lost almost all his followers, so he feigned surrender to the Imperial army (Note: the feigned surrender follows the Saigen-in-bon). As his scattered troops gradually assembled, he slipped away on his own and made for Kamakura. When Ashikaga Takauji advanced to Takenoshita, Sasaki Takauji followed him and, together with Ashikaga Takatsune and others, was the first to press in and greatly defeated the Imperial army (Note: following the Taiheiki). Afterward, when the Emperor's carriage again went to Enryaku-ji, Ogasawara Sadamune led troops into Ōmi, won battle after battle, and came to hold command over Ōmi. Takauji petitioned Ashikaga Takauji: "My house has held the post of Shugo of Ōmi by inheritance for generations. If Ōmi is now granted to Sadamune, I shall have no face before others. If the home province is granted to me, I shall first sweep the whole province clean and cut the grain route to Sakamoto, and starve the enemy out." Takauji granted this. Sasaki Takauji then went by way of Wakasa into Ōmi (Note: following the Baishōron and the various variant texts of the Taiheiki. Also, the current text of the Taiheiki says that Takauji feigned surrender, petitioned the court, and obtained the post of Shugo of Ōmi, and that when he reached Ōmi he further deceived Sadamune and took the post from him; but as the variant texts agree with the Baishōron, that account is followed here). He pitched camp at Mikamiyama, seized the estates of Enryaku-ji and of the shrines within the province and divided them among his retainers, calling them ryōsho, lands for provisioning. The establishment of ryōsho by the warriors of the various provinces began from this. As a result, all those in the province with ties to the Imperial side scattered (Note: following the various variant texts of the Taiheiki). When Wakiya Yoshisuke attacked, Takauji met him with three thousand troops at Shina-no-watashi. When the Imperial army was half across, most of the boats ran aground on the sand and could not move. Takauji loosed his troops and shattered them. In time the Imperial army's provisions ran ever shorter, its soldiers deserted daily, and it could hold out no longer. When Minamoto-no-Akiie, Chinjufu Taishōgun, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacification Office, marched west with his army, Takauji, together with Kō no Moroyasu and others, met him at the Kurojigawa. Akiie did not give battle but fled south. In the third year of Shōhei (1348), he followed Kō no Moronao in the second attack on Kusunoki Masatsura at Shijōnawate, and with more than a thousand troops encamped on the southern foot of Mount Ikoma. Masatsura had fought the punitive army several times, but Takauji judged: "When the enemy is worn out, he will surely turn on Moronao's army. Let him advance, and we shall strike from behind." Presently, as Masatsura's rear force attacked the Kobata Ikki, and the battle was at its height, Takauji loosed his troops down the mountain, struck them, and defeated them utterly, and Masatsura at last fell in battle (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the fifth year of Shōhei (1350), when Ashikaga Takauji went west to attack his son Tadafuyu, Sasaki Takauji followed Ashikaga Yoshiakira and guarded the capital. At this time Ashikaga Tadayoshi turned against Takauji and fled south, then took the field at Otokoyama and had Momonoi Naotsune camp on Enryaku-ji, intending to attack. Sasaki Takauji followed Yoshiakira west (Note: consulted the Taiheiki and the Entairyaku). On the road he met Ashikaga Takauji, and they joined forces, turned back and attacked Tadayoshi. Sasaki Takauji with some seven hundred troops, with banners furled and cap-badges rolled up, lay in ambush at Nakaraji-san. Naotsune, together with Nikki Yoriaki, Hosokawa Kiyouji and others, fought at the Shijō riverbank, and withdrew without a decision. Seeing this, Takauji came down the mountain and struck at their rear, and Naotsune at last fled. The next day, when Ashikaga Takauji went west, Sasaki Takauji followed him. When Ashikaga Takauji made peace with Tadayoshi, Sasaki Takauji again followed and returned to the capital (Note: the return to the capital follows the Tōji Chōja Bunin). Before long Ashikaga Takauji and Tadayoshi were outwardly reconciled but inwardly mistrusted each other, and the generals too divided into factions and each returned to his own province; Sasaki Takauji likewise returned to Ōmi. When Tadayoshi fled north and reached Tsuruga, Ashikaga Takauji set out to attack him in person and advanced as far as Kagami-no-eki, and Sasaki Takauji, together with his sons Hidetsuna and Takahide, joined him with three thousand troops (Note: following the Taiheiki. Takahide's name follows the Tenshō-bon). Tadayoshi sent troops to camp at Hassōzan to block Takauji. Sasaki Takauji, together with Toki Mikawa-no-kami, advanced straight on through danger. When the enemy wavered, he fought hard and defeated them utterly. When Ashikaga Takauji moved his camp forward to Hassōzan, Tokimitsu and Shibukawa Naoyori held Kannonji Castle. At that moment Takayama Iyo-no-kami and Kōzuke Sakyō-no-suke, both of Tadayoshi's party, together occupied Kagamiyama, and Sasaki Nobuakira brought troops to join them, so that their strength grew great. When Tokimitsu sent word of the emergency, Ashikaga Takauji sent Sasaki Takauji to the rescue. Takauji reached Funaokayama and fought Nobuakira, was badly beaten and fled. The enemy pursued hard, and he was about to kill himself, but Shida Hideshige, a soldier of his kinsman Kaji Buzen Jirō, stopped him, advanced and fought and died in battle; only then was Takauji able to get away, and he shut himself up in Yao Castle. Naoyori and Tokimitsu at last abandoned Kannonji Castle and went to Ashikaga Takauji's camp, and the enemy's strength grew greater still. Soon afterward Tadayoshi fled to Kamakura and both armies withdrew their troops (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). Ashikaga Takauji returned to the capital and devised a plan to feign submission to Yoshino. Sasaki Takauji, together with Akamatsu Sokuyū, approved of this plan (Note: following the Entairyaku). When Ashikaga Takauji led his troops east and made a thorough punitive campaign against Tadayoshi, he had Sasaki Takauji follow Yoshiakira and guard the capital. In the seventh year of Shōhei (1352), when the Imperial army attacked and Yoshiakira was defeated, Sasaki Takauji followed him in flight to Musa-ji. Soon he followed in the attack on Otokoyama and took it. In this battle the fighting of Yamana Moroyoshi was the most conspicuous, and he repeatedly visited Takauji to ask him to present a request for reward to Yoshiakira. But Takauji was by nature sly and cunning, always envied and undermined those above him, and was fond of slander. Envying Moroyoshi's achievement, he repeatedly used renga gatherings and tea gatherings as excuses to avoid meeting him, and kept him waiting until evening. Moroyoshi was greatly angered and, together with his father Tokiuji, raised troops and turned against Yoshiakira (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). In the fourteenth year of Shōhei (1359), Takauji followed Yoshiakira in attacking Yoshino. At this time Nikki Yoshinaga was serving as shitsuji, and Hatakeyama Kunikiyo plotted with the generals to kill him. Takauji had long hated Yoshinaga's monopoly of power and secretly took part in the scheme. When Kunikiyo and the generals entered from Settsu and were about to attack Yoshinaga, Yoshinaga gathered his troops to guard Yoshiakira's residence and cut off entry and exit. That night Takauji entered by a side gate, met Yoshiakira, and said: "Yoshinaga is hated by everyone. How could the Shogun go on shielding him forever? Yet the generals too are often willful, and I cannot fathom their true intentions. For the moment it would be best to slip out secretly and watch the situation. I have already had a horse made ready at the north gate. Please mount it and escape. I shall now go to Yoshinaga and talk with him, so that nothing is noticed." Leading a hundred or so troops, he went openly to Yoshinaga, and while he took his time over the business, Yoshiakira was able to escape. Yoshinaga at last fled to Ise and surrendered to the Yoshino side. After Yoshinaga's fall, Hosokawa Kiyouji became shitsuji. Once, when Yoshiakira was attacking the Southern Court and was stationed at Amagasaki, many of his close attendants complained that Akamatsu Mitsunori, Shugo of Settsu, was neglectful in providing supplies. Takauji therefore petitioned Yoshiakira, deprived Mitsunori of the post, and took it himself in addition to his own. Yoshiakira granted this. Kiyouji held that Takauji's conduct was improper and repeatedly asked that Mitsunori be reinstated, but was not heeded. The old Tongū at Fukuoka in Bizen had been the holding of Tōkō (Note: Tōkō's name follows the Konshō-in), but his lands were cut because of his implication in an incident. Akamatsu Sokuyū petitioned for them and obtained them. Tōkō later served Kiyouji and performed distinguished service in battle. Kiyouji petitioned Yoshiakira to have his old lands restored, and Yoshiakira granted this. But Sokuyū was Takauji's son-in-law, and relying on his power refused to obey the order. When Togashi Takaie, Shugo of Kaga, died, his son Takedōmaru was still a child, and Takauji tried to take the post of Shugo from him and give it to his son-in-law Shiba Ujiyori, but Kiyouji would not allow it. After a petition to Yoshiakira, Takedōmaru was kept as Shugo. Takauji was indignant at being repeatedly blocked by Kiyouji and thought of revenge. It happened that Yoshiakira ordered Kiyouji to hold a seven-hundred-round uta-awase poetry contest at his residence on the Tanabata festival. Kiyouji was overjoyed and prepared it with all his heart. When Takauji heard of this, he set up seven places within his own residence, served seven courses, prepared seven hundred prizes, added seventy bowls of honpi-cha tea, and invited Yoshiakira. Yoshiakira instead went to Takauji's residence and drank there, and Kiyouji was greatly incensed. At this time Kiyouji had his two sons put on their coming-of-age caps at the Hachiman Shrine; and since the Hachiman Shrine was the ancestral shrine of the Minamoto, Yoshiakira began to suspect that Kiyouji harbored disloyal intentions. Takauji learned of this and saw his chance. Just then a dubious monk named Shiichi came from Kamakura and visited Takauji several times. When Takauji asked, "From what donors have you recently received alms?" Shiichi replied: "The Sagami-no-kami (Kiyouji) made a certain prayer, entrusted a written vow to me, and gave me a hundred thousand coins as alms, which has for a time covered my traveling expenses." Takauji forcibly demanded the written vow and asked a certain Ise to show it to Yoshiakira. Ise, finding in the vow words to the effect that "Yoshiakira has died, Motouji has perished, and the realm has already been won," suspected that it was not Kiyouji's writing, and hid it without passing it on. Just when Yoshiakira fell ill, Takauji went to visit him and said: "Do you know that Kiyouji is cursing the Shogun?" When Yoshiakira said he did not, Takauji summoned Ise and had him produce the vow. Yoshiakira was greatly alarmed and ordered prayers of exorcism, gejō, to avert the harm (Note: the exorcism follows the Tenshō-bon). He reasoned that Kiyouji must have deposited a vow at the Hachiman Shrine and had the shrine officials asked; and indeed the vow was found, and its wording was exactly the same as that given to Shiichi. Yet even at the time everyone doubted that it was in Kiyouji's own hand. From then on Yoshiakira consulted daily with Takauji about putting Kiyouji to death. Fearing that disaster would reach himself, Takauji suddenly claimed to be ill and went to the hot springs of Arima. A few days later Yoshiakira at last sent out troops and pitched camp at Imakumano. Kiyouji submitted (to Yoshiakira), and led the Imperial army to attack Yoshiakira. Takauji fled to Ōmi with Yoshiakira. On leaving, Takauji had his residence swept clean, set out famous calligraphy and paintings, rare furnishings, wine and food, and left two monks to keep the house, telling them to entertain whoever came. Presently Kusunoki Masanori halted his troops before the gate of the residence, and the monk at the gate came out to greet him and said: "Takauji has respectfully prepared wine and meat. Please use them to reward your followers." Masanori was greatly pleased. Kiyouji wished to burn down the residence, but Masanori restrained him, accepted only the wine and meat, one suit of armor and one sword, and went away. People said that Takauji's skill was admirable, and that in this affair he had as good as won a bet and taken Masanori's sword and armor. Takauji soon returned to the capital in Yoshiakira's train. After Kiyouji's fall, Ashikaga Takatsune took charge of the government, but Takauji again opposed Takatsune at every turn, and in the end, together with Sasaki Ujiyori, Akamatsu Sokuyū and others, devised false slanders and brought him down. Takatsune fled north to Echizen, and Yoshiakira sent troops in pursuit. Takatsune died while under siege. It would seem that throughout Yoshiakira's time the turmoil never ceased, and all of it began with Takauji. Yet Takauji always dodged skillfully and in the end escaped calamity. Now when Ashikaga Takauji first raised his troops, most of the generals watched the situation and found it easy to change sides. But Sasaki Takauji's house followed Ashikaga Takauji single-mindedly, never wavering from beginning to end, and many of its sons and younger brothers gave their lives for him. From the time he led Ashikaga Takauji to plan the overthrow of the Hōjō, he never failed to take part in the campaigns east and west, was rich in strategy and versed in the art of war, and his achievements were the greatest. He therefore enjoyed deep favor, and no one of the age was his equal. When Yoshiakira was appointed Seii Shōgun, following the precedent in which Minamoto-no-Yoritomo had Miura Yoshizumi receive the shogunal decree at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, a man of a house of generations of loyalty was chosen as envoy to receive the decree, and Takauji's grandson Hideaki was assigned; everyone regarded this as an honor. But Takauji, trusting in his merit, became overbearing and had no scruples. The warriors of the time seized other men's fields at will, squeezed the peasants, trampled the court nobles, and vied in honoring extravagance; from the time of Kō no Moronao onward, Takauji was foremost among them. Once he went hawking all over the province and came out to the western suburbs. On the way back he ordered his followers to cut a branch from the maple tree at Myōhō-in. The Abbot, Imperial Prince Ryōshō, sent a man to scold and stop them, but the followers insulted him grossly and broke off an even thicker branch. The monks on night duty beat them and drove them away. Takauji was enraged and said, "To think that a mere abbot has shamed my men!" and that same night, with his son Hidetsuna, led three hundred men and set fire to Myōhō-in and burned it. The people of the temple were thrown into confusion, and were all seized and cut down or wounded (Note: the cutting down and wounding follows the Tenshō-bon). The Imperial Prince fled barefoot and barely escaped; his disciple Imperial Prince Ryōnin hid under a bed, but Hidetsuna dragged him out and beat him (Note: the names Ryōshō and Ryōnin follow the various Monzeki genealogies. Also, a variant text of the Taiheiki says that Hidetsuna killed Ryōnin, but the Kōin Shōunroku and the various Monzeki genealogies all say that he died young, and which is correct is not known). Enryaku-ji brought the matter before the Kōmyō-in and also appealed to Ashikaga Takauji, demanding severe punishment of Takauji and his son. The Kōmyō-in privately wished to grant the appeal, but as the court nobles had no authority to judge the case, he ordered Ashikaga Takauji to deliberate on the offense. But Ashikaga Takauji and Tadayoshi left it alone and did not take it up. In the following year the monks of Enryaku-ji plotted to carry the Hie portable shrine into the palace. Ashikaga Takauji had no choice but to report that Sasaki Takauji's death sentence be reduced by one degree to exile in Yamabe District, Kazusa Province (Note: the Tenshō-bon gives Musa District). Takauji, saying that the god of Hie loved monkeys, had more than three hundred retainers make their hip-guards and quivers entirely of monkey skin at his departure, and each carry a caged warbler, and had them see him off as far as the Kokubun-ji in Ōmi. At every stop he held a grand banquet of song, dance, and music. Soon he was pardoned and returned, and again held tea gatherings one after another with sixty-three wealthy people of the capital. Leaning on chairs draped in brocade, seated on tiger and leopard skins, with five-foot-square trays heaped with fruits of every color, it was like the table of a hōjō abbot. After three rounds of wine they held tōcha tea-tasting contests, each putting up a hundred sets of stakes, and gold, incense, clothing, textiles, small suits of armor, swords, and the like were piled up like mountains, and actors and courtesans were let loose to take them. They also played go, staking several thousand kan on a single game (Note: following the Taiheiki). In Takauji's house the candle drippings burned each night were enough alone to pay the stipends of the monks at the gate (Note: following the Kikei Nichiroku). Afterward he withdrew to Ōmi and lived in retirement (Note: following the Jōraku-ki). He died in the second year of Bunchū (1373), at the age of sixty-eight (Note: consulted the Sasaki Keizu, the Go-Shinkōin Kanpaku-ki, the Kaei Sandai-ki, and the Jōraku-ki. The age of sixty-eight follows the Keizu). His sons were Hidetsuna, Hidesada (Note: Sada is also written Mune, but the Taiheiki is followed here), and Takahide (Note: following the Sasaki Keizu). Hidetsuna was appointed Kebiishi, Saemon-no-jō, and Ōmi-no-kami, was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower, and became Samurai-dokoro Bettō, Chief of the Board of Retainers (Note: following the Sasaki Keizu and the Taiheiki. Saemon-no-jō follows the Keizu). In the eighth year of Shōhei (1353), when Yamana Tokiuji attacked Yoshiakira and the Retired Emperor Go-Kōgon went on progress to Higashi-Sakamoto, Yoshiakira had Hidetsuna act as escort. When Yoshiakira was afterward defeated in battle, he took the Retired Emperor Go-Kōgon to Mino. Hidetsuna guarded the rear. Horiguchi Sadasuke of the Imperial side led the men of the district of Katata to meet him; but because Hidetsuna had once burned Myōhō-in, the village soldiers of Mano-no-ura, seeing him, said, "Here is the enemy of the Sanmon, the Mountain Monastery," and hid in the hills and marshes and shot at random. Hidetsuna at last fell in battle (Note: following the Taiheiki). Hidesada was styled Shirō Saemon. In the third year of Shōhei (1348), he followed Kō no Moronao and was killed in battle at Mizukoshi in Yamato (Note: consulted the Jōraku-ki and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Takahide was styled Gorō Saemon. As his two elder brothers had died before him, Takahide succeeded to Takauji's position, was appointed Jibu-no-shō, Noto-no-kami, and Daizen-no-daibu, and was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Sasaki Keizu). He became Samurai-dokoro Bettō (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Kaei Sandai-ki). In the winter of the eighth year of Genchū (1391) he was killed in battle at Katata (Note: consulted the Jōraku-ki and the Sasaki Keizu). Hidetsuna's son Hideaki was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower, and was appointed Kebiishi and Saemon-no-jō (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku), and was called Ōmi Hōgan. Hideaki's younger brother Ujiaki was styled Jirō Saemon. In the Shōhei years, when Takauji replaced Akamatsu Mitsunori as Shugo of Settsu, he sent Hideaki and Ujiaki to guard it. When Kusunoki Masanori and Wada Masatake attacked, Hideaki and Ujiaki led more than a thousand troops and prepared to hold Kanzaki Bridge against them. The Shugo-dai, deputy governor, Yoshida Gengaku, spoke eagerly: "The former Shugo was a coward and so was often invaded. That is why you have taken his place to pacify the province. But today the Southern Court army has come as if seeking death; why should we imitate the former Shugo's ways? We should push straight in, fight, and annihilate them." Hideaki and Ujiaki approved and advanced with their troops. On the road they met a herd-boy, who told them: "About five hundred men of the Wada army are just now crossing Watanabe Bridge." Gengaku laughed and said, "Even if the Kusunoki forces cross the river, we shall simply smash them all together," and watered his horses and rested. Masanori learned of this from his spies and sent several men to shout: "The enemy is coming from the west; why are you not guarding Kanzaki Bridge?" Hideaki and Ujiaki accordingly turned their army back and went west, but both sides of the road were all mud and marsh, and ambushers shot arrows down on them like rain from left and right. The army fell into disorder, and as it tried to reach level ground, the Imperial forces loosed their troops and pressed upon it, and our army collapsed completely. Gengaku crossed the bridge first, removed the planks, and fled, so that Hideaki and Ujiaki, who caught up behind him, could not cross, and turned back, fought, and died (Note: following the Taiheiki). Gengaku afterward plotted to put a son of Hideaki, whose name is not given, in place of Takahide, but Takahide perceived this and killed Gengaku (Note: following the Gogu-mai-ki).

Sasaki Ujiyori

¶Sasaki Ujiyori was of the same clan as Takauji, and his brother. His great-grandfather Yasutsuna served as Saemon-no-jō and Kebiishi (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku), and concurrently as Iki-no-kami (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His father Tokinobu served as Saemon-no-jō and Kebiishi, and took the name Rokkaku (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In the Genkō disturbance he followed Hōjō Tokimasu and others and repeatedly held off the Imperial army. When Rokuhara fell, he surrendered to Ashikaga Takauji (Note: following the Taiheiki). Ujiyori was appointed Shugo of Ōmi (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Gogu-mai-ki) and became a Kebiishi (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). When Takauji rebelled, Ujiyori was still young, but he held Kannonji Castle and responded to him. When he grew up, he always followed Takauji and won distinction in battle. In the Shōhei years, when Takauji opened hostilities with his younger brother Tadayoshi, Ujiyori took a neutral position and joined neither side, withdrew to the foot of Nishiyama, shaved his head, and changed his name to Sūei; because his son Yoshinobu was still young, he ordered his younger brother Nobuakira to discharge the duties of Shugo in his place (Note: following the Taiheiki. Also consulted the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). Afterward, Ashikaga Tadafuyu, Ashikaga Takatsune, and others attacked Takauji in the capital. Ujiyori responded on Takauji's side and, together with Hosokawa Kiyouji and others, fought in defense. Kiyouji was wounded and the army was all but defeated, but Ujiyori fought hard and in the end broke Takatsune and put him to flight. Soon afterward he followed Ashikaga Yoshiakira in attacking Yoshino and took Hiraishi Castle. When the army withdrew, Hatakeyama Kunikiyo raised troops to attack Nikki Yoshinaga. Ujiyori had earlier received from Yoshiakira, as reward for destroying the Takayama house, all its former lands, but Yoshinaga claimed these as his own former lands and took them by force. Ujiyori resented this, and for that reason made common cause with Kunikiyo. When Yoshinaga fled to Ise, his uncle Yoshizumi led two thousand troops and occupied Katsuragiyama in Ōmi, intending to attack Ichihara Castle. Ujiyori, with three hundred troops, drew up three lines along the river and waited. Yoshizumi, despising Ujiyori's small numbers, loosed his troops to advance in a race. Ujiyori met them, defeated them utterly, killed or captured more than fifty officers and men, and sent their heads to the capital. Yoshizumi surrendered (Note: following the Taiheiki). On one occasion the monks of Enryaku-ji carried the Hie portable shrine into the capital to accuse Myōha, a monk of Nanzen-ji. The Retired Emperor Go-Kōgon ordered Ujiyori and his kinsman Kuroda Takamitsu (Note: that he was a kinsman follows the Sonpi Bunmyaku) to guard the east gate and the north gate respectively. The monks broke through the north gate and forced their way into the palace. Toki Naoujii and others, fearing the divine power, would not advance and fight, but Ujiyori fought hard and drove them back, killing or wounding several tens. The Retired Emperor Go-Kōgon bestowed on him a letter in his own hand in praise (Note: following the Gogu-mai-ki and the Kaei Sandai-ki. Also consulted the Hie Shinyo Nyūraku-ki and the Zoku Shōbōron). He died in the first year of Kentoku (1370) (Note: following the Sasaki Keizu, the Jōraku-ki, and the Gidō Nikkushū. The Kaei Sandai-ki gives the third year of Tenju (1377), which is an error). He was forty-five years old (Note: following the Gidō Nikkushū. The Sasaki Keizu gives thirty-five). His sons were Yoshinobu and Mitsutaka. Yoshinobu died young. Mitsutaka became Saemon-no-jō and Bitchū-no-kami, and was also a Kebiishi. Ujiyori's younger brother Nobuakira (Note: Sadaakira in the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki is an error) took the name Yamauchi, became Saemon-no-jō, and was also a Kebiishi (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Sasaki Keizu). When Ashikaga Takauji and Tadayoshi came to blows, Nobuakira sided with Tadayoshi, attacked and seized Kannonji Castle, and his military strength greatly increased (Note: following the Tenshō-bon Taiheiki). When Tadayoshi then made peace with Takauji and returned to Kamakura, Nobuakira and the others also withdrew their troops and each returned to his own province. When Tadayoshi died, he attached himself to Ashikaga Yoshiakira (Note: following the Taiheiki).

Hosokawa Yoriyuki

¶Hosokawa Yoriyuki was styled Yakurō and was a son of Yoriharu. By character he was upright and rich in strategy, and fond of reading and of composing poetry. He became Uma-no-kami, Director of the Right Stables, and was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Hosokawa Kafu, the Taiheiki, and the Hosokawa Yoriyuki-ki). He was constantly with Ashikaga Takauji in the field. He then went to Bitchū and pacified the San'yō region. In the seventeenth year of Shōhei (1362), Hosokawa Kiyouji turned against Ashikaga Yoshiakira, took Shiromine Castle in Sanuki, and responded to the Imperial army. Yoriyuki led more than six hundred troops to attack him and pitched camp at Utazu (Note: the six hundred troops come from variant texts). Fearing that Kiyouji might strike by surprise, he sent his own mother to deceive Kiyouji, saying: "The Shogun (Yoshiakira) was misled by the words of petty men and drove you to the act you have committed today. I understand well that it was done out of necessity. But ever since the late Sadaijin (Takauji), the Nikki and Hosokawa houses have been his right and left arms and have been held in deep regard. If you now suddenly cast aside your own kin and your achievements and set out to make war, what will the people of the realm and of later ages say of you? If you change your mind and submit, your domains and everything else will be left as before. I will vouch for you. But if you are determined to make trouble and to fulfill your ambitions in the realm, that is no concern of mine. I will simply withdraw for the time being to Bitchū and avoid your sharp edge." Kiyouji was considerably moved by this, and the exchange of replies went on for days. In the meantime the walls were finished and the troops had gathered, and Yoriyuki finally broke off all negotiation. They faced each other for several months. When he judged that Kiyouji's provisions were running lower by the day and his position was growing desperate, he ordered his officer Shinkai Sanetsura to make a feint of attacking Nishi-Nagao Castle, setting fire to farmhouses on the way to lure Kiyouji's army out. As expected, Kiyouji divided his troops and sent them to relieve it. Sanetsura set up a position and faced them, then by night took a short road back to Shiromine. Yoriyuki, leading his own troops, joined him, attacked from both sides, took the castle, and in the end cut down Kiyouji. The commander of Nishi-Nagao Castle, left without support, also abandoned the castle and fled. Yoriyuki remained in Sanuki, won over and unified Shikoku, and many came over from the Chūgoku region as well (Note: following the Taiheiki). In the twenty-second year of Shōhei (1367), Yoshiakira fell ill and wished his son Yoshimitsu to take charge of government, but feared that Yoshimitsu was still too young to bear so heavy a responsibility, and carefully chose a guardian. Ashikaga Motouji recommended Yoriyuki as shitsuji, and the people of the time congratulated themselves on having found the right man (Note: consulted the Gogu-mai-ki, the Hosokawa Kafu, the Hosokawa Yoriyuki-ki, and the Taiheiki). On his deathbed Yoshiakira said to Yoriyuki, "I entrust to you my two children (Yoshimitsu and the shogunate). I beg you to exert yourself in assisting them," and said to Yoshimitsu, "I leave you one father (Yoriyuki). You must respectfully never go against his teaching" (Note: following the Hosokawa Kafu). Yoriyuki therefore thought deeply on his duty of guidance, labored morning and evening, and forgot even to eat and sleep. He chose gentlemen of pure learning and conduct who were also skilled in arms to serve as Yoshimitsu's teachers and companions, and had them speak to him daily of the good way. Even among those who lived in seclusion, if one could be of help to Yoshimitsu, he would without fail earnestly recommend him (Note: consulted the Hosokawa Yoriyuki-ki, the Garun Nikkenroku, and the Kūge-shū). He also wrote with his own hand a code of five admonitions and distributed it widely to the people of the time. "First: beware of flattering the lord to win his favor. Second: beware of exposing the secrets of those close to you and slandering those distant from you, and of being fond of falsely accusing the houses of one's enemies. Third: beware of not regarding the unworthy as evil, of discussing the rights and wrongs of men according to love and hate, and also of those who are gentle outwardly but harsh within and seek to harm others, those who appear detached outwardly but are greedy within, and those who are willful, arrogant, and do not follow propriety. Fourth: beware of seeking rewards without merit, of coveting stipends without talent, and of putting private gain before the public good. Fifth: beware of taking a colleague's achievement in order to seek one's own promotion, of accepting bribes, and of recklessly recommending the untalented. Whoever violates these rules, whatever his rank or whether close or distant, may be denounced by others; and whoever denounces him will be richly rewarded." He wrote these down and gave them to Yoshimitsu's teachers and companions as a standard for judging men, and had them watch the words and conduct of others. Yoriyuki was still troubled that the habit of crooked and wicked conduct did not cease, and so had six men with shaven heads put on ceremonial dress, wear strange hoods and long swords, and mingle familiarly with Yoshimitsu and the generals and officers, to humor them with jests, song, and dance. He called these men dōbō, "boy-monks," and also kanbō, "wicked monks." If any among the officials and gentlemen behaved in a similar way, Yoriyuki would secretly ask a close associate to send these dōbō and have them shame the man before everyone. The officials were often ashamed of this and many mended their conduct, and the habit of flattery was greatly reformed (Note: following the Hosokawa Yoriyuki-ki). When Yoshimitsu came of age and put on the cap, Yoriyuki served as the capping officer. On that day Yoriyuki was appointed Musashi-no-kami (Note: following the Kaei Sandai-ki).

¶In the second year of Kentoku (1371), Yoshimitsu wished to send Kusunoki Masanori back to Kawachi to attack Yoshino. Yoriyuki asked to dispatch troops from the various provinces in support. But the generals thought: "Masanori could not even hold Kawachi and fled here; how much less will advancing toward the Southern Court bring any gain." Yoshimitsu followed the generals' opinion. Yoriyuki, ashamed that his counsel had not been adopted, asked to resign, withdrew to Saihō-ji at Nishiyama, and lived in seclusion. Yoshimitsu went in person, raised him up, and had his adopted son Yorimoto lead troops to support Masanori. The armies repeatedly defeated the court's forces, and it is said that the return of the Divine Regalia to the capital came, if traced to its source, from this undertaking (Note: following the Go-Shinkōin Kanpaku-ki. Also consulted the Kaei Sandai-ki. Also, the Hosokawa Yoriyuki-ki says that the people of the time feared and held Yoriyuki in awe even more than Yoshimitsu, that Yoriyuki was deeply troubled by this and, wishing to restore authority to Yoshimitsu, secretly plotted with him to have himself rebuked in front of an assembly, and so, feigning fear, retired from office and withdrew to Tamba, and that Yoshimitsu sent a man to call him back; but this account is not adopted here). He soon became Sagami-no-kami. Yoshimitsu gradually came to resent Yoriyuki's growing power, and his attendants took advantage of this to set the two apart, so that Yoshimitsu grew more suspicious. In the summer of the fifth year of Tenju (1379), Yoshimitsu dismissed Yoriyuki from office and gave the order to send him back to Sanuki. Yoriyuki deeply lamented how hard it is to remove petty men and that even great achievements are in the end not preserved. On departing he shaved his head and changed his name to Jōkyū. He composed a poem expressing his feelings, to the effect that at fifty he was ashamed to have achieved nothing, that the flowering trees had passed with spring and summer was already half gone, and that once he had swept away the buzzing flies, the slanderers that filled the house, he would rise and seek a Zen couch and lie down in the pure breeze. Yoshimitsu finally meant to send troops to attack him, but thought better of it and stopped (Note: consulted the Hosokawa Keizu and the Kaei Sandai-ki). Presently Yoshimitsu reflected deeply on Yoriyuki's achievements and wished to see him again. When he went on pilgrimage to Itsukushima, he ordered Yoriyuki to prepare ships in Sanuki, stopped on the way to see Yoriyuki, and went together with him to Itsukushima (Note: following the Ashikaga Yoshimitsu Itsukushima-mōde-ki). In the eighth year of Genchū (1391) he at last summoned Yoriyuki back to the capital. Just then a great disturbance broke out in Bingo, and Yoriyuki was sent to pacify it. When the army returned, Yorimoto was made shitsuji, and Yoriyuki was made to take part in decisions. Yoshimitsu's trust in Yoriyuki was as before, and the people of the realm again hoped for his good government (Note: consulted the Tōji Chōja Bunin and the Meitoku-ki). Soon Yamana Ujikiyo and Yamana Mitsuyuki turned against Yoshimitsu and attacked the capital; Yoshimitsu summoned Yoriyuki and the others to a council of war, and had Yoriyuki and Yorimoto and others take position at Uchino to defend. In a great battle Mitsuyuki was routed, and Ujikiyo was also killed in battle. The following year Yoriyuki's illness grew grave, and he had Yorimoto say to Yoshimitsu: "In recent years the Yamana have been overbearing and have often violated the law. I had long wished to remove them before my life ran out, and now, fortunately, they have already been punished. Who in the realm is there who would disobey the Shogun's orders? I shall have no regrets in death. Yet I, a foolish man, have long sullied a weighty office, and have always feared that I could not bear its heavy responsibility. I pray that the Shogun will provide for all matters as he sees fit." When he had finished speaking he died (Note: following the Meitoku-ki). He was then sixty-four years old (Note: following the Hosokawa Keizu. The Jōraku-ki gives sixty-nine). Yoshimitsu had been raised by Yoriyuki from childhood, and as he grew up respected and valued him all the more, and in matters great and small never failed to follow his words. The good government of the early years of Yoshimitsu's rule was all due to Yoriyuki's assistance. When Yoriyuki died, Yoshimitsu was greatly startled and wept aloud, attended the funeral in person, and accompanied the coffin on its way. He also copied Buddhist sutras with his own hand to pray for his repose. Among Yoriyuki's retainers was one called Mishima Geki. He was brave and rich in strategy and also skilled in the martial arts. Yoriyuki loved him deeply, raised him up and consulted with him on affairs, and treated him with the courtesy due a guest and friend. Mishima was deeply moved by this kindness, and when Yoriyuki died, he cut open his belly and followed him in death. So thoroughly had Yoriyuki won men's hearts (Note: following the Meitoku-ki). Yoriyuki had no son of his own (Note: following the Seiwa Genji Keizu. Also, the Sonpi Bunmyaku lists Motoyuki as Yoriyuki's son but gives no account of his career. On the other hand, there is also a Motoyuki among the sons of Mitsuyuki, and his career is given in detail. The Motoyuki given as Yoriyuki's son is therefore probably an error. Hence the present account is followed), and adopted his younger brothers Yorimoto and Mitsuyuki. Yorimoto at first bore the name Yorimoto, written with different characters, became Uma-no-suke and Ukyō-no-daibu, was granted Junior Fourth Rank Upper, and became Yoshimitsu's shitsuji (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He attacked Yoshino and defended against Yamana Ujikiyo, and distinguished himself in both. Yoshimitsu gave him Tamba (Note: consulted the Kaei Sandai-ki and the Meitoku-ki), and his descendants held the office of shitsuji by inheritance for generations. Mitsuyuki became Awa-no-kami and Hyōbu-no-shō, and was made Shugo of Bitchū (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).