Biographies CLV: Rebellious Subjects, Part II

Taira-no-Masakado

¶Taira-no-Masakado was a grandson of Takamochi, Kazusa-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Kazusa, and the third son of Yoshimasa, Chinjufu-shōgun, Commander of the Pacification Headquarters. (Note: the Fusō Ryakki and the Konjaku Monogatari give Yoshimasa as Yoshimochi. In the Shimōsa entry of this work Yoshimochi is made a younger brother of Yoshimasa, which is probably an error.) He was styled Sōma-no-Kojirō. (Note: following the Heishi Keizu.) He was extraordinarily brave and fierce, and above all excelled at riding and archery. In his youth he served the Regent Fujiwara-no-Tadahira and sought his recommendation to become a Kebiishi, Police Commissioner, but Tadahira would not take up the request. Masakado, unable to achieve his aim, was disappointed and filled with resentment. (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki.) He therefore went down to the Kantō and made his home in Toyoda district of Shimōsa province. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.) Leading his followers, he moved back and forth between Hitachi and Shimōsa and made plunder his business. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶At that time his uncle Kunika was Hitachi-no-daijō, Third Official of Hitachi, and Masakado attacked and killed him. (Note: following the Shōmonki and the Jinnō Shōtōki.) There was a man named Minamoto-no-Mamoru, whose three sons, Tasuku, Takashi and Shigeru, were all killed by Masakado. Mamoru lacked the strength to avenge them and lamented and brooded constantly. Masakado's uncle Yoshikane was Shimōsa-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Shimōsa, and he and his nephew Yoshimasa had both taken daughters of Mamoru as wives. Yoshimasa urged Yoshikane to kill Masakado and thus repay the enmity borne by his wife's family. Earlier, Yoshikane had fallen out with Masakado over a marriage arrangement concerning his daughter (Note: following the Shōmonki. The relationship of uncle and nephew follows the Heishi Keizu; this work calls them uncle and younger brother), and they had also quarreled over the fields of Masakado's father Yoshimasa, so that each nursed a grudge against the other. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶In the sixth year of Shōhei (936), Yoshikane attacked Masakado in Hitachi. Sadamori, Sama-no-jō, Third Officer of the Left Stables and a son of Kunika, followed him and joined Yoshikane's forces. Masakado meant to meet them in Niihari district. Taking over a hundred horsemen, he went out to reconnoiter himself and met the enemy on the border of Shimotsuke. Yoshikane's troops numbered several thousand, but Masakado first ordered his foot soldiers to shoot, and they shot dead a dozen or more men and horses. Yoshikane's soldiers lost heart and broke and fled, and Masakado pursued and surrounded them. Presently Masakado thought: "Husband and wife are as closely bound as tiles laid together, yet kinsmen are as distant as reeds. If I kill every one of these men, a bad name will spread far and near." So he opened one corner of the encirclement. Because of this Yoshikane and over a thousand of his men were able to escape. (Note: following the Shōmonki.)

¶The court summoned Masakado, saying that he had attacked others of his own accord and had encroached upon and disturbed the common people, and meant to impose a penalty. Masakado hastened to the capital, explained the circumstances, and was pardoned with a light punishment. (Note: following the Shōmonki and the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶In the seventh year (937), Yoshikane attacked Masakado again, and they fought between Hitachi and Shimōsa. Masakado, believing that some supernatural sign had appeared in the midst of his army, gathered in his troops and withdrew. Yoshikane loosed his soldiers to burn and plunder as they pleased, and the Kurusu-in and the Ikuha-no-mimaya, the imperial stables, in Toyoda district were reduced entirely to ashes. Resenting that he had not been able to seize Masakado, Yoshikane bribed Masakado's son Harumaru to spy out the camp at Ishii, and so learned all of its strong points. In the twelfth month he attacked it by night. Masakado's men did not number ten, but they advanced with glaring eyes and loud shouts, galloping like the wind, and shot dead Taji-no-Yoshitoshi, and Yoshikane's men fled without fighting. From this time Yoshikane's strength was spent and he could not fight again. Sadamori fled to the capital. In the second year of Tengyō (939), Yoshikane died. (Note: following the Shōmonki.)

¶Masakado at length took his stand in Shimōsa. Fujiwara-no-Haruaki of Hitachi scorned and insulted the provincial governor and embezzled official goods. Fujiwara-no-Koretika, Hitachi-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Hitachi, meant to charge him with the offense. Haruaki, frightened, submitted to Masakado. Masakado, relying on Haruaki as a guide, resolved to seize Hitachi (Note: compare the Shōmonki and the Konjaku Monogatari), and set out for Hitachi with over a thousand men. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.) Koretika made his preparations and awaited him. Masakado sent a man to tell Koretika: "If you release Haruaki, I will withdraw my troops at once." Koretika would not listen. Masakado struck down three thousand men, captured Koretika and took him away, seized the provincial seal and storehouse keys, and burned and plundered the markets and streets. (Note: compare the Shōmonki and the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶Okiyo-ō, Musashi-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Musashi, was a violent man who delighted in disorder; he became friendly with Masakado and plotted together with him. Minamoto-no-Tsunemoto, Musashi-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Musashi, fled to the capital and reported the matter to the throne. The court issued an edict calling Masakado to account. Masakado pressed Hitachi, Shimōsa, Shimotsuke, Musashi and Kazusa and obtained written statements (gebumi) from them attesting that he had no intention of rebelling. The court believed this. (Note: chiefly following the Konjaku Monogatari, with reference to the Nihon Kiryaku.)

¶Okiyo-ō urged Masakado: "Even if you had only plundered a single province, your crime would not be forgiven. Better to annex the whole of Bandō and watch how matters stand in the realm." Masakado was greatly pleased. He attacked Fujiwara-no-Hiromasa and others, Shimotsuke-no-kami, Governor of Shimotsuke, and made them receive him and submit. On reaching Kōzuke (Note: following the Shōmonki, the Konjaku Monogatari, the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki), he drove out the assistant governor Fujiwara-no-Naonori, entered the provincial office, and replaced the officials. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari, the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶Then, by chance, a person who claimed to be an envoy of the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman appeared and proclaimed loudly before the people: "I yield the imperial throne to Masakado, a son of noble descent. Welcome him with music." Masakado bowed twice and received this oracle, and the whole army surged with excitement. Masakado styled himself "Shinnō," the New Emperor. His younger brother Masahira remonstrated: "The rise of an emperor lies in the Mandate of Heaven. Elder brother, you ought to consider this most carefully." Masakado would not listen and said: "In this age, the one who wins in battle becomes the Son of Heaven. In the art of the bow and arrow, I am gifted by nature. What have I to fear?" (Note: following the Shōmonki and the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶He then returned to Shimōsa and built a mock palace in Ishii village, Sashima district. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.) He likened Isohashi to Yamazaki of the capital and Ōi-no-tsu to Ōtsu (Note: following the Shōmonki and the Konjaku Monogatari), and appointed ministers and all the civil and military officials below them, except that he could not find anyone fit to be Calendar Doctor. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari and the Fusō Ryakki.) He made his younger brother Masayori Governor of Shimotsuke, Masafumi Governor of Sagami, Masatake Governor of Izu, and Masatame Governor of Shimōsa; Taji-no-Tsuneaki he made Governor of Kōzuke, Okiyo-ō Governor of Kazusa, Fujiwara-no-Harumochi Governor of Hitachi, and Fun'ya-no-Yoshitatsu Governor of Awa. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶The heads of the provinces fled on mere rumor, and people in the world called Masakado "Getō-no-Kiō," the Demon King of the Outer Capital. (Note: following the Heishi Keizu.) Urgent post-station reports came one after another from Shinano and Hitachi, and the court issued official orders to fortify the strategic points of the Tōsandō and the Tōkaidō and to strengthen the garrisons of the neighboring provinces. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku.)

¶Earlier, Masakado had once climbed Mount Hiei, looked down on the capital, and conceived the ambition of seizing the throne. (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki.) It is said that he had also agreed with Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo and promised: "If I take the throne some day, I will make you Kampaku, Chancellor." (Note: following the Ōkagami.) Sumitomo had been plundering between the Nankaidō and the San'yōdō; hearing that Masakado had raised his banner, he too attacked and killed provincial governors and officials and threw the coastal lands into turmoil. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶Masakado sent a letter to the Regent Fujiwara-no-Tadahira, protesting that he had been forced to this undertaking under compulsion. But when the court investigated, it found many discrepancies in his claims. Masakado's letter said: "In earlier years I was called to account on the complaint of Minamoto-no-Mamoru, and I went up to the capital without regard for day or night. By good fortune I received an amnesty and returned to my old holdings. Afterwards Yoshikane came against me with several thousand soldiers. I could not turn my back and flee, and so I fought and held him off. The details are set out in the report submitted from Shimōsa province. Although the court had already issued an official order for the arrest of Yoshikane, it summoned me anew. I was uneasy and did not venture to go up to the capital. Again, this summer Sadamori came to Hitachi bearing an official order to question Masakado, and the provincial governor passed it on. Sadamori was originally a man who had fled to the capital to escape arrest. The court ought to have investigated how matters stood; instead it gave Sadamori an official order that favored him. This is clear proof of piled-up falsehood. Again, Tamenori, son of Fujiwara-no-Koretika, Hitachi-no-suke, relying on his father's influence, injured the people with violence. My retainer Haruaki kept complaining and appealing against it. I went there myself to look into the affair. But Tamenori joined forces with Sadamori and came out to meet me. I resisted and defeated them. This was not my wish; the circumstances arose from necessity. Yet when I consider the matter, having already destroyed a province, I cannot be forgiven under the statutes and ordinances. Even if I destroyed a hundred districts, the crime would be the same. Then it is better, while awaiting the court's deliberations, to take charge of the provinces of Bandō. Masakado is a descendant in the fifth generation of the Kashiwabara Emperor, and if he were to rule half the realm, who could say that was wrong? From of old there have been those who seized the empire by the might of arms, as the histories show. Masakado's martial talent is a gift of Heaven. Yet the court has granted no reward and I have repeatedly been reprimanded. When I look at myself I can only feel shame, and I have no face to show. My only regret is that in my youth I presented my name-card and served Your Highness, and never dreamed that in the days of your regency I should come to such an undertaking. I cannot put into words this grief and resentment." (Note: following the Shōmonki.)

¶In the third year of Tengyō (940), Fujiwara-no-Tadafumi, Sangi and Uemon-no-kami, Consultant and Commander of the Right Gate Guards, was appointed Seitō-taishōgun, Great General Who Subdues the East, to put down the rebels. Troops were raised from the Tōsandō and the Tōkaidō, and a proclamation promised extraordinary rewards to those who performed distinguished service. Masakado made a circuit of Musashi and Sagami, left garrisons behind, and imposed forced labor. Hearing that Sadamori was in Hitachi, he took troops and searched for him, but for a long time could not learn where he was; thinking there was no longer anything to fear, he returned to Shimōsa and disbanded his soldiers. Only about a thousand remained to him. Sadamori learned of this and, together with Fujiwara-no-Hidesato, Shimotsuke-no-ōryōshi, Provincial Constable of Shimotsuke, led troops and fell upon him. Masakado sallied out in haste but was heavily defeated. Sadamori and Hidesato pressed the attack, riding on their victory. Masakado, realizing that his own army was too few to stand against them, meant to lure the two generals into broken ground and meet them there, and withdrew to hold Sashima. (Note: the Fusō Ryakki calls it "Shimahiroyama.") Sadamori and Hidesato set fire to his camp and burned it, and fought a running pursuit on the northern hills of Sashima. Masakado had always chosen eight thousand picked soldiers to guard his person, but on this occasion they had not yet assembled, and he had only a little over four hundred men in hand. Even so, they defended and fought with all their strength, and the government troops flinched for a time. But Sadamori and Hidesato urged on their men and fought hard, and at last broke Masakado's army. Masakado charged alone into the enemy ranks, and Sadamori shot him dead. His head was sent to the capital, and his whole band was put to death to the last man. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari.)

Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo

¶Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo was a great-grandson of Fujiwara-no-Nagara, Gon-no-chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor. His father Yoshinori was Chikuzen-no-kami, Governor of Chikuzen, and Dazai-no-shōni, Junior Vice-Governor-General of Dazaifu. (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku.) Sumitomo was fierce and perverse by nature, and his conduct was unsettled. He became Iyo-no-jō, Third Official of Iyo. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶During the Shōhei era (931-938), bands of robbers arose in great numbers on the Nankaidō and plundered at sea, so that the districts and villages along the coast were thrown into uproar. The court sent Ki-no-Yoshito as Iyo-no-kami, Governor of Iyo, to pacify the pirates. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.) Sumitomo, as a provincial official, also took part in the pursuit. (Note: following the Geki Nikki.) The bandits submitted to Yoshito's authority, and many of them gave allegiance. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶But Sumitomo secretly came to harbor the ambition of rebellion; even when his term ended he did not return to the capital (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Geki Nikki), and made his base on the island of Hiburi-jima. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Zoku Honchō Monzui.) At this time Taira-no-Masakado had built up his power between Hitachi and Shimōsa, and his might shook the neighboring provinces. Sumitomo gathered the remnants of the bandits and answered him, secretly watching for a chance to strike the capital. Night after night he sent men to set fire to the wards and markets, and the city was thrown into disorder. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.) Fujiwara-no-Sanetaka, Bizen-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Bizen, detected his movements and tried to go up to the capital and report them, but Sumitomo pursued and killed him, took his wife and children captive, and also killed Shimada-no-Koremoto, Harima-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Harima. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶In the second year of Tengyō (939), the court issued an official order admonishing Sumitomo and granted him Junior Fifth Rank Lower. But Sumitomo did not reform, and his violence grew ever fiercer. Fujiwara-no-Kunikaze, Sanuki-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Sanuki, attacked him but was defeated instead and fled to Awa. Sumitomo advanced further and burned the provincial office of Sanuki. Kunikaze fled again, to Awaji, gathered valiant soldiers, and returned to Sanuki. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.) Sumitomo seized Iyo and Sanuki and went on to encroach on the lands of the San'yōdō. Arihara-no-Sukeyasu, Sa-emon-no-jō, Third Officer of the Left Gate Guards and a tsuibushi, Pursuit Commissioner, was routed, and Sumitomo burned the Jusenshi, the mint, in Suō and Hata district in Tosa. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku.)

¶The court appointed Ono-no-Yoshifuru, Sakonoe-no-shōshō, Lesser Captain of the Left Palace Guards, as chief of the pursuit commissioners, Minamoto-no-Tsunemoto, Dazai-no-shōni, as deputy, Fujiwara-no-Noriyuki, Uemon-no-jō, Third Officer of the Right Gate Guards, as hangan, and Ōkura-no-Harazane, a sakan, as shukan, and sent them off by separate routes to Harima and Sanuki. More than two hundred warships were built and sent straight for Hiburi-jima. Sumitomo drew up over fifteen hundred ships to meet them. Before the government forces had even arrived, the ringleader Fujiwara-no-Tsunetoshi came over and surrendered. Because Tsunetoshi knew in full the dangers and the easy stretches of sea and land and the lairs of the bandits (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki), Fujiwara-no-Kunikaze took him as guide and pursued the enemy with great force. Sumitomo's army was heavily defeated. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Nihon Kiryaku.) Kunikaze divided his troops to cut the land routes and sent light boats to find out where Sumitomo was hiding, but they met with wind and lost track of him. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶Sumitomo fled to Dazaifu and there regained his strength. The government forces were driven back, and Sumitomo attacked Dazaifu, seized the wealth stored there through the generations, and burned the buildings; the whole jurisdiction trembled. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.) Fujiwara-no-Tadafumi, Sangi and Uemon-no-kami, was appointed Seisei-taishōgun, Great General Who Subdues the West, to command all the armies and put him down, but had not yet set out. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.) Ono-no-Yoshifuru by land, and Fujiwara-no-Noriyuki and Ōkura-no-Harazane by sea, advanced on the harbor of Hakata in Chikuzen and attacked him. Sumitomo's army collapsed; captives and beheadings reached nearly the whole force, and over eight hundred ships were taken. The weakened remnants fled to the sea, and Sumitomo escaped back to Iyo, where Tachibana-no-Tōyasu, a keigo-shi, Guard Envoy, cut him down. His son Jūtamaru, thirteen years old but almost a grown man, had followed his father in his thefts, and was killed at the same time. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku, the Geki Nikki and the Konjaku Monogatari. [According to the Sonpi Bunmyaku, Sumitomo had three sons, Arinobu, Noritoshi and Iōmaru. What became of Arinobu and Noritoshi is not known. Iōmaru may be the Jūtamaru of the Nihon Kiryaku.]) Tōyasu carried the heads of father and son back to the capital and ordered a painter to copy them. The emperor looked upon them. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari.)

Taira-no-Tadatsune

¶Taira-no-Tadatsune (Note: the character "tsune" is also written with other characters of the same reading) was a great-grandson of Takamochi, Kazusa-no-suke, and a grandson of Yoshifumi, Chinjufu-shōgun. Yoshifumi lived at Muraoka in Musashi province and was styled Muraoka-no-Gorō. Tadatsune's father Tadayori was styled Muraoka-no-Jirō. (Note: following the Heishi Keizu.) Tadatsune lived in Shimōsa (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki; the Sakeiki gives Shimotsuke, which is mistaken), was appointed Kazusa-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Kazusa (Note: following the Hyakurenshō, the Fusō Ryakki and the Heishi Keizu; the Hennen Zanpen gives Shimōsa-no-gon-no-suke), was raised to Junior Fifth Rank Lower, and became Musashi-no-ōryōshi, Provincial Constable of Musashi. (Note: following the Heishi Keizu.)

¶Tadatsune's family had lived in the eastern provinces for generations; his kin were many and powerful, and he relied on that strength to act arrogantly (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari). Holding ground across the two provinces of Kazusa and Shimōsa, he paid no tribute and rendered no labor service. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶In the first year of Chōgen (1028) he raised an army and rebelled, and took the provincial office of Kazusa. (Note: following the Shōyūki.) He invaded Awa and burned to death the provincial governor Koretada. (Note: following the Hennen Zanpen. This work omits his surname.) The court sent Taira-no-Naokata, a Kebiishi, Police Commissioner, and others to lead the troops of the two circuits, the Tōkaidō and the Tōsandō, and subdue him. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.) The following year the court sent an official order to the Hokurikudō as well, so that its troops should join those of the two circuits in the campaign. (Note: following the Shōyūki, the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶In the third year (1030), Fujiwara-no-Mitsunari, Awa-no-kami, Governor of Awa, fearing Tadatsune, abandoned his provincial seal and storehouse keys and fled back to the capital. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku; compare the Hennen Zanpen.) Naokata and his colleagues had long failed to achieve any success in arms, so the court issued an edict recalling them (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Hyakurenshō) and replaced them with Minamoto-no-Yorinobu, Kai-no-kami, Governor of Kai. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku; the Hyakurenshō and the Hennen Zanpen place this in the fourth year, which is mistaken.) At this time Tadatsune's kin flaunted their power between Musashi and Kazusa. (Note: following the Heishi Keizu.)

¶In the fourth year (1031), Yorinobu advanced with his army and halted in Hitachi. (Note: "the fourth year" follows the Sakeiki.) Taira-no-Koremoto, Sa-emon-no-jō, Third Officer of the Left Gate Guards, followed him. Between Kazusa and Shimōsa there were great waters, and Tadatsune relied on that strong position to make his defenses firm. Yorinobu sent a man to persuade Tadatsune. Tadatsune said: "I have long heard of your reputation and intended to entrust myself to you and serve you. But Koremoto, who is my enemy, is at your side. I cannot bear to kneel and bow before my enemy." Moreover, just then there were no boats on the great river and crossing was impossible. In the end Tadatsune did not obey Yorinobu's command.

¶Presently Yorinobu led his troops and crossed the river directly. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari. [The Taira-no-Koremoto in question is Koremoto (written with different characters). Koremoto was a grandson of Kunika, and Kunika's son Sadamori had once killed Taira-no-Masakado together with Minamoto-no-Tsunemoto. Yorinobu was a grandson of Tsunemoto, and so joined forces with Koremoto. Tadatsune, for his part, was a cousin's son of Masakado and held Masakado's former lands; for that reason he and Koremoto were enemies from generation to generation. But at present there is no other source to confirm this, and it is added only for reference.]) Tadatsune was thrown into confusion and did not know what to do; he shaved his head, changed his name to Jōan, and together with his two sons Tsunemasa and Tsuneyuki and others presented a letter of surrender and submitted. Yorinobu took Tadatsune back as far as Nogami in Mino province, where Tadatsune died of illness; his head was cut off and carried into the capital. In the court's deliberations, it was held that Tadatsune had already surrendered and that, moreover, the eastern provinces were exhausted, and so the matter was closed without further pursuit. (Note: following the Sakeiki.) Tsunemasa was later appointed Shimōsa-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Governor of Shimōsa, and styled Chiba-no-suke. The two houses of Chiba and Kazusa are both his descendants. (Note: following the Heishi Keizu.)

Abe-no-Yoritoki

¶Abe-no-Yoritoki was first named Yoriyoshi. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) His grandfather Tadayori had lived in Mutsu for generations and was chief of the fushū, the subjugated Emishi. His father Tadayoshi was Mutsu-no-daijō, Third Official of Mutsu. Yoritoki was styled An-no-tayū (Note: following the Andō Keizu), and, inheriting the work of his father and grandfather, grew ever more powerful; he ranged across all of Mutsu plundering the people. The villages all submitted to him, and in the end he became chief of the powerful families of the six districts. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari. [According to the Azuma Kagami, the so-called six districts are Iga, Kaga, Esashi, Hienuki, Shiwa and Iwate.])

¶His territory was bounded on the west by the Shirakawa Barrier and reached on the east to the shore of Sotsu, and the strong position of the Koromo River lay in the middle of it. Yoritoki, relying on the difficult terrain, set up a barrier and called it the Koromo Barrier. Spanning lands by sea and by land, he was rich in wealth. (Note: following the entry for the fifth year of Bunji in the Azuma Kagami.) He paid no tribute and rendered no labor service, and the provincial governors could not restrain him.

¶In the Eishō era (1046-1053), Fujiwara-no-Nariō, Mutsu-no-kami, Governor of Mutsu, sent out several thousand troops against him. He made Taira-no-Shigenari, Akita-jō-no-suke, Assistant of Akita Castle, his vanguard and followed himself behind. Yoritoki led the fushū of the various districts, met them at Onikiribe, and thoroughly defeated them. When this was reported to the court, the court deliberated and decided to make Minamoto-no-Yoriyoshi Mutsu-no-kami and Chinjufu-shōgun to put him down. Just then a general amnesty was proclaimed, and Yoritoki was allowed to repent of his own accord. Yoritoki was greatly pleased and withdrew his troops, and changed his name to the present one (Yoritoki) on the ground that he had offended against the personal name of the provincial governor. (Note: this was because the governor's name Yoriyoshi and Yoritoki's former name Yoriyoshi, though written with different characters, are read the same.)

¶Yoriyoshi, at the end of his term, administered affairs at the Chinjufu. Yoritoki presented him with fine horses, gold, silver and treasures, and also bribed his officers and men generously. When Yoriyoshi was about to return home, Mitsusada and Motosada, sons of Fujiwara-no-Tokisada, Gon-no-kami, followed Yoriyoshi and camped at the Akutogawa. That night, however, someone attacked their camp and killed and wounded men and horses. Yoriyoshi called Mitsusada and asked: "Is there anyone who bears you a grudge in ordinary times?" Mitsusada replied: "Yoritoki's eldest son Sadatō once asked for my younger sister in marriage. I looked down on his family and refused. It was probably his doing." Yoriyoshi ordered Sadatō's arrest.

¶Yoritoki said angrily: "Among men living in this world, there is none who does not think of wife and children. Sadatō is an unworthy son, but how could I stand by in silence and watch him die? Our forces are certainly sufficient to fight. The best course is to close the barrier and await the enemy's attack. If we are defeated and the whole family dies together, I shall have no regret." So he closed the barrier and rebelled once more. Yoriyoshi led his troops against him. Yoritoki's sons-in-law Fujiwara-no-Tsunekiyo and Taira-no-Nagahira had each brought their own followers over to Yoriyoshi, but someone slandered Nagahira to Yoriyoshi, and Yoriyoshi seized and beheaded Nagahira. Tsunekiyo saw this, was filled with suspicion and fear, and led his followers over to Yoritoki. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶Yoriyoshi fell back on the provincial office and held it, and sent Kin-no-Tametoki, Kesen district head, against Yoritoki. Yoritoki ordered his younger brother, the monk Ryōshō, to resist him. Tametoki had somewhat the better of it but had no rear support and withdrew after a single battle. Yoritoki heard that the fushū Abe-no-Tomitada had raised troops and gone over to the government side, and went himself to explain the advantages and disadvantages to him, but fewer than two thousand followed. Tomitada set an ambush in difficult country and met him there. The two armies fought for two days; Yoritoki was struck by a stray arrow, withdrew to Tori-no-umi, and died there. This was in the fifth year of Tenki (1057).

¶Yoritoki had eight sons. The eldest was blind and was called Ido-no. The second son was Sadatō. The second son was Munetō (Note: the source repeats "second son" here; the third is meant), who was styled Tori-no-umi-no-Saburō. Next came the monk Kanshō, styled Sakai-no-kōshi. Next was Masatō, styled Kurosawajiri-no-Gorō. (Note: following the Azuma Kagami. [The Andō Keizu makes Kanshō the name of Ido-no, and the Fujisaki Keizu makes it a title taken when Ietō entered religion; both are probably mistaken.]) Next was Shigetō, styled Kitaura-no-Rokurō. Next was Ietō, styled Tori-no-umi-no-Yasaburō. (Note: following the Andō Keizu. [The Fujisaki Keizu makes Shigetō the elder brother of Masatō, which is probably mistaken.]) Next was Noritō, styled Shiratori-no-Hachirō. (Note: following the Azuma Kagami and the Fujisaki Keizu. The name follows the Mutsu Waki. This work gives it as "Yukitō.")

Abe-no-Sadatō

¶Abe-no-Sadatō lived in the village of Kuriyagawa and was styled Kuriyagawa-no-Jirō. His appearance was imposing and large, fair-skinned and full in flesh. He stood over six shaku tall, with a girth of seven shaku four sun. After his father's death he took over his troops. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.)

¶In the eleventh month of the fifth year of Tenki (1057), Sadatō heard that Minamoto-no-Yoriyoshi was coming to attack and took the field himself with more than four thousand picked soldiers, took his stand at the stockade of Kawasaki, and met the enemy at Tori-no-umi. Just then a great wind and snow arose, and the government troops suffered from hunger and cold. Sadatō loosed his elite cavalry in a charge and killed several hundred. He then had over two hundred fierce horsemen pincer them from left and right, and so thoroughly defeated them that Yoriyoshi barely escaped. Sadatō's power grew still greater, and he went about plundering the people. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Mutsu Waki.) As a detached force he had Fujiwara-no-Tsunekiyo lead several hundred soldiers out through the Koromo Barrier. He sent messengers to the various districts and levied official goods using private tallies.

¶In the fifth year of Kōhei (1062), Yoriyoshi joined forces with Kiyohara-no-Takenori and others and attacked the stockade of the monk Ryōshō, Sadatō's uncle. Ryōshō's army fell into great disorder. His younger brother Munetō came out of the stockade with eight hundred horsemen to fight but was defeated. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) He sent a separate raiding party to strike the camp of Kiyohara-no-Takemichi, but that too was beaten. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki.) At length he abandoned the stockade and fled. After a time the government troops ran out of provisions. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) Munetō took advantage of their exhaustion and induced the districts from Iwai district southward to cut the government army's supply route and seize its baggage. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki.)

¶Sadatō took counsel with his followers and said: "I hear that recently the enemy army has run out of food and scattered in all directions to seek it, and that no more than a few thousand men remain in their camp. If we attack with our elite troops, we shall surely defeat them." In the ninth month he led more than eight thousand picked soldiers to attack, but the government forces were prepared. Sadatō was heavily defeated and returned to his camp. The government troops pressed in under cover of night and set the camp on fire; the camp fell into great confusion and men shot at their own side, so that many were killed and wounded. Sadatō abandoned the Ishizaka stockade at Takanashi-no-shuku and withdrew to hold the Ikawa. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Mutsu Waki.) He felled trees to block the roads and made his defenses firm on difficult ground.

¶The next day the government troops attacked and burned the stockade of Fujiwara-no-Narichika. Sadatō saw the fire rise, was greatly alarmed, and again withdrew to take his stand in the Tonomi stockade. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) His valiant commanders Taira-no-Takatada, Kin-no-Morimichi, Abe-no-Tokitō, Abe-no-Sadayuki and Kin-no-Yorikata and others were all killed in battle. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki.) Soon the government troops suddenly closed in, and Sadatō and Munetō fled without fighting and shut themselves up in the Kuriyagawa stockade. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki, the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) That place had a great marsh to the northwest, was cut off by rivers on two sides, had banks over three jō high, had watchtowers built above the stockade, and had blades planted in the moat and caltrops set there, so that its defenses were very strong. The government troops again surrounded it. Sadatō shot arrows and poured boiling water down on them and defended with all his strength. Several dozen women climbed up on the towers and sang songs to provoke the government troops. Yoriyoshi was enraged and attacked in haste. Sadatō killed several hundred. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki.)

¶The government troops tore down buildings to fill the moat and set fire to the place. Just then a great wind blew fiercely, and the towers and buildings burned down at once, and the rebel army fell into great disorder. The government troops loosened their encirclement to let the fleeing enemy out, struck them from the flank, and cut down nearly all of them. Sadatō went out sword in hand to fight, and though the government soldiers massed their spears and thrust at him he still did not die; he was carried on a great shield into Yoriyoshi's presence. Yoriyoshi enumerated his crimes. Sadatō said not a word and soon breathed his last. He was forty-four years old. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki, the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) His younger brother Shigetō and Fujiwara-no-Tsunekiyo were taken alive and beheaded. His younger brother Ietō and his paternal uncle Tamemoto surrendered. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) Ryōshō fled as far as Dewa but was captured by Minamoto-no-Nariyori, Dewa-no-kami, Governor of Dewa. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.)

¶Sadatō had two sons. The elder was named Chiyodōji; he was thirteen, handsome in appearance, and his courage had something of his grandfather's manner. When Sadatō was defeated, he came out of the stockade and fought, and was captured by the government troops. Yoriyoshi pitied him and wished to spare him from death, but Kiyohara-no-Takenori came forward and remonstrated: "General, you must not be bound by small compassion and leave a great calamity for later." Yoriyoshi judged this right and had him beheaded. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki, the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) The younger son, Takaaki, was carried by his nurse and hid at Fujisaki in Tsugaru, and later came to govern that region. (Note: following the Fujisaki Keizu.)

¶When Sadatō's head was first sent to the capital, a man who had surrendered was made to carry it. When they reached Ōmi, the guard ordered the bearer to wash the head and comb its hair. The bearer asked to be allowed to borrow a comb of his own. When the guard said, "Why not use your own comb?", the bearer wept and said: "When my lord was alive I looked up to him as to Heaven. How could I comb his hair today with this comb of mine?" Then he sobbed for a long time, and all who watched pitied him. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki, the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.)

Abe-no-Munetō

¶Abe-no-Munetō, when he was defeated in battle, threw himself into a muddy swamp and escaped. Hearing that Ietō and the others had surrendered, he led his younger brother Noritō and Kin-no-Tameyuki, Kin-no-Noriyuki, Kin-no-Tsunenaga, Fujiwara-no-Narichika, Fujiwara-no-Yorihisa, Fujiwara-no-Tōhisa and others out and surrendered. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki and the Konjaku Monogatari.) His younger brother Masatō had been hiding in Dewa; hearing of this, he also surrendered. (Note: following the Mutsu Waki.)

¶In the spring of the seventh year (1064), Yoriyoshi went up to the capital with Munetō, Masatō, the monk Ryōzō and five others in all; Munetō and Ietō were exiled to Iyo, and Ryōshō to Dazaifu. (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki, the Hyakurenshō and the Chōya Gunsai.) While Munetō was in Yoriyoshi's house he was treated with favor by Minamoto-no-Yoshiie. (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū. [The Tsurugi no Maki of the Heike Monogatari has the following story. When Munetō went up to the capital, the court nobles said among themselves, "Munetō is a barbarian, and his manners must be very coarse," and showed him a plum blossom to tease him. Munetō then replied in a waka that in his own country he had always seen it as a plum blossom, and asked in turn what the courtiers of the great palace called it; the nobles, ashamed, withdrew. But this seems a tale made up by some later lover of curiosities, and it is not adopted here.]) Later he took the tonsure and lived in Tsukushi. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari.) The Matsura band are his descendants. (Note: following the Tsurugi no Maki of the Heike Monogatari.)

Minamoto-no-Yoshichika

¶Minamoto-no-Yoshichika was the second son of Minamoto-no-Yoshiie, Chinjufu-shōgun; he became Sahyōe-no-jō, Third Officer of the Left Military Guards, was appointed Tsushima-no-kami, Governor of Tsushima, and was raised to Junior Fifth Rank Upper. (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku.)

¶During the Kōwa era (1099-1104) he ranged through Chinzei, attacking and tyrannizing the people, and the court sent out troops to put him down. (Note: following the Hyakurenshō.) The following year Yoshiie sent a retainer to summon Yoshichika, but he did not respond. He even killed the court's envoy. For this offense he was exiled to Oki. (Note: following the Hyakurenshō. [The Sonpi Bunmyaku says that he defied the court's order in the second year of Kōwa and was exiled to Izumo the following year. The Kojidan places this in the fifth year of Kōwa, which is probably mistaken.]) But Yoshichika did not go to the place of exile and remained in Izumo. He killed the mokudai, the deputy governor, seized men and horses, and plundered official goods. (Note: following the Hyakurenshō; compare the Kojidan.)

¶In the second year of Kajō (1107), the court made Taira-no-Masamori tsuitōshi, Commissioner for Pursuit and Suppression, to put him down. (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Teiō Hennenki. [The Rekidai Kōki gives the seventh year of Eichō, which is mistaken.]) In the first year of Tennin (1108), Yoshichika was put to death, and his head was exposed at the right prison gate. (Note: following the Hyakurenshō, the Ichidai Yōki and the Kojidan.) His sons were Yoshinobu, Yoshitoshi, Yoshiharu (Note: another text writes "haru" with a different character), Tameyoshi, Munekiyo and Yoshiyuki. Yoshinobu was styled Tsushima-no-Tarō, was raised to Junior Fourth Rank Lower, and was appointed Sahyōe-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Left Military Guards. (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku.) Tameyoshi is treated in the biography of Minamoto-no-Yoshiie. Even after Yoshichika was put to death, in later years men repeatedly appeared who falsely claimed to be Yoshichika, and some were captured and some killed. (Note: compare the Hyakurenshō, the Chūyūki and the Chōshūki.)