#Hatakeyama clan

[yamayuandadu]

Is Hatakeyama Shigetada as handsome and valiant as everyone says? Guy nearly captured Shizuka Gongen.

Pretty sure you mean Tomoe and not Shizuka? It’s a fairly popular motif in ukiyo-e.

Shigetada does sort of interact with Shizuka in the Gikeiki (he plays the flute when she performs in front of Yoritomo), but he has no part in her capture. In most variants I am aware of, that's the role of Kajiwara no Kagetoki, who is pretty consistently portrayed negatively (we’re talking Grima Wormtongue level of subtlety here), in contrast with Shigetada.

In any case, in fiction Shigetada is pretty consistently described as a respectable, level-headed figure. He is portrayed as loyal to Yoritomo, but simultaneously as sympathetic to Yoshitsune (in the Gikeiki he opposes Yoritomo’s idea to get rid of him at Koshigoe, berates him for valuing Kagetoki more than own brother, and praises the loyalty of some of Yoshitsune’s retainers like Tadanobu; at the same time, in Genpei Jōsuiki he restraints Yoshitsune when he wants to fight Kagetoki after being insulted by him), Shizuka (in the nara ehon Shizuka, see here, p. 309) or the Soga brothers (in Soga Monogatari).

As far as later literature goes, it’s worth noting the famous Edo period playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon in Sasaki Ōkagami made Shigetada a mouthpiece for his quite harsh criticism of one of the more popular superstitions at the time: “the idea that women born in the year of the Fire Horse are a curse upon their husbands is all a bunch of hogwash” (it’s based on the sexagenary cycle; for more context, see Taming the Fire Horse. The Free Distribution of Anti-superstition Pamphlets in Early Modern Japan by Niels van Steenpaal). I feel like his portrayal in Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki is more ambivalent, though.

While fiction obviously exaggerates historical events, it is true that Shigetada was a particularly loyal follower of Yoritomo and was seemingly genuinely regarded as upstanding. However, he didn’t fare particularly well after his lord’s death:  through machinations of the Hōjō clan he was falsely accused of plotting a rebellion, and died alongside many other members of his family as a result. This was a part of their bigger strategy of isolating political rivals and eliminating them, which eventually led to their monopolization of the influential regent position.

[samurailoveballadhistory]

Are there any notable hostage rescues in the sengoku period?

Whether you're thinking of the "Ieyasu held hostage by Imagawa" situation, or "bad guys kidnapped my family, call the SWAT, guns a'blazing rescue" like in Hollywood movies, the short answer is "probably no".

In the Ieyasu kind of case, you're not supposed to rescue the hostage. Hostages are "collateral" that are given up as tokens of sincerity between clans for some kind of deal to prevent or stop war. Either one clan is surrendering to the other, or two clans exchange hostages. If someone tries to snatch back the hostage, then the deal is off and war is back on. That would just completely defeat the purpose of sending a hostage in the first place.

The "hostage" is treated more like a guest, and not as a prisoner, so generally speaking there's nothing to worry about. Still, the only way this kind of hostage can be "rescued" is if someone managed to defeat the clan that's holding the people "hostage". Again with the Ieyasu example. With Yoshimoto dead at Okehazama, in simple terms, Ieyasu was "freed" to go back home (it's not actually this simple, but I'm not going to go into that here).

The closest thing you have to the "bad guys kidnapped my family" situation that is high profile is Masamune's father being snatched by a rival clan, the Nihonmatsu-Hatakeyama. The reason why this doesn't count is because he wasn't rescued. He got killed in the hubbub that ensued when the Date chased after them, and accounts of the why and how varies.

If there are other instances like this, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[theworldaswedontknowit]

The Sengoku Period: 1460s - 1560

So, when did the Sengoku Jidai start? Honestly, like its namesake I can’t really pinpoint a date but it’s definitely within the realms of the 1450s to 1460s and I’d pick the days when Yamana Sozen declared his allegiance to the succession of the Shogun – Ashikaga Yoshimasa’s son and his son in law, Hosokawa Katsumoto, pledged himself to the Shogun’s brother who had been selected before the child was born. You see this situation time and again in history, all over the world, the brother gest picked because the guy has no son…only for a son to be born. Honestly, the same situation can be seen in the Todo family 130 years later and they were minor for most of their early existence.

In 1467 Yamana would gather troops with another war lord, Ouchi Masahiro and Hosokawa’s home would go up in flames. The game was on.

With rumours that Yamana intended to attack the Imperial palace Hosokawa demanded all of the Imperial family moved, paying no heed to whether these rumours were true or not. In the end Yamana did actually attack the Imperial palace and the fighting between them in Kyoto brought about its destruction. Genuinely, they completely destroyed it. The fighting would go on for months before Hosokawa convinced the Emperor and Shogun to denounce the Yamana as nothing more than rebels and undermine their supporter. Yet, it had little affect and even the deaths of both Yamana and Hosokawa did nothing to lighten up the situation.

Finally the Shogun – you know the big military leader dude, only this one was a little too concerned with poetry to actually control the situation – appealed for these people to disperse and essentially go home. However, it wouldn’t come to an end and Kyoto would still be being destroyed until 1477 when Ouchi Masahiro finally backed down, returning home but not before burning his part of Kyoto. Even with the Onin war over riots and mobs continued to descend on the city and honestly this ain’t ever gonna get better. Well, it is, but not for a long time.

The Onin war is also where we can see elements of the idea of the Western and Eastern armies. Yamana being the west and Hosokawa being the east. In 130 years time we’re going to see the big bang that is Sekigahara, the war that brought an end to the period end in much the same way as the war that started it all. Ishida Mitsunari, commander of the Western army will lose to Tokugawa Ieyasu, commander of the Eastern army, in 1600.

It’s these mobs however, that spelled the rise of the Ji-samurai or common birth samurai. What was once disorganised militias became organised armies and instrumented the rise of a very different kind of Samurai. Before this Samurai had typically been of noble birth but now simple famers and their sons did so as well. Good examples of “farmer” turned Samurai is Toyotomi Hideyoushi himself, who rose from Oda’s sandal bearer to nearly Shogun.

With these armies rising, the Hatakeyama family tearing apart any peace in their bit of the map over a family feud the future looked grim. With Yoshimasa retiring and putting his 15 year old son on the throne things really did turn sour. The Ashikaga’s suddenly seem to go through a time of not producing their own sons. Yoshihisa would produce only the daughter before dying in 1489 at the age of 24, his father taking the throne back and also dying a year later. From then on only one natural son of the Shogun, Yoshimasa, would take over before being followed by the brother who was part of the starting of the war. Then two adoptive sons, the uncle sandwiched between them.

The dominating family of the early Segoku Jidai was the Hosokawa but from what I can tell a lot of their wars were infighting. The Ryo Hosokawa war began in 1507 and was a dispute over who was going to succeed the head of the family, much like with the Shogun. Only this time Hosokawa Masamoto is super duper dead. The war would end when Hosokawa Harumoto defeated Hosokawa Takakuni, only for the entire head family to collapse when Harumoto died in 1563.

Come 1543 the Warring states is in full swing. Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen are beginning to show their capabilities, Mori Motonari is being the hotshot in the south and…the Date…aren’t really doing anything? Oda is 9, Hideyoushi is 6 and Ieyasu is a few months old. Okay, so not much is really going on but the Portuguese have just arrived and this is a big deal because what do they bring with them? Why, guns of course!

This little addition to the Japanese weapon arsenal is going to change the face of Samurai warfare. Even today, many historical figures are depicted in favouring it. Data Masamune’s weapon in Samurai Warriors is a sword and gun, which I think is an appropriate metaphor for how wars were fought now. The addition of guns allowed for distance combat, indeed it was a factor in the bringing down of the “Demon Horsemen of Kai” and if something that sounds that badass can be defeated with guns the you know everything is going to go down.

Update on the Hosokawa, the Miyoshi have just betrayed them and oh boy, that’s one massive screw you to them. Under Miyoshi Nagayoshi the Miyoshi are going to expand their territory and go on regular campaigns against the Hosokawa. Two years later Sue Harukata is going to betray Ouchi Yoshitaka at the incident at Tainei-ji. So, the two biggest players who started this all are out of picture. Just about the write time for the next big one to waltz right in.

Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) is considered the first Unifier of Japan and with good reason. While getting together much of the middle ground of Honshu, he paved the way for Hideyoushi to take up his mantle and for Ieyasu to take over and finish the job. Without Oda the warring states may have gone on longer or at least it would look very different. Without Oda, Hideyoushi wouldn’t have gone through his rise to power, certainly not in the same way at least. Ieyasu is a different matter I’ll get into another time.

So, 1560, it’s a big year. Oda Nobunaga is 26 years old, he’s finally the cemented head of the Oda clan after a succession struggle with his younger brother. That younger brother is now dead and Nobunaga really wants to show his might and his skill. He spies an opportunity at Okehazama.

The Imagawa would invade and a plucky young general, named Matsudaira Motoyasu, would capture one of Oda’s castle, Marune. This plucky little general is the future Tokugawa Ieyasu. At a disadvantage Oda looked for ways he could defeat the Imagawa and honestly, Yoshimoto gave it to him. While sending the Matsudaira to Odaka Castle Yoshimoto rested at Okehazama. This was a place that Oda knew well and really, the hill top ambush did happen.

Yoshimoto, who was so clueless as to what was happening, came out from his tent thinking that only a drunken brawl had broken out. He believed this to such an extent that he ordered the angry samurai running at him with a big spear to go back to his post. Realising that he was actually an Oda man he drew his sword and managed to break the spear, only for a second Oda man to lop off his head. Only two senior retainers would escape Okehazama.

So, what’s happened over the last 100 years. The Hosokawa have been torn apart by infighting and are almost completely powerless while Yamana is nowhere to be seen, their greatest supporters betrayed and decimated by the Sue. The rising stars of the north have risen, the Uesugi are going to play a part to the very end while the Takeda are going to go out with a slightly unimpressive bang in 1575. Our future Western Army leader, Ishida Mitsunari, has just been born as Sakichi and his family currently serve the Azai. He will be fourteen years old when he first rises to any minor prominence and even then, only as an attendant to Hideyoushi. Tokugawa Ieyasu, currently named Matsudaira Motoyasu is finally free of his life as a hostage, joining up with Oda in secret and fearing for the lives of his wife and son who are still in the hands of the down but not out Imagawa.

Finally, Oda Nobunaga has fought his defining battle, the one that has cleared his way to Kyoto and cleared the way for 22 years of plunder before he is betrayed by his loyal retainer, Akechi Mitsuhide.

[itsmarjudgelove]

The warrior, statesman, innovator and daimyo, Date Masamune Died 386 years ago today, June 27, 1636.One of the easiest to recognize of all the samurai thanks to his distinctive armour, and most distinctive helmet maedate crest of a crescent moon, is Date Masamune.Known as Dokuganryu, the “One Eyed Dragon of the North”, Date Masamune was an outstanding tactician, a brilliant leader, fearless warrior and the lord of Sendai. He was respected amongst the samurai as being loyal, ethical but totally ruthless, a most able administrator, and an aggressive and ambitious daimyo. Masamune was born September 5, 1567 to Date Terumune, lord of Mutsu, in Yonezawa Castle, modern-day Yamagata Prefecture. He lost his right eye to smallpox as a child and had the offending eye removed of his own volition, which led to his mother branding him unfit to inherit leadership of the clan. Instead, she championed to have his younger brother Kojiro be made heir. Their mother went as far as to attempt to poison her son, and so Masamune killed his sibling to maintain power and save his own life.As leader of the Date clan following his father’s retirement, Masamune went from strength to strength conquering surrounding domains while strengthening his own. Unable to stave off Masamune’s advances into their territory, the neighboring Hatakeyama clan appealed directly to Masamune’s father, asking him to control his son’s military actions. When Terumune admitted he was unable to stop his son, the Hatakeyama took the old lord prisoner. Masamune was on a hunting expedition with his retainers when news of the kidnapping was received. Masamune and his men caught up with the kidnappers as they were attempting to cross a river. Terumune shouted orders that Masamune was to kill them all, even at the cost of his own life. Masamune obeyed, and the entire party, including his father, were slain. As further retribution, Masamune ordered that the families of the kidnappers be hunted, tortured and executed.Ordered by the nation’s ruler, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, to participate in the 1590 Seige of Odawara, Masamune refused at first, greatly infuriating Hideyoshi. Eventually, he was no longer able to ignore the orders, and expecting to be executed for failing to obey, presented himself before Hideyoshi dressed in his best clothing, and devoid of any fear. On this occasion, Hideyoshi spared his life, suggesting that Masamune may one day be of some use.Toyotomi Hideyoshi provided him with lands at Iwadeyama, now Miyagi Prefecture, where Masamune was based for 13 years and reformed the area into a prosperous economic and political center. His financial prowess would later turn the small fishing village of Sendai into a large and economically powerful city.Upon the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Masamune turned his support to that of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who awarded him Sendai Domain.In 1600, in the lead up to the Battle of Sekigahara, Masamune supported the Tokugawa cause by fighting the Uesugi clan in the northern districts, allowing Ieyasu to concentrate on the growing Western allied forces under Ishida Mitsunari. Although Masamune was not on the actual battlefield at Sekigahara, his actions greatly assisted the Eastern victory.Masamune had 16 children, (two of whom were illegitimate) with his wife and seven concubines. He is often portrayed as wearing a sword guard as an eye patch. Date Masamune died aged 68 on June 27, 1636. Date Masamune was a forward and open thinker, a most remarkable man who worked for the good of his domain. An outstanding tactician, a brilliant leader, fearless warrior respected amongst the samurai as being loyal, ethical but totally ruthless, a most able administrator, and an aggressive and ambitious man. He did not let handicaps, such as the loss of an eye, or the far removed province to which he was based stop him. He was not afraid to face death of the battlefield, or when brought before Hideyoshi. He considered tourism, and even international trade and relations. Date Masamune was a man worthy of our respect.

[artemis-maia]

I watched the first episode of the new Taiga Kamakura dono no 13 nin.

I love games (Kuon for example) and mangas set in the Heian/Kamakura era thus I also love when a Taiga is set in the Heian/Kamakura era, it‘s so rarely done (many prefer to tackle Sengoku and Bakumatsu since the viewers are more used to the characters, Heian/Kamakura is also way more complicated thus this might also be a reason).

I have also been to Kamakura once when I was 17 thus it‘s nice memories.

So far the Heian/Kamakura Taiga I have seen were Yoshitsune, Taira no Kiyomori (I also own the condensed DVD) and parts of Kusa Moeru.

Despite no liking Sanadamaru by Koki Mitani (characters and plotlines I considered important were neglected or downplayed, unimportant characters and stuff got way too much screentime, also Sanada Taiheiki is way better) I am giving Kamakura dono a chance.

I really liked the opening song.

The Hojo clan is a fascinating theme and I think that the era after Yoritomo dies is so interesting since it‘s pure chaos. Puppet youngster shoguns, assassinations, plotting courtiers, rebellions non stop. Many of the people involved in this stuff (Hatakeyama Shigetada, Wada Yoshimori, Minamoto no Yoriie, Miura Yoshimura) have already been casted thus we will likely see these events in some extent.

I also think that the idea of a ruthless family is cool (the last ruthless characters were in Fuurin Kazan). Most of the Taiga characters are too nice and considerate of others.

I could even understand if the Hojo are portrayed as plotting since if they don‘t it might be their clan that will be toast since they era they lived and ruled in was brutal.

Since I know too much about the era I know the ages of the characters and they are super off this time in the beginning for basically everyone.

The Taiga starts in 1175. The real Hojo Yoshitoki was born in 1163 thus only 12 years old at the time. Yoritomo was in his late 20s, Yoshitoki’s aunt Yae who was Yoritomo‘s first affair/wife and mother of Sentsurumaru was in her 20s, Yoshitoki’s sister Masako in her late teens, Hatakeyama Shigetada was 11 etc.

I understand though why they want to depict the Ito clan since Yoshitoki‘s mother was an Ito and the sister of Yae (both Yoshitoki‘s mother and Yae were daughters of Ito Sukechika). The Ito family will later play a role in the story of the Soga brothers again.

Several female key characters like Hime no Mae (very interesting since she was an employee of Yoritomo and a Hiki clan member), Iga no Kata (ruthless character) and Yoshitsune’s Shizuka Gozen still haven‘t been announced yet I am curious about their casting.

One thing I am really happy for is that Imai Kanehira will appear in Kamakura dono. He is my favorite character in the Heike Monogatari thus I always love when he appears in Heian/Kamakura era media and his relationship with Yoshinaka is the most touching. I hope his fierceness and his relationship with Yoshinaka gets enough screentime and I hope that the battle of Awazu is well done.

The costumes so far don‘t impress me since I have noticed many recycled costumes from earlier productions again like in Sanadamaru.

[jibuyo]

As an addition to the previous post

There were also direct vassals of Tokugawa divided into two groups:

hatamoto - around 5 000; they were allowed the audience with the shogun and their privilages were higher than tozama daimyo’s and they participated in government. Their income was paid by the shogunate and their lands counted for less than 10 000 koku, i.e. they weren’t daimyo. 

They were those who served Ieyasu from Mikawa times, but they also included members of any clan, like Imagawa, Hojo, Oda, Hatakeyama, Mogami, Takenaka, Takeda, Otomo, Fukushima, Amakatsu, who were destroyed or couldn’t become a daimyo, like side branches etc.

gokenin - around 18 000; there’s not much difference in their income, but their status was low and they couldn’t meet with shogun.

[dvbermingham]

Chapter 4 - Futomaki: Six Pieces

I was so grateful to be back outside I nearly puked. I also nearly puked from about ten other things that had just happened in the meeting. For one, I don’t like unfamiliar basements. Second — and I didn’t know this until that moment — eel aquariums are terrifying. Can they see us out there, watching them from outside the tanks? God I hope not. I can’t even begin to convey how sweaty they made me through that whole meeting, and I’ll venture to say that any size aquarium, containing any kind of aquatic life, even the big ones with the big fish or an army of sea turtles, will trigger some serious underlying issues that I’ve worked my whole life to mask.

I don’t need to get into the other eight reasons. Unless you want to hear them…I can always include them in the appendix. Your call.

So we were outside milling around and smoking, the bosses all together touching one another’s lapels and counting threads, while me and the rest of the goons declaimed with tuna slung over our shoulders how relieved we were to not be standing in a circle and feeling at any moment two guys might be summoned to the center of the room to fight to the death. They were all like me — older white guys, a little out of shape but not cripplingly-so, dense and sturdy like an overstuffed salami, and looking like they’ve spent most of their adult lives honing that particular posture required for standing for hours outside nondescript warehouses.

“You know,” said one of them, suddenly and way too close to my ear, “five years ago, the mere mention of the Sushi Underground was a death sentence. Senju wouldn’t have it. Heads would’ve rolled.”

“Could you back off, buddy?” I said, elbowing myself out of his saliva-range.

He sighed. “I’m just excited. That meeting had a new feel. I’ve never seen such energy, such optimism. This might be a new era of sorts. I mean, it’s been fifteen years of standing in that basement, ignoring the elephant in the room.”

“More like two elephants in that room,” said another.

“That’s right.”

“Denial can only take you so far in life,” said a third.

“More like two elephants fucking in a room with all of us watching and not saying nothing.”

“That’s right.”

“You can’t survive when you punish those trying to explain the reality of the situation.”

“I prefer my phrasing,” said the fucking-elephants guy.

By now the goons had surrounded me, each spouting their own perspective, each talking over one another, all more or less in agreement, many shifting their tuna loins to give their shoulders a break. They were all repressed talkers. Being the new guy, I wasn’t quite sure to whom to listen. It all seemed fairly important — strategies for keeping their bosses happy in this new era they all supposed had arrived, predictions on how they were going to handle new enemies. Naturally I found myself staring at no one in particular, using my most respectable mouth-breathing technique, while doing my diligence with the occasional side-glance over at Matsuzaka.

“You were Takuto’s guy, right?” said a short guy, to me directly. “Tough luck on that one. You’ll be alright though. I’ve lost about ten bodies and look at me, eh? Still on the payroll.”

“That’s a relief.”

“You know I heard,” someone interrupted, “that that table, the one in the conference room, was made from wood illegally harvested from the sacred forests of the Ainu on a forbidden island off the northern tip of Hokkaido.”

“We already know that to be true.”

“Yeah well I need to restate it for the new guy so he feels included.”

“Yeah well I heard those early Sengoku period candelabras were stolen from the Kyoto Museum of National Exquisitry and are worth more than all the tuna over our shoulders and then some.”

“More like all the tuna in Japan!”

A few of them high-fived.

“They weren’t stolen,” said a small guy. “They belonged to Senju’s family. He’s a descendent of an ancient clan from that era. I won’t get into which one. It’s not really for me to tell but, I will say this…it’s one of the big ones.”

“Shiba?”

“No.”

“Hosokawa?”

“Wrong again.”

“It’s gotta be Hatakeyama?”

“Just stop. I’m not going to tell you even if you guess. It doesn’t do anybody any good being connected to medieval warlords of the old country, alrighty? We’re trying to keep a low profile. We don’t need everyone bragging about working for so-and-so from such-and-such clan. The point is, the guy’s got beaucoup pedigree. And loot to boot.”

“Senju is one of those old-school types that doesn’t care what’s who’s and who’s what’s.”

There was general consensus that this was true.

“You got a letter from the union yet?” One guy interrupted to ask me.

“About what?”

“The murder. Usually they’re all over that kind of thing.”

“Maybe they didn’t hear about it. Is that possible?”

The guy scrunched his face and looked a little displeased that he didn’t quite know the answer himself.

I turned back to the small fellow who seemed to know Senju so well. He wore large wrap-around prescription sunglasses that he might have lifted off an old dead man. “You Senju’s guy?” I asked.

“One of em. Name’s Jerry. Jerry Lodi. Twelve year veteran of the Sushi Guild. Glad to meet ya. You’ll like it. Don’t worry about flubbing the Takuto situation. When these people want someone dead, best to step aside. We don’t get paid to take bullets for people.”

“We don’t?”

“No. I mean, of course we take bullets for them. But they gotta be the right bullets, ya get me?”

“The right bullets?”

“Or the wrong bullets I guess would be another way of putting it.”

“So which are the right bullets and which are the wrong bullets.”

Lodi waved away the question, like I was his wife asking him an ancient riddle with no answer just as he was about to ask for a divorce.

“Come here a minute.” He took me aside, slung his arm over my shoulder, which was a good head above his. “You’re gonna need to take some advice from those who’ve been around if you’re going to survive here, okay? First, you’ve got tuna juice dripping all over your jacket. It’s slung way too far forward. Scoot it back so it drains on the sidewalk. Laundry costs can be through the roof in this gig. Second, get yourself a good santoku. These chef types respect a man with a nice sharp slice-em-up.” It was only as he stepped back to mime his ninja stab-and-slice combo I realized he wasn’t holding a tuna.

“Say, you don’t get to carry any tuna home tonight?”

“Not me my friend. I’ve put in my time.”

“One of the lucky ones I guess?”

“Luck don’t have nothing to do with it. And besides it’s called fortune in this business. You can call it luck if you want. That’s not it though. I play the game, and I play it right. You gotta remember, this council has a history stretching back centuries. Very much tied to the old country. What happens here is often out of our hands. The best thing you can do is let whatever will be, to be.”

He placed his hand on my shoulder and, I assume, stared deep into my eyes through his blackened prescription lenses. “You didn’t do much wrong, you understand? That Takuto thing was bigger than you.” And here he got real quiet. “And now that he’s been replaced, things around here will be moving a lot more smoothly.”

“If you don’t mind me asking…what happened to his last bodyguard?”

Just before Lodi could answer, the door to the headquarters creaked open and the large fellow in the oversized suit popped his head out and yelled “Matsuzaka! Inside!”

Without hesitation Matsuzaka sprang from his own group of fellows towards the open door, and with Lodi’s nod, I followed.

[petegriffinuk]

Female Samurai - The Onna Bugeisha

Two Leaders

Tomoe Gozen, first captain and wife of Minamoto no Yoshinaka, surveyed the field where the final battle was sure to soon take place.  A warrior first and foremost, she was dressed in full armor and carrying an oversized sword as well as a bow. Her husband Yoshinaka had recently taken Kyoto, the capital, and set himself up as head of the Minamoto clan.  Unfortunately, his cousin Yoritomo couldn’t leave well enough alone and had sent his two brothers with armies after Yoshinaka. Driven out of Kyoto, Tomoe and Yoshinaka had retreated here to Awazu, where would soon begin the battle to decide the leadership of the Minamoto clan, and, because of its status of Japan’s most powerful clan, the entire country.  As first captain, it was her job to lead the soldiers into the part of the battle where the fighting was thickest and ensure the victory.

Hōjō Masako, wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, sat with her husband in the command tent, helping to manage the affairs of her husband’s armies.  They had been waiting for several days to hear back from Yoritomo’s cousins, who had been sent to chase down Yoshinaka after he decided to split from the rest of the clan and set himself up as effective emperor, taking Kyoto and kidnapping the emperor while burning down the palace in the process.  No stranger to the world of men, Masako had been taught from a young age horseback riding, hunting, and fishing, for she had been been raised among men rather than with her mother and sisters. While she an expert warrier, she was an even better general, and her husband valued her leadership abilities and took her with him on all his military campaigns, where she led to great effect.

The Onna Bugeisha

Both Tomoe Gozen and Hōjō Masako are famous examples of Onna Bugeisha, more commonly known as female Samurai.   Japan’s past is filled with internal and domestic strife, with attacks between villages quite common. Because of this, in ancient Japan, women were trained to defend their villages alongside the men, or without them if the villages lacked male fighters.  After the formation of the Samurai, some of these women became warriors in their own right.

One of the earliest Onna Bugeisha, Empress Jingū is a figure shrouded in legend and is thought not to have existed as a historical figure, however, her story is important as it embodies the very spirit of what it means to be a female samurai.   According to some chronicles, she led Japan after the death of her late husband, the fourteenth emperor until her son was old enough to take the throne. During this time, she not only improved Japan by making influential economic and social changes, but personally led a victorious invasion of Korea over the course of a three-year campaign.

The legacy of the Onna Bugeisha stretches over one and half millenia, from legends to modern history.  While Empress Ji is possibly the earliest, later examples of heroic women include Tomoe Gozen, Hojo Masako, and Nakano Takeko, who lived as late as 1868 and is credited with 172 samurai kills.  Of course, there are innumerable others who are not as well known, or have been lost to the ravages of history.

The Onna Bugeisha used naginata as their primary weapon, specifically the ko-naginata, a special version designed for women.  A naginata is basically a sword on a pole with a curved blade at the top. Because women are usually of smaller stature and have less upper body strength than men, their blades were smaller in order to reduce the weight. The main advantage of the naginata is that, because of its length and thus range, it partially negates the greater reach and strength advantage that men naturally have, allowing for more fair fights.  It was also very useful for dismounting riders in cavalry charges. The naginata eventually became as iconic to the social status of women as the Katana was the to the Samurai.

Aftermath

The battle was fierce.  Gozen mired in the thick of it, She fought soldier after soldier and pressed ever on, encouraging those around her through her example.  She climbed a ridge, and at the top, saw a line of Samurai at the bottom of the valley. Looking up, their eyes widened with recognition when they saw her, then they yelled and charged up the hill.  Calling her retinue to her, Gozen prepared to meet them. The first to fall to her Katana was Uchida Leyoshi. In his haste to capture her, he made a critical misstep that allowed her to step to the side and kill him.  His companion Hatakeyama Shigetada was a much better fighter. Dodging blow after blow, they fought valiantly, though both were tired already from the battle. When a slight respite allowed, Tomoe took stock of the situation and realized that her forces were being outrun. Knowing she was more valuable alive, she took the first opportunity she saw to disengage, and managed to leap on her horse and escape.  Determined to find her husband, she rode like the wind….

Masako noticed a disturbance in the outer camp.  Within a few minutes, a messenger was brought to them.  Her husband asked the messenger for news, and she listened attentively, wondering what changes in the campaign would soon need to be made.  The message was short but important: Yoshinaka and his forces had fallen. His wife Tomoe Gozen had been spotted leading near the front lines, and some of their best Samurai including Uchida Leyoshi and Hatakeyama Shigetada had attempted to capture her.  Unfortunately, she had managed to elude capture, killing Leyoshi in the process.  While no one knew where she went, her body had not been found among the dead. After the messenger left, Masako turned to her husband who was looking at her expectantly. With Yoshinaka out of the way and her husband now the strongest military leader in Japan, she knew her diplomatic talents would be crucial in the coming years. This was only the beginning.  

Want to see our Samurai sword range? Click here.

from BladesPro UK - Blog https://www.bladespro.co.uk/blogs/news/female-samurai-the-onna-bugeisha from BladesPro https://bladesproco.tumblr.com/post/181063266852

[bladesproco]

Female Samurai - The Onna Bugeisha

Two Leaders

Tomoe Gozen, first captain and wife of Minamoto no Yoshinaka, surveyed the field where the final battle was sure to soon take place.  A warrior first and foremost, she was dressed in full armor and carrying an oversized sword as well as a bow. Her husband Yoshinaka had recently taken Kyoto, the capital, and set himself up as head of the Minamoto clan.  Unfortunately, his cousin Yoritomo couldn’t leave well enough alone and had sent his two brothers with armies after Yoshinaka. Driven out of Kyoto, Tomoe and Yoshinaka had retreated here to Awazu, where would soon begin the battle to decide the leadership of the Minamoto clan, and, because of its status of Japan’s most powerful clan, the entire country.  As first captain, it was her job to lead the soldiers into the part of the battle where the fighting was thickest and ensure the victory.

Hōjō Masako, wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, sat with her husband in the command tent, helping to manage the affairs of her husband’s armies.  They had been waiting for several days to hear back from Yoritomo’s cousins, who had been sent to chase down Yoshinaka after he decided to split from the rest of the clan and set himself up as effective emperor, taking Kyoto and kidnapping the emperor while burning down the palace in the process.  No stranger to the world of men, Masako had been taught from a young age horseback riding, hunting, and fishing, for she had been been raised among men rather than with her mother and sisters. While she an expert warrier, she was an even better general, and her husband valued her leadership abilities and took her with him on all his military campaigns, where she led to great effect.

The Onna Bugeisha

Both Tomoe Gozen and Hōjō Masako are famous examples of Onna Bugeisha, more commonly known as female Samurai.   Japan’s past is filled with internal and domestic strife, with attacks between villages quite common. Because of this, in ancient Japan, women were trained to defend their villages alongside the men, or without them if the villages lacked male fighters.  After the formation of the Samurai, some of these women became warriors in their own right.

One of the earliest Onna Bugeisha, Empress Jingū is a figure shrouded in legend and is thought not to have existed as a historical figure, however, her story is important as it embodies the very spirit of what it means to be a female samurai.   According to some chronicles, she led Japan after the death of her late husband, the fourteenth emperor until her son was old enough to take the throne. During this time, she not only improved Japan by making influential economic and social changes, but personally led a victorious invasion of Korea over the course of a three-year campaign.

The legacy of the Onna Bugeisha stretches over one and half millenia, from legends to modern history.  While Empress Ji is possibly the earliest, later examples of heroic women include Tomoe Gozen, Hojo Masako, and Nakano Takeko, who lived as late as 1868 and is credited with 172 samurai kills.  Of course, there are innumerable others who are not as well known, or have been lost to the ravages of history.

The Onna Bugeisha used naginata as their primary weapon, specifically the ko-naginata, a special version designed for women.  A naginata is basically a sword on a pole with a curved blade at the top. Because women are usually of smaller stature and have less upper body strength than men, their blades were smaller in order to reduce the weight. The main advantage of the naginata is that, because of its length and thus range, it partially negates the greater reach and strength advantage that men naturally have, allowing for more fair fights.  It was also very useful for dismounting riders in cavalry charges. The naginata eventually became as iconic to the social status of women as the Katana was the to the Samurai.

Aftermath

The battle was fierce.  Gozen mired in the thick of it, She fought soldier after soldier and pressed ever on, encouraging those around her through her example.  She climbed a ridge, and at the top, saw a line of Samurai at the bottom of the valley. Looking up, their eyes widened with recognition when they saw her, then they yelled and charged up the hill.  Calling her retinue to her, Gozen prepared to meet them. The first to fall to her Katana was Uchida Leyoshi. In his haste to capture her, he made a critical misstep that allowed her to step to the side and kill him.  His companion Hatakeyama Shigetada was a much better fighter. Dodging blow after blow, they fought valiantly, though both were tired already from the battle. When a slight respite allowed, Tomoe took stock of the situation and realized that her forces were being outrun. Knowing she was more valuable alive, she took the first opportunity she saw to disengage, and managed to leap on her horse and escape.  Determined to find her husband, she rode like the wind....

Masako noticed a disturbance in the outer camp.  Within a few minutes, a messenger was brought to them.  Her husband asked the messenger for news, and she listened attentively, wondering what changes in the campaign would soon need to be made.  The message was short but important: Yoshinaka and his forces had fallen. His wife Tomoe Gozen had been spotted leading near the front lines, and some of their best Samurai including Uchida Leyoshi and Hatakeyama Shigetada had attempted to capture her.  Unfortunately, she had managed to elude capture, killing Leyoshi in the process.  While no one knew where she went, her body had not been found among the dead. After the messenger left, Masako turned to her husband who was looking at her expectantly. With Yoshinaka out of the way and her husband now the strongest military leader in Japan, she knew her diplomatic talents would be crucial in the coming years. This was only the beginning.  

Want to see our Samurai sword range? Click here.

from BladesPro UK - Blog https://www.bladespro.co.uk/blogs/news/female-samurai-the-onna-bugeisha

[susiemedina93]

Female Samurai – The Onna Bugeisha

Two Leaders

Tomoe Gozen, first captain and wife of Minamoto no Yoshinaka, surveyed the field where the final battle was sure to soon take place.  A warrior first and foremost, she was dressed in full armor and carrying an oversized sword as well as a bow. Her husband Yoshinaka had recently taken Kyoto, the capital, and set himself up as head of the Minamoto clan.  Unfortunately, his cousin Yoritomo couldn’t leave well enough alone and had sent his two brothers with armies after Yoshinaka. Driven out of Kyoto, Tomoe and Yoshinaka had retreated here to Awazu, where would soon begin the battle to decide the leadership of the Minamoto clan, and, because of its status of Japan’s most powerful clan, the entire country.  As first captain, it was her job to lead the soldiers into the part of the battle where the fighting was thickest and ensure the victory.

Hōjō Masako, wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, sat with her husband in the command tent, helping to manage the affairs of her husband’s armies.  They had been waiting for several days to hear back from Yoritomo’s cousins, who had been sent to chase down Yoshinaka after he decided to split from the rest of the clan and set himself up as effective emperor, taking Kyoto and kidnapping the emperor while burning down the palace in the process.  No stranger to the world of men, Masako had been taught from a young age horseback riding, hunting, and fishing, for she had been been raised among men rather than with her mother and sisters. While she an expert warrier, she was an even better general, and her husband valued her leadership abilities and took her with him on all his military campaigns, where she led to great effect.

The Onna Bugeisha

Both Tomoe Gozen and Hōjō Masako are famous examples of Onna Bugeisha, more commonly known as female Samurai.   Japan’s past is filled with internal and domestic strife, with attacks between villages quite common. Because of this, in ancient Japan, women were trained to defend their villages alongside the men, or without them if the villages lacked male fighters.  After the formation of the Samurai, some of these women became warriors in their own right.

One of the earliest Onna Bugeisha, Empress Jingū is a figure shrouded in legend and is thought not to have existed as a historical figure, however, her story is important as it embodies the very spirit of what it means to be a female samurai.   According to some chronicles, she led Japan after the death of her late husband, the fourteenth emperor until her son was old enough to take the throne. During this time, she not only improved Japan by making influential economic and social changes, but personally led a victorious invasion of Korea over the course of a three-year campaign.

The legacy of the Onna Bugeisha stretches over one and half millenia, from legends to modern history.  While Empress Ji is possibly the earliest, later examples of heroic women include Tomoe Gozen, Hojo Masako, and Nakano Takeko, who lived as late as 1868 and is credited with 172 samurai kills.  Of course, there are innumerable others who are not as well known, or have been lost to the ravages of history.

The Onna Bugeisha used naginata as their primary weapon, specifically the ko-naginata, a special version designed for women.  A naginata is basically a sword on a pole with a curved blade at the top. Because women are usually of smaller stature and have less upper body strength than men, their blades were smaller in order to reduce the weight. The main advantage of the naginata is that, because of its length and thus range, it partially negates the greater reach and strength advantage that men naturally have, allowing for more fair fights.  It was also very useful for dismounting riders in cavalry charges. The naginata eventually became as iconic to the social status of women as the Katana was the to the Samurai.

Aftermath

The battle was fierce.  Gozen mired in the thick of it, She fought soldier after soldier and pressed ever on, encouraging those around her through her example.  She climbed a ridge, and at the top, saw a line of Samurai at the bottom of the valley. Looking up, their eyes widened with recognition when they saw her, then they yelled and charged up the hill.  Calling her retinue to her, Gozen prepared to meet them. The first to fall to her Katana was Uchida Leyoshi. In his haste to capture her, he made a critical misstep that allowed her to step to the side and kill him.  His companion Hatakeyama Shigetada was a much better fighter. Dodging blow after blow, they fought valiantly, though both were tired already from the battle. When a slight respite allowed, Tomoe took stock of the situation and realized that her forces were being outrun. Knowing she was more valuable alive, she took the first opportunity she saw to disengage, and managed to leap on her horse and escape.  Determined to find her husband, she rode like the wind….

Masako noticed a disturbance in the outer camp.  Within a few minutes, a messenger was brought to them.  Her husband asked the messenger for news, and she listened attentively, wondering what changes in the campaign would soon need to be made.  The message was short but important: Yoshinaka and his forces had fallen. His wife Tomoe Gozen had been spotted leading near the front lines, and some of their best Samurai including Uchida Leyoshi and Hatakeyama Shigetada had attempted to capture her.  Unfortunately, she had managed to elude capture, killing Leyoshi in the process.  While no one knew where she went, her body had not been found among the dead. After the messenger left, Masako turned to her husband who was looking at her expectantly. With Yoshinaka out of the way and her husband now the strongest military leader in Japan, she knew her diplomatic talents would be crucial in the coming years. This was only the beginning.  

Want to see our Samurai sword range? Click here.

Source: https://www.bladespro.co.uk/blogs/news/female-samurai-the-onna-bugeisha

from BladesPro https://bladesproco.wordpress.com/2018/12/13/female-samurai-the-onna-bugeisha/

[scoobydoojedi]

Saika Renegades/Suzuki clan

During the Warring States period, five prominent families in Saika decided to band together to protect their independence and to rebel against samurai expansion. Historical records do not name a particular clan as a leader, but gunki-monogatari and folklore will often have the Suzuki clan act as the figurehead since they were reportedly the lords of Saika Castle. In due time, the group threw in their lot with the Honganji Rioters and posed a threat to Nobunaga with their expert gunners and guerrilla tactics. They surrendered to Nobunaga in 1577 and later fought Hideyoshi at Komaki-Nagakute. When Hideyoshi led a campaign to demolish them, the group's name disappears with Suzuki Sadayū's death in 1585. Surviving members later found service within the Toyotomi ranks.Descendants of the group's members reportedly still exist today.

*Prominent People*

*Suzuki Sadayu*(1511-1585) he was a prominent leader among the Saika monto of Kii and Kawachi province and held Saika castle. He joined the Honganji and Hatakeyama Sadamasa in resisting Oda Nobunaga and led a powerful unit of arquebusiers at the Ishiyama Honganji. Sadayu later died in 1585 as Hideyoshi was attacking the religious establishments of Kii province. One theory has that Toda Takatora arranged for Sadayu to be made to commit suicide. According to tradition, Sadayû and his men were in essence mercenaries, at first fighting in wars that did not directly effect the Suzuki domain.

*Suzuki Shigehide*(1546-1586(*debated year of death*))He was the son of Suzuki Sadayu. He was sent to join the defenders of the Ishiyama Honganji who were fighting Oda Nobunaga and there gained fame for his skill at leading arquebusiers. He later served Hideyoshi in the same capacity and fought in Korea. He is sometimes said to have fought at the battle of Sekigahara on the side of Ishida Mitsunari but this is impossible to confirm.

*Suzuki Shigetomo* (1561–1623) Shigetomo was a son of Suzuki Sadayu and like his brother, Shigehide, was an expert in the deployment of arquebusiers. He came to serve Toyotomi Hideyoshi and served with Shigehide in Korea. In 1600 he sided with Ishida Mitsunari and was present at the Seige of Tanabe. The events of his life following the conclusion of the Sekigahara Campaign are unclear and he appears to be confused in the records with his brother (or vice versa). It is unclear whether he or his descendants were known under the "Magoichi" name when he became a part of the samurai class.

*Extra Information*

The name Saika Magoichi is believed to be a moniker for the leader of the Saika Renegades, who opposed Nobunaga's rise to power with in Kennyo Honganji the Three people above are believed to have all went by this name.



[samurailoveballadhistory]

I suspect this event is a case of two battles being lumped into one. The part discussing the Honganji and the Saika-ikki’s involvement is the 1576 invasion to Honganji, where the Oda forces initially met trouble because of the Saika’s gunmen. However, the resolution of the event is the surrender of the Saika forces, which is a completely different battle that happens in the next year, 1577. 

If you remember, in a past event Araki Murashige eventually turned traitor. That happens later on, in 1578.

I don’t know if the translation is flawed, or if the original story is rather misleading. The Saika-ikki is not a random mass of rebels that spring up in “several areas”. The Saika-ikki are people from Saika, period. They may be mercenaries, but they’re also a proper community, with clan lords and castles. They’re also not a singular monolith of people. There’s multiple clans in the Saika, and they sometimes fight each other.

They’re believed to be mainly mercenaries for the Hatakeyama clan. Under Hatakeyama Akitaka, who was an ally to the Oda, some of the Saika were fighting to assist the Oda forces. However, Akitaka perished, and the Saika independently chose to join forces with the Honganji. Some texts identify the Saika as not just allies, but actually part of the Ikko-ikki. It appears that a sizeable bulk of the Saika community are believers of the Jodo Shinshu. 

In the spinoff anime in the Tenka Touitsu Koi no Ran/SLBP universe, we’re introduced to 4 members of Suzuki Magoichi’s forces. They’re identified as allies of the Takeda. They have a short special story in the Japanese app, but that story has not been made available in English. 

[winterwedded]

3-21. | yusa kayo.

-Stands at average height (5'3″), has long, straight blonde hair, a button nose, and dazzling emerald eyes. Blood Type AB and born April 13 (Aries).

-Her mom Tsugiko is the sole councilwoman of the Hatakeyama clan and is almost always away at work. Tsugiko’s husband left after their divorce when Kayo was seven.

-Away from her mother’s critical eye, Kayo really just does what he wants. Carefree, big-hearted, and easygoing with her words. She gets along tremendously well with her (distant?) relative, HIroko, since they’re in the same class at school.

-Has her mother’s physical prowess, but certainly not the unwavering discipline. 

-She definitely has a tumblr, which she takes great pride in customizing (the theme).

-She seems like someone leaning on the creative sides of things rather than straight out routine.

-Has a mind with interests as flighty as a butterfly, in terms of being able to focus and whatnot. She always hates reporting back grades to her Mother (who’ll find out anyway) because she knows she’ll always disappoint her one way or another. 

-Has a mindset that nothing will ever be enough to fully please her mother, so compromise is a completely normal route to take given the option. She doesn’t expect to be thoroughly praised because she’s not used to it. As a result she’s prone to believing that she’s simply drifting along.

-Always wears a barrette in her hair because it’s cute and tidy.

-Enjoys music with a beat + upbeat video game soundtracks.

-Maintains her appearance well partly because of Tsugiko raising her up to do so, but also because she just likes looking good.

-Her best class is English.

-Her type are the more muscular, athletic guys.

-She does game here and there and flips her phone on whenever she’s able to grind for whatever material it is, whether to drive the story further or just an event gacha. 

-Beneath it all, Kayo is probably quite insecure and depreciates herself because of it. She willingly serves as either the source of fun or someone that helps in initiating it, led believe that life is meant for the moment.

-Will eat nearly anything; has a voracious appetite.

-Actually does really well in improvising and ad-libbing in performances.

-Lives with her Mother in their penthouse apartment not too far from the latter’s workplace.

-Has a secret stash of food in the nightstand of her bedroom. Animal crackers, sandwich cookies, checkerboard cookies, unopened packages of angel cake...

-Has subscriptions to a lot of manga and game magazines. 

-Tends to have midnight snacks when she wakes up.

-Has no problem at all speaking her mind up to people in a rather bold and sassy way. She doesn’t try to change herself for people or anything because she knows that no matter how much effort she’ll use, it won’t ever be enough.

-She’s actually a bit similar to Shou.

-She loves to pester Minami whenever she shows up, and being thick-skinned herself the upperclassman’s scathing words hold no weight.

-She likes a splash of colors.

[jibuyo]

Ashikaga shoguns (personal notes)

(when most of them became shoguns they were mere children)

Ashikaga Takauji (1st) - in 1333 he was asked by Hojo to fight against Emperor Go-Daigo, but he turned on them and attacked Rokuhara, Hojo’s palace in Kyoto. At the same time Nitta Yoshisada attacked Kamakura. After that we’re talking about Kemmu restoration when Go-Daigo tried to return the power into the Emperor’s hands, but it proved to be difficult. In 1335 Ashikaga Takauji attacked Go-Daigo in Kyoto and installed a new Emperor. In 1336 he was given a title seii-taishogun from the new Emperor. 

But Go-Daigo never gave up his title and moved, with the Imperial regalia, to Yoshino (Nara) and we’re talking about Nanbokucho = Northern and Southern Courts period.

Takauji tried to make compromises between the court nobles and warrior class, which lead to him giving out conflicting notices. He wasn’t able to establish the shogunate power.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (3rd) - the golden time of Ashikaga shoguns. He built a lot of things, for example the Golden pavilion in Kyoto and the Flower palace in Muromachi. He also liked Zeami, a creator of Noh. He needed money, so he focused on trade with China. The shogunate government got its final form.

A new post was created - kanrei (originally called shitsuji) - who was serving as shogun’s adviser. Only men from three clans could be named to this function - Hatakeyama, Hosokawa and Shiba. 

Samuraidokoro - an important office that was looking over Kyoto, who named shugo, who served as a court. It was held by these four clans - Yamana, Isshiki, Kyogoku and Akamatsu. These clans also became shugo in the West Japan.

A relationship with Kanto (East) was complicated and the old clans had a lot of power. A new office was established in Kamakura (Kamakurafu) and a new position was created - Kanto kanrei, originally hereditary in line of Ashikaga Takauji’s younger son Motouji. Later it was transferred to the Uesugi clan, who held it until 1552 when the position was abolished.

Yoshimitsu was the second person from a warrior class who got the daijo daijin title (1st was T. no Kiyomori).

Ashikaga Yoshinori (6th) - cruel. Amakatsu Mitsusuke, when he learned that Yoshinori wants to give his fiefs to someone else, invited him to a banquet and Noh play and assassinated him there.

Ashikaga Yoshimasa (8th) - he wanted to be like his grandfather (Yoshimitsu), so a huge financial crisis happened. He built a Silver pavilion. He didn’t have a son, so he decided to make his brother his heir, but then a son was born and Onin war happened (1467) - Yamana vs Hosokawa.

Ashikaga Yoshiharu (12th) - the first Portuguese ship landed in Japan during his time as a shogun (a puppet shogun)

Ashikaga Yoshiaki (15th) - installed by Oda Nobunaga

[jibuyo]

Few notes about Naoe Kanetsugu

Born as Higuchi Yoroku. He had two younger brothers - Yoshichi (Ōkuni Saneyori) and Yohachi (Higuchi Hidekane, who succeeded the Higuchi clan).

There are no documents that would suggest that Kanetsugu served as Uesugi Kenshin’s page or vassal. There are no documents suggesting he would serve as Kagekatsu’s page either, but that theory at least makes more sense. Uesugi Kenshin = Nagao Kagetora was of a different branch than Nagao Masakage, Kagekatsu’s father. Higuchi clan served Nagao Masakage. 

The first mention of Higuchi Yoroku is from 1580, when he was acting as Kagekatsu’s toritsugi (doing correspondence). Next year he married Osen and became Naoe Yoroku Kanetsugu. The marriage was ordered by Kagekatsu, so it is assumed Kanetsugu had to be around for some time, to be able to succeed a pretty influential Uesugi vassal’s clan. Kanetsugu was 21. 

Kanetsugu was never adopted by Naoe Kagetsuna. Kagetsuna died in 1577, Naoe Nobutsuna succeeded him, but was killed in an internal strife in 1581. 

The kanji in Kanetsugu’s name come from the Higuchi clan, not Naoe clan.

Kanetsugu is often compared to Kobayakawa Takakage or Katakura Kojūrō Kagetsuna, in terms of importance and power in administrative/clan, but there are big differences. Kojūrō was just one of many important vassals. Takakage was a relative of Terumoto and a Mōri clan’s kin. Kanetsugu held all the power in his hands and the only person above him was Kagekatsu and there was no one on the same level as him. Other clans tried giving power to someone unrelated to them, but that ended in internal riots - i.e. Shimazu, Ukita, Hori… Kanetsugu, for whatever reasons (loyalty, ability to hold power), never tried to become separate daimyo.

The reason why Kanetsugu held so much power, was because there were no relatives of Kagekatsu alive - Kagekatsu either killed them or they committed suicide during Otate no ran. His brother-in-law Jōjō Masashige (Hatakeyama Yoshiharu?) didn’t get along with Kanetsugu or Kagekatsu got angry at him, so he eloped. 

Those who were given important positions in Uesugi clan were only men from Ueda group (originally Nagao clan’s vassals Kagekatsu took with him, Kanetsugu himself was part of this group, originally) and Yoita group (Naoe’s vassals). 

While Kagekatsu was called “oyakata-sama”, Kanetsugu was called “danna” (boss, person of a high status).

Kanetsugu was really good at internal administrative and managing the fiefs. There are disputes over if he was a good general or not. The same goes for Kagekatsu.

He loved reading, he had an extensive knowledge of Chinese literature. When the Uesugi were dispatched to Korea, Kanetsugu brought back many important Chinese books.

During Yonezawa times, 1604, there was a dispute between him and his younger brother Ōkuni Saneyori (known as Yoshichi when he was young), who didn’t agree with Kanetsugu’s daughter marrying Honda Masanobu’s son, Masashige. Saneyori, who was acting as an Uesugi representative in Fushimi, apparently killed the messenger and run away to Kōya-san and didn’t return to Yonezawa until Kanetsugu died. Saneyori left his family in Yonezawa, so when Kanetsugu’s daughter died, Kanetsugu just adopted Saneyori’s daughter and married her to Naoe Katsuyoshi (Masashige). Naoe Katsuyoshi became Naoe’s heir, skipping Kanetsugu’s real son Kageaki, who was a hostage in Edo. [There are theories that one of them was supposed to become Kagekatsu’s heir, but in the end, Kagekatsu sired a son, who succeeded him. Kageaki died in 1615, Katsuyoshi/Masashige left the Naoe clan in 1611, going to serve the Maeda clan, taking many Uesugi and Naoe vassals with him helping out the Uesugi clan who were still overcoming the hard times caused by too many people, not enough money/food. After Kanetsugu’s death, the Naoe clan ceased to exist.]

In 1610, Kanetsugu changed his name to Shigemitsu. It’s assumed he took the “shige” from Masashige, the “mitsu” was again related to Higuchi clan.

There are several theories about the meaning of character “love” 愛 on top of Kanetsugu’s helmet. One of them says that it stands for Atago Gongen 愛宕権現, a bodhisattva Jizō manifested as a shintō deity and in Sengoku Jidai worshipped as a war god. This one seems to be the most credible one, because there are documents mentioning a flag that bore characters for Atago right next to Uesugi’s red circle on a white flag in Kagekatsu’s generation. There are historians that suggest that the helmet was given to Kanetsugu from the Uesugi clan. Other theories are benevolence 仁愛 and Aizen Myō'ō (Rāgarāja) 愛染明王.

[scoobydoojedi]

Akamatsu clan

The Akamatsu claimed descent from Minamoto Morifusa (d.1077) of the Murakami-Genji (Minamoto). The Akamatsu became a powerful family in the Muromachi Period and owed their success to the actions of Akamatsu Norimura. At first a supporter of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Kemmu Restoration, Norimura had later switched to the Ashikaga side. In 1336 he was awarded the governorship of Harima. By the time of the 3rd Ashikaga shôgun, Yoshimitsu, the Akamatsu were shugo for Harima, Bizen, and Mimasaka as well as one of the four families that provided members of the Bakufu’s samurai-dokoro (Board of retainers). The assassination of Ashikaga Yoshinori in 1441 by Akamatsu Mitsusuke resulted in a damaging response by the Yamana and others, and by the Sengoku Period, their power had waned. They were weakened by rebellions and at length became vassals of the Toyotomi.

*Prominent People*

*Akamatsu Norimura* (1277 - 1350) Norimura supported Emperor Go-Daigo and Ashikaga Takauji in the struggle to overcome the Kamakura shogunate(Minamoto clan Rule).He became a part of the Ashikaga shogunate. Norimura constructed a fort on a hill which later became the site for Himeji Castle.Norimura was a patron of Sesson Yūbai who established Hōun-ji and Hōrin-ji in Harima.In records about the establishment of land rights for Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, Norimura's help is recognized.

*Akamatsu Mitsusuke*(1381-1441) In 1408 Shogun Yoshimitsu died and was succeded by Ashikaga Yoshimochi (1385-1428). Some years after he came to power, Yoshimochi decided to replace the head of the Yamana (currently the wily and possibly unbalanced Mitsusuke) with one of his favorites, a certain Akamatsu Mochisada, rumored to be the shogun’s lover. Learning of the plan, Mitsusuke departed Kyôto in 1427 and entrenched himself in Mimasaka. Yoshimochi declared the act treasonous and called for his lieutenants to prepare for battle, to no avail. Yoshimochi’s retainers managed to talk the shôgun out of the business, creating an embarrassing situation Mochisada took responsibility for and committed suicide.

Things quieted after a time, and to help smooth matters over, Mitsusuke became a monk. He spent only a year in a monk’s habit, however; in 1428Yoshimochi died and Mitsusuke returned to secular life. Yoshimochi was succeded by his brother, Yoshinori (1394-1441).

In a bizarre twist in 1440, the events of 1427 were repeated. Mistusuke again learned that the shogun planned to have him ousted. Yoshinori had a favorite named Akamatsu Sadamura (again, a suspected lover) that he planned to have succeeded Mitsusuke (perhaps after the later was forced into retirement).

Mitsusuke responded to this second threat from the Bakufu to his position in a drastic fashion, perhaps emboldened by the Bakufu’s lack of resolve in 1428. In 1441 the shogun went on a campaign against the wayward Yûki family of northern Hitachi province. When Yoshinori returned, Mitsusuke invited him to his residence in Kyoto for a celebration that would include a victory feast. Yoshinori agreed, and during a presentation of dancing in the garden a number of horses suddenly burst from their stables and caused great confusion among the party. Mitsusuke had arranged this noisy diversion, and in the course of the pandemonium he had Yoshinori struck down. Without much further ado, the Akamatsu mounted their horses and departed for their home provinces.

The assassination of Yoshinori caused considerable shock and uncertainty in Kyoto. After three days a coalition of warriors drawn from the other important shugo families - Yamana, Hosokawa, and Hatakeyama - set out, only to hesitate at the borders of the Akamatsu’s lands. The one leader who did charge on ahead was Yamana Sozen (1404-1474), and this fiery character defeated the Akamatsu and forced Mitsusuke to commit suicide. For his efforts he was awarded most of the Akamatsu’s lands (including, no doubt as he had intended, Mimasaka), thereby greatly enhancing the power of the Yamana and helping set the stage for the later Onin War. Yoshinori’s assassination, though rarely mentioned in the west outside of strictly academic circles, was a notable contributor to the weakening of Ashikaga authority, although it could just as easily be argued that the event was a sign of just how weak the foundations of Ashikaga rule already were.

*Akamatsu Yoshisuke* (????-1576) He saw much of the former Akamatsu domain slip out of his hands between 1550 and 1570, though he did capture Akashi castle in 1554 from Hosokawa Harumoto. He was defeated in 1569 by Kuroda Kanbei and within a few years had been so weakened that he lived in Himeji at the sufferance of his nominal vassals, the Kodera (Kuroda's lord).

*Akamatsu Masanori*(????-1577) Cousin of Akamatsu Yoshisuke. He had a reputation as a discerning and proud general. He held Kôzuki castle in Harima province and came under attack by the Oda (as led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi) in late 1577. Masanori resisted stoutly but when a relief force sent by the Ukita was defeated and Kôzuki isolated, the Oda army launched an all-out attack. Masanori killed his family before committing suicide and thus died along with some 1,100 of his men.

*Akamatsu Norifusa* (????-1598) Norifusa was a son of Akamatsu Yoshisuke. He served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and assisted in the Battle of Shizugatake, the Komaki campaign, the 1585Invasion of Shikoku, and the Korean invasion of1592. Norifusa was given a 10,000 koku fief in the Itano district of Awa province.