was a Japanese military strategist and commander of the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...

. Some sources say he lived from c.575-664

Biography

Events in his life are accounted in the Nihon Shoki and

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

, both written several decades after his death. His father's name and origin are unknown, as the written sources contradict one another, and may have been altered to glorify the genealogy of then-living clans. After reaching adulthood, Abe was a governor of

Koshi Province was an ancient province or region of Japan in what is now the Hokuriku region. The region as a whole was sometimes referred to as . Koshi appears as one of the original provinces in the '' Nihon Shoki''. In 598 AD, the residents of Koshi prese ...

. In 658, he defeated the

Mishihase The , also read as Ashihase and Shukushin, were a people of ancient Japan, believed to have lived along the northern portion of the coast of the Sea of Japan. The term Sushen, rendered 肅愼, is found in Chinese records, but is annotated as Mis ...

in "Watarishima" (which may mean

Tsugaru Peninsula The is a peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, at the northern end of Honshū island, Japan. The peninsula projects north into the Tsugaru Strait separating Honshū from Hokkaidō. The western coast is on the Sea of Japan, while on its eastern coast ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

) at the request of the native inhabitants. His men continued to raid and plunder in

and

Okushiri Island is an island in Hokkaidō, Japan. It has an area of . The town of Okushiri and the Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park encompass the entire island. It has many pastures, beech tree forests, and a rocky coastline. There are two elementary schools, o ...

until 660, bringing numerous trophies and prisoners to court. His trophies included at least 2 live bears, 70 bear hides, and 353 prisoners. In March 660, local allies asked for his military assistance at

Ishikari River The , at long, is the third longest in Japan and the longest in Hokkaidō. The river drains an area of , making it the second largest in Japan, with a total discharge of around per year. It originates from Mount Ishikari in the Daisetsuzan V ...

, where he was victorious again. In 662 his lord (soon to become the

Emperor Tenji , also known as Emperor Tenchi, was the 38th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')天智天皇 (38)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 5 ...

) assigned him and the captive prince

Buyeo Pung Buyeo Pung (扶餘豊, 623–668) was a prince of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was son of the last king, Uija of Baekje. When Baekje fell to the Silla–Tang alliance in 660, he was a hostage who mortgaged the alliance of Baekj ...

to participate in an expedition to the Korean peninsula to restore the fallen allied kingdom of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

."Abe no Hirafu" from amurai-archives.com
/ref> Abe was assigned the command of the rear division out of three divisions available. His division was an entirely naval unit. He arrived on the continent in August 662 and was recalled after the defeat in the

Battle of Baekgang The Battle of Baekgang or Battle of Baekgang-gu, also known as Battle of Hakusukinoe ( ja, 白村江の戦い, Hakusuki-no-e no Tatakai / Hakusonkō no Tatakai) in Japan, as Battle of Baijiangkou ( zh, c=白江口之战, p=Bāijiāngkǒu Zhīzh ...

in August 663. ''Abe no Hirafu'' might be the ancestor of one or more of the

Abe clan The was one of the oldest of the major Japanese clans (''uji''); and the clan retained its prominence during the Sengoku period and the Edo period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German). The ...

s, as well as the Ando and

Akita clan The was a Japanese samurai clan of northern Honshū that claimed descent from Abe no Sadato of the Abe clan. The Akita clan was originally known as the . In the Kamakura period, they were installed in the Tsugaru district of Mutsu Province to ...

Notes and references

This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 阿倍比羅夫, accessed 27 July 2017 7th-century rulers in Asia Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Governors of Japanese prefectures People of Asuka-period Japan {{Japan-politician-stub

Biography

See also

Notes and references