The , also known in English as the Former Nine Years' War or the Early Nine Years' War,
was fought between the
Imperial Court and the
Abe clan in
Mutsu Province
was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture.
Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...
, in
Northeast Japan, from 1051 to 1063. It resulted in Imperial Court victory and the surrender of
Abe no Sadato. Like the other major conflicts of the Heian period, such as the
Gosannen War and the
Genpei War
The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself ...
, the Zenkunen war was a struggle for power within the samurai clans.
Background
While most
provinces were overseen by just a Governor, Mutsu, in what is now the
Tohoku region, had a military general in charge of controlling the
Emishi
The (also called Ebisu and Ezo), written with Chinese characters that literally mean "shrimp barbarians," constituted an ancient ethnic group of people who lived in parts of Honshū, especially in the Tōhoku region, referred to as in contemp ...
natives, who had been subjugated when the Japanese took over the area in the ninth century. Historically, this post was always held by a member of the
Abe clan, and there were many conflicts between the Abe general and the Governor over administrative control of the province.
In 1050, the general overseeing the Ainu was
Abe no Yoritoki
(died 28 August 1057) was the head of the Abe clan of Emishi who were allowed to rule the six Emishi districts ( Iwate, Hienuki, Shiwa, Isawa, Esashi and Waga) in the from Morioka to Hiraizumi in what is now Iwate Prefecture.
Background
The ...
, who levied taxes and confiscated property on his own, rarely paying any heed to the wishes of the province's Governor. The Governor sent word to the capital in
Kyoto asking for help, and as a result
Minamoto no Yoriyoshi was appointed both Governor and commander-in-chief over controlling the natives. He was sent with his son
Yoshiie, then age fifteen, to stop Abe.
War
The fighting lasted for twelve years, or nine if one subtracts short periods of ceasefire and peace. Skirmishes were fierce and many, but few major battles were fought until the
Battle of Kawasaki
The battle of Kawasaki was the first major battle of the Early Nine Years' War (Zenkunen War) (1051-1063). It was fought between the forces of the Abe clan, led by Abe no Sadato, and those of the Minamoto clan, acting as agents of the Imperial Cou ...
in 1057. Abe no Yoritoki had been killed shortly before, and the Minamoto were now fighting his son,
Abe no Sadato, who defeated them at Kawasaki and pursued them through a blizzard.
[
]
Legacy
Minamoto no Yoshiie is thus considered the founder of the Minamoto clan's great martial legacy, and is worshiped as a particularly special and powerful ancestor '' kami'' of the clan. As a ''kami'' and a legend, he is often called ''Hachimantarō'', "Child of Hachiman
In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...
, the god of war."
A famous renga from the '' Kokon Chomonjū'' was exchanged between Sadato and Yoshiie when Sadato was forced to flee his castle on the Koromo River. Yoshiie said, ''Koromo no tate wa hokorobinikeri'', Koromo Castle has been destroyed ("The warps of your robe have come undone"), to which Sadato replied, ''toshi o heshi ito no midare no kurushisa ni'', "over the years its threads became tangled, and this pains me."[
]
References
{{Authority control
11th century in Japan
Wars involving Japan
1050s conflicts
1060s conflicts
1060s in Japan
1050s in Japan
1051 in Asia
1063 in Asia