Ichijō Tadayori (一条忠頼, died July 25, 1184) was a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

lord of the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

. He served as Governor of

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

and was the lord of Ichijō township in Yamanashi, Kai Province. He was the founder of the Ichijō clan. He was also known as Ichijō Jirō. His assassination by

shogun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

saw the beginning of the purge of the Kai branch of the

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...

Life

Ichijō Tadayori was born as the eldest son of

Takeda Nobuyoshi is a Japanese family name.1990 Census Name Files

of the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

, a branch of the Kai

. In 1180, Nobuyoshi, Yasuda Yoshisada, and the Takeda clan were called to arms along with the rest of the Minamoto clan. The Kai Minamoto attacked the

Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divided ...

of the neighboring

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

, and defeating them. After that, they joined

's forces in

Suruga Province was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and was bordered by the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay to the south. Its abbrevia ...

. In 1184, he participated in the pursuit of

Minamoto no Yoshinaka , , or Lord Kiso was a general from the late Heian period of Japanese history. A member of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo was his cousin and rival during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and the Taira clans. Yoshinaka was born in Musas ...

, which led to a battle and the death of Yoshinaka. Despite his contributions, Yoritomo feared Tadayori's and the Kai Minamoto clan's growing power, and ordered his assassination in 1184. Tadayori was killed at the shogunal palace by Oyamada Arishige and

Amano Tōkage is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, tattoo artist , Brazil , SP *, manga artist *Eugene Amano, a Filipino-born NFL player *, physicist, inventor of blue LED light, 2014 Nobel laureate *, Japanese baseball player ...

on July 25, 1184.

Assassination of Tadayori

The ''

Azuma Kagami is a Japanese historical chronicle. The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in 12 ...

'' only states that the reason for the assassination of Tadayori was that "despite wielding power, he has the desire to bring disorder to the world", but it lacks a concrete explanation. Looking at the political situation immediately prior to this, the death of Yoshinaka brought the first advance of the Kamakura army into

Kinai is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kinai ...

, and various political negotiations had begun between the central government in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

and the newly established

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

. Although the two parties were united in their objective to oust the Taira clan, their intentions differed on other issues. Although the Imperial Court issued a decree in 1183, it is believed that the court secretly wished to avoid further drastic delegation of authority. As a result of the negotiations,

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''ins ...

granted Yoritomo the former territories of the Taira clan and conferred on him the court rank of Senior Fourth Rank. In addition, in ''Kikki'' (April 2 article), the name "Saemon-no-jō Minamoto no Koreyoshi" appears in the ceremony for appointing officials other than ministers, who is identified as

Ōuchi Koreyoshi Ouchi or Ōuchi may refer to: Geography * Ouchi, Hubei (), a town in Gong'an County, Jingzhou, Hubei, China Japan * Ōuchi, Akita, a town now merged into Yurihonjō, Akita * Ouchi, Saga, a town now merged into Karatsu-city, Saga * Ōuchi-juku, a p ...

of the Shinano Minamoto clan. Koreyoshi was first seen in ''Engyōbon

Heike Monogatari is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike () refers to the Taira (), ''hei'' being the ''on'yo ...

'' during the pursuit of Minamoto no Yoshinaka and in ''

'' in the

Battle of Ichinotani was a Taira defensive position at Suma, to the west of present-day Kobe, Japan. It sat on a very narrow strip of shore, between mountains on the north, and the sea to the south. This made it quite defensible, but also made it difficult to man ...

, and it is unclear when he was appointed to the post of ''Saemon-no-jō''. The Imperial Court would not have had time to make appointments until the postwar process was completed, so it is reasonable to interpret that he was appointed on the same March 27 (May 9 in new calendar) as Yoritomo, but resigned immediately. The details of the appointments are not clear, as the March portion of the ''Kikki'' has not survived. However, if the appointments on March 27 were not limited to Yoritomo, but was intended for the generals who participated in the assassination of Yoshinaka, it is highly possible that Tadayori was also honored with an appointment. In this case, Yasuda Yoshisada was appointed as Governor of

Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

in the previous year, which suggests that Tadayori was also appointed to a governorial post. According to ''

Sonpi Bunmyaku is a Japanese genealogical text. Originally written by Tōin Kinsada in the late 14th century, it was either 15 or 16 volumes in length. This was followed by re-edited editions eventually bringing the text to thirty volumes in length. The full tit ...

'', Tadayori was indeed appointed Governor

. Although his appointment cannot be fully ascertained by this statement, if the Imperial Court had an intention to conciliate the Kai Minamoto clan as a counterweight to Yoritomo and Tadayori also had a desire to expand his power into the Musashi Province, a neighboring province of Kai, the appointment would make sense and its probability would be high. For Yoritomo, however, this would be the same as denying him effective control over Musashi, and it is assumed that he would have found this appointment unacceptable. The ''Engyōbon Heike Monogatari'' states, "Tadayori was killed on April 26, and Yasuda Yoshisada went down to Kai to kill Takeda Nobuyoshi", which is a different account from the ''Azuma Kagami''. If we follow the dates of ''Engyōbon Heike Monogatari'', it can be seen that Tadayori was appointed to the post of Governor of Musashi Province on March 27, was killed on April 26 (June 6 in new calendar), and Minamoto no Hirotsuna was appointed Governor of Suruga Province and Hiraga Yoshinobu was appointed Governor of Musashi Province on June 5, which all lead to a single line of succession. Suruga was a province that Tadayori effectively controlled, and with the assassination of Tadayori, Yoritomo seized control of the province. The ''Azuma Kagami'' (May 1 article) states that a military force was dispatched from Kamakura to kill the ruling clique following the execution of

Minamoto no Yoshitaka was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...

, the son of Yoshinaka. Retainers (''

gokenin A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods.Iwanami Kōjien, "Gokenin" In exchange for protection and the right to become ''jitō'' (manor's lord), a ''gokenin'' had in times of peace the duty to protect ...

'') from provinces other than

Shimōsa Province was a province of Japan in the area modern Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Shimōsa''" in . It lies to the north of the Bōsō Peninsula (房総半島), whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from ...

were also summoned for this large-scale hunt for the remaining members. In addition, the armies of

Ashikaga Yoshikane was a Japanese samurai military commander, feudal lord in the late Heian and early Kamakura period of Japan's history.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ashikaga Yoshikane" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum ...

and

Ogasawara Nagakiyo was a Japanese samurai warlord of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. He is best known as the founder of Ogasawara clan. The history of ''kyūdō'' (Japanese archery) begins with this martial arts master. Life Nagakiyo was born on Marc ...

had also attacked Kai Province. Combined with the account of Yasuda Yoshisada's departure to Kai Province in ''Engyōbon Heike Monogatari'', this can be concluded as a military action to completely purge the Kai Minamoto clan, which began at the same time as the assassination of Tadayori.

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{{reflist 12th-century Japanese people People of Heian-period Japan 1184 deaths Year of birth unknown

Life

Assassination of Tadayori

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References