The Igagoe vendetta was a vengeance incident in Japan in 1634, where the murder of a retainer was avenged by his older brother. The event happened in the town of Iga-Ueno near Iga Pass. The vendetta is known as one of the three major vendetta incidents in Japan, alongside the

Revenge of the Soga Brothers The Revenge of the Soga Brothers (曾我兄弟の仇討ち, ''Soga kyōdai no adauchi'') was a vengeance incident on June 28, 1193, during the Fuji no Makigari hunting event arranged by shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Soga brothers, Soga Sukenar ...

and the Akō vendetta (by the

47 Rōnin 47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to: *47 (number) *47 BC *AD 47 *1947 * 2047 *'47 (brand), an American clothing brand * ''47'' (magazine), an American publication * 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala *47, a song by New Found Glory from the albu ...

History

In 1630, in the fiefdom of Okayama, Watanabe Gendayū, a favorite retainer of Ikeda Tadao, was murdered by Kawai Matagorō "because he had rebuffed Matagorō's amorous advances". Becoming a murderer out of jealousy for a childhood friend, Kawai Matagoro fled to the Edo city where

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However ...

Ando Masayoshi sheltered him. Tadao tried to bring him to justice, but failed. When Tadao died in 1632, he asked: "For my memorial service, above everything else offer on my behalf the head of Kawai Matagorō." After that Kawai Matagorō was officially ordered by

bakufu , 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 ...

to exile. As it was the shogun's orders, a samurai had to submit to preserve the honor of the family. This gave Watanabe Kazuma an opportunity for revenge. He was 18 years old at the time; he discharged from the Ikeda family for whom he served and began his search for Kawai Matagoro. Watanabe eventually located him in the neighborhood of Iga-Ueno. By now, Watanabe Kazuma had been joined in his revenge by his sister's husband, famous swordsman

Araki Mataemon was a Japanese samurai active in the early Edo period. Araki Mataemon was the founder of the koryū martial art Yagyū Shingan-ryū, known sometimes as Yagyū Shingan-ryū Taijutsu. Araki Matemon studied Yagyū Shinkage-ryū under Yagyū Munen ...

"On the seventh day of the eleventh month of 1634", Watanabe Kazuma, Araki Mataemon, and two other men waited for Kawai Matagoro at the Kagiya crossroads in Iga-Ueno. They had been informed of Matagoro's route from Osaka. Mataemon and his followers waited for Matagoro in a nearby shop. When they arrived, Mataemon killed Matagoro's uncle, Kawai Jinzaemon, and the followers who surrounded Matagoro. Historian Stephen Turnbull wrote, that: Vendetta needed to be reported to a government to be regarded a lawful action, or all the participants were cast as criminals. The participants of Igagoe vendetta weren't regarded as criminals, so it was probably reported as the law commanded. "The full story ..eventually involved not only lower-ranking samurai but the more exalted lords, or daimyo, of at least two feudal domains, and eventually the Tokugawa central government in Edo ..The whole incident and the vendetta that followed were deemed of sufficient importance that they were recorded in the official chronicle of the central government, ''The True History of the Tokugawa'' (Tokugawa Jikki)."

In culture

Kuniyasu - Igagoe Vendetta.jpg,

Kuniyasu was a Japanese artist best known for his prints in the ukiyo-e style as a member of the Utagawa school. Life and career Few details are known of Kuniyasu's life. He was born in 1794 and had the given name Yasugorō. His teacher was the Utaga ...

, Igagoe Vendetta, c.1815-1820 Igagoe dōchū sugoroku LCCN2008660469.jpg, , Igagoe Dochusugoroku, 1811 Utagawa Kuniyoshi Utagawa Kuniyoshi ( ja, 歌川国芳, ; January 1, 1798 – April 14, 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al'' (2005). "Kuniyoshi" in He was a ...

History

In culture

Kabuki

Movies

References