Ōe no Hiromoto (, 1148–1225) was a Japanese ''

kuge The was a Japanese Aristocracy (class), aristocratic Social class, class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th ce ...

'' (court noble) and vassal of the

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 Yori ...

, and contributed to establishing the shogunate's governmental structure.

Life

A great-grandson of the famous scholar

Ōe no Masafusa was a poet, scholar and tutor under the emperors of Emperor Shirakawa, Shirakawa, Emperor Horikawa, Horikawa, and Emperor Toba, Toba. Masafusa was most known by his title of "Acting Middle Counselor". In 1060 AD, Masafusa became mainly known f ...

, he was born to Ōe no Koremitsu and adopted by Nakahara no Hirosue but later returned to the Ōe family in 1216. There is another theory that Hiromoto was born to Fujiwara no Mitsuyoshi. As a minor noble, he originally served at the

Imperial Court in Kyoto The Imperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 AD until the Meiji period (1868–1912), after which the court was moved from Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō) to Tokyo (formerly Edo) and integrated into the Meiji go ...

. In 1184 he was invited to

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

, who later founded the Kamakura shogunate. He became the first head (''

bettō is a term which originally indicated the head of an institution serving temporarily as the head of another one, but which came to mean also the full-time head of some institution.Iwanami Japanese dictionaryEncyclopedia of Shinto, Bettō The Kama ...

'') of the new Kumonjo (Board of Public Documents) in the same year and then of the Mandokoro (Administrative Board) in 1191. On Hiromoto's advice, Yoritomo appointed ''

jitō were medieval territory stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates. Appointed by the shōgun, ''jitō'' managed manors, including national holdings governed by the '' kokushi'' or provincial governor. There were als ...

'' and ''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

'' in 1185, which helped to strengthen shogunal control over the provinces. In 1190 Ōe followed Yoritomo to Kyoto and remained there to negotiate with the imperial court until 1192. After Yoritomo's death, Ōe won the trust of his widow,

Hōjō Masako was a Japanese politician who exercised significant power in the early years of the Kamakura period, which was reflected by her contemporary sobriquet of the "nun shogun". She was the wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and mother of Minamoto no Yori ...

, and assisted in the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

's seizure of power. He was involved in several important events in the shogunate. In 1199 real power was moved from second shōgun

Minamoto no Yoriie was the second ''shōgun'' (1202–1203) of Japan's Kamakura shogunate, and the first son of first shōgun Yoritomo. His Dharma name was Hokke-in-dono Kingo Da'i Zengo (法華院殿金吾大禅閤). Life Minamoto no Yoriie was born to Hōj ...

to the council of influential ''

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 ...

''. In 1203 the shōgun was arrested along with his supporter Hiki Yoshikazu. Hiromoto also helped the Hōjō clan crush enemies as Hatakeyama Shigetada, Hiraga Asamasa and

Wada Yoshimori was a Japanese samurai lord and ''gokenin'' of the early Kamakura period. He was the first director ('' bettō'') of the Board of Retainers in the Kamakura shogunate. Life Wada Yoshimori was born as the son of Miura Yoshiaki and grandson o ...

. In the

Jōkyū War , also known as the Jōkyū Disturbance or the Jōkyū Rebellion, was fought in Japan between the forces of Retired Emperor Go-Toba and those of the Hōjō clan, regents of the Kamakura shogunate, whom the retired emperor was trying to overthro ...

he insisted on making a sudden attack to Kyoto and contributed to the shogunate's overwhelming victory. He died after backing up

Hōjō Yasutoki Hōjō Yasutoki (; 1183 – July 14, 1242) was the third ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. He strengthened the political system of the Hōjō regency. Life He was the eldest son of second ''shikken'' Hōjō Yoshitoki. A ...

's succession. His fourth son founded the

Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. Durin ...

Family

* Father: Ōe no Koremitsu (大江維光, 1110–1175) * Mother: unknown ** Main wife: daughter of Tada no Ritsuna (多田仁綱の娘) *** 1st son: Ōe no Chikahiro (大江親広, ?–1242) ** Unknown mother: *** 2nd son: Nagai Tokihiro (長井時広, ?–1241) *** 3rd son: Ōe no Munemoto (大江宗元, ?–?) *** 4th son: Mōri Suemitsu (毛利季光, 1202–1247) *** 5th son: Ōe no Tadashige (大江忠成, ?–1265) *** 6th son: Ōe no Taketoshi (大江尊俊, ?–?) *** Daughter: wife of Asukai Masatsune (飛鳥井雅経室)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oe no, Hiromoto 1148 births 1225 deaths Ōe clan Samurai Place of birth unknown Date of death unknown Place of death unknown Date of birth unknown Deified Japanese men