Itō Sukechika (伊東 祐親, died March 20, 1182) was a Japanese
samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
lord and ''
gōzoku
, in Japanese, refers to powerful regional families. In historical context, it can refer to powerful non-royal families regardless of their area of influence, in contrast to the Imperial Family. The most powerful ''gōzoku'' families of the Yam ...
'' of the
Izu Province
was a province of Japan in the area now part of Shizuoka Prefecture and Tokyo. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .
The mainland portion of Izu Prov ...
in 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
. He was the 6th head of the
Kudō clan and the founder of the
Kawazu clan. He is also known as Kawazu Sukechika.
Life
Itō Jirō was born in
Izu Province
was a province of Japan in the area now part of Shizuoka Prefecture and Tokyo. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .
The mainland portion of Izu Prov ...
as the second son of
Itō Sukeie
Itō Sukeie (伊東 祐家) was a Japanese samurai of the Heian period. He was the father of Itō Sukechika, and the great-grandfather of Soga Tokimune and Soga Sukenari, Sukenari, known for the Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident.
Life
He wa ...
. His grandfather was
Kudō Suketaka, the founder of the
Itō clan.
He fought against his nephew (also said to be his cousin)
Kudō Suketsune over the division of the territory of his family estate, Itō Manor. The manor was ultimately inherited by Suketsune, but Sukechika took over the manor while Suketsune was in
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
. Sukechika also made his daughter, Mangō Gozen, who was married to Suketsune, divorce him.
Suketsune was deeply angered over these events and ordered the assassination of Sukechika. In October 1176, a group of thugs attacked Sukechika, who was hunting in Okuno, Izu Province with his son
Kawazu Sukeyasu. The arrow shot at Sukechika missed, and hit Sukeyasu instead, killing him.
Sukeyasu's two sons,
Tokimune and
Sukenari later killed Suketsune in 1193, which came to be known as 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 28 June 1193, during the Fuji no Makigari hunting event arranged by shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Soga brothers, Soga Sukenari ...
.
Sukechika later served the
Taira clan
The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...
,
and governed the Kawazu Manor in Izu Province. He took the name Kawazu from the Kawazu Manor he lived in, thus establishing the
Kawazu clan.
Sukechika attempted to kill
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 was exiled to Izu Province, over an alleged relationship between Yoritomo and Sukechika's daughter. In 1180, Sukechika surrounded Yoritomo at
Ishibashiyama, and succeeded in
rout
A rout is a Panic, panicked, disorderly and Military discipline, undisciplined withdrawal (military), retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's discipline, command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale ...
ing Yoritomo's force. However, during the
Battle of Fujigawa, Sukechika was caught by the
Minamoto clan
was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...
, and his captivity was entrusted to his son-in-law,
Miura Yoshizumi.
Thanks to Yoshizumi's relentless efforts, Sukechika was pardoned, but committed suicide by the sword from his own shame on March 20, 1182.
Genealogy
The Itō clan were a ''
gōzoku
, in Japanese, refers to powerful regional families. In historical context, it can refer to powerful non-royal families regardless of their area of influence, in contrast to the Imperial Family. The most powerful ''gōzoku'' families of the Yam ...
'' clan that claimed descent from the
Fujiwara clan
The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...
, a powerful family of Japanese
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
s and
court nobility, through
Fujiwara no Korekimi
was a Japanese aristocrat and statesman of the Nara period. He reached the court rank of Junior Second Rank and the position of Minister of the Right (''udaijin)'', and was posthumously promoted to Junior First Rank. He was also called .
Li ...
(727–789).
[ Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)]
, p. 17 "Itō" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 17 [PDF 21 of 80
/nowiki>">DF 21 of 80">"Itō" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 17 [PDF 21 of 80
/nowiki> retrieved 2013-4-30.
The two grandsons of Sukechika,
Tokimune and
Sukenari, known as the Soga brothers, are known for 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 28 June 1193, during the Fuji no Makigari hunting event arranged by shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Soga brothers, Soga Sukenari ...
incident of 1193. In the early modern period, the Itō clan were the lords of Obi Domain in Hyūga Province.
Family
* Father:
Itō Sukeie
Itō Sukeie (伊東 祐家) was a Japanese samurai of the Heian period. He was the father of Itō Sukechika, and the great-grandfather of Soga Tokimune and Soga Sukenari, Sukenari, known for the Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident.
Life
He wa ...
* Siblings:
** Brother: Itō Suketsugu
* Wife: Unknown
** Son:
Kawazu Sukeyasu
** Son:
Kawazu Sukekiyo
** Daughter:
Miura Yoshizumi's wife
** Daughter: Mangō Gozen (
Kudō Suketsune's first wife,
Dohi Tōhira's wife)
** Daughter: Yaehime
In popular culture
TV series
* ''
Kusa Moeru
is a 1979 Japanese television series. It is the 17th NHK taiga drama.
It is also the first Taiga drama to standardize the use of modern language in dialogue starting with this one onward. On the other hand, characters did not use first names to ...
'' (1979)
NHK Taiga Drama,
Akira Kume as Itō Sukechika
* ''
Taira no Kiyomori
was a military leader and '' kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan.
Early life
Kiyomori was born in Japan, in 1118 as the first son of Taira ...
'' (2012) NHK Taiga Drama, Ryūta Mine as Itō Sukechika
* ''
The 13 Lords of the Shogun
is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Shun Oguri as Hōjō Yoshitoki. The series is the 61st NHK taiga drama.
Cast
Starring role
*Shun Oguri as Hōjō Yoshitoki. Kōki Mitani pointed out some similarities between him and Mi ...
'' (2022) NHK Taiga Drama, Kazuyuki Asano as Itō Sukechika
See also
*
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 28 June 1193, during the Fuji no Makigari hunting event arranged by shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Soga brothers, Soga Sukenari ...
*
Kawazu gake
is a leg entanglement throw in Judo that targets an opponent's leg.Mifune, Kyuzo: ''The Canon of Judo'', Kodansha International Ltd. (Tokyo) 2004, , p. It is one of the techniques adopted later by the Kodokan into their Shinmeisho No Waza (newl ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Sukechika
People of the Heian period
12th-century Japanese people
1182 deaths
Year of birth unknown