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 ...

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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. He was a follower of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. According to the '' Genpei Jōsuiki'', he was one of the , along with Kamata Morimasa, Kamata Mitsumasa, and Satō Tsugunobu. He was the younger brother of Tsugunobu, and their father was the Ōshū Fujiwara retainer Satō Motoharu. Tsugunobu and his brother Tadanobu "were 'given' to Yoshitsune by Fujiwara no Hidehira when Yoshitsune left Oshu to join Yoritomo."

Yoshitsune's retreat

Satō is most well known for saving his master Yoshitsune's life at Yoshino, a story recorded in the '' Gikeiki''. The story has become somewhat legendary over the years. Whilst travelling to

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

to escape from the troops of his brother Yoritomo, Yoshitsune and his forces were beset by the monks of Zo-o-no, and were facing defeat. Satō volunteered to fight a rearguard action to allow Yoshitsune time to reach safety, and asked for the loan of his master's armour in order to convince the pursuing troops that Yoshitsune was still within their grasp. (This was not an entirely selfless act, since Yoshitsune's armour would have been of better quality than Satō's, and would have afforded better protection.) Disguised as Yoshitsune, Satō challenged and fought the group's pursuers, killing or wounding around twenty men. His companions were killed, but Satō evaded capture and proceeded to

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 ...

. In Kyoto he stayed at the house of a woman acquaintance, but was discovered and attacked. Under threat of capture, he committed

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

. His widow, Kaede, along with her sister-in-law Wakazakura, attempted to comfort his grieving mother by presenting herself wearing her late husband's armour.

"Goban" Tadanobu

A popular story regarding Satō Tadanobu's death involves him being attacked whilst playing a game of go. Unable to reach his weapons, he is said to have picked up the goban and used it to fight off his enemies before eventually killing himself. This episode has been a popular theme in '' ukiyo'' prints, and has also inspired ''

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

'' plays such as ''Yoshino Shizuka Goban Tadanobu'' and ''

Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura ''Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura'' (義経千本桜), or ''Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees'', is a Japanese play, one of the three most popular and famous in the kabuki repertoire. Originally written in 1747 for the bunraku, jōruri puppet the ...

'', and the ''ko-jururi'' play ''Goban Tadanobu''. In many of these plays, the Tadanobu character is implied to be a fox spirit ("

Genkurō Genkurō (源九郎) is a shape-changing ''kitsune'' (fox-spirit) character who features prominently in the famous ''bunraku, jōruri'' and ''kabuki'' play ''Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura'' ("Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry T ...

"), due to his impersonation of Yoshitsune (in Japan, foxes were believed to be shape-shifters).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato Tadanobu 1161 births 1186 deaths Samurai People of the Heian period