Kai Jōchi

Japanese: 甲斐常治 - かい・じょうち

Year of death: 12th August 1459 (8th September 1459)
Year of birth: Year of birth unknown. Military commander of the Muromachi period. Retainer of the Shiba clan. Son of Masanori. Real name was Masahisa. By 1439, he had become a monk and taken the name Mino Nyudo Tsuneharu. In 1420, after his father's death, he became the deputy governor of Echizen (Fukui Prefecture) and Totomi (Shizuoka Prefecture). In 1420, when he was ordered by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori to persuade Shiba Yoshiatsu, who was adamantly refusing the position of kanrei, Tsuneharu boasted of his power exceeding that of his lord's family, to the extent that he declared that Yoshiatsu did not have the ability to be kanrei (Mansai Jungo Nikki). In 1425, when Shiba Chiyotokumaru (Yoshitake), who was two years old, succeeded as head of the family, Tsuneharu's sole authority became even stronger, and conflicts with other senior vassals arose. Around 1447, anti-Kai retainers of the Shiba clan allied with Mochitane, a branch of the Shiba clan, to oppose Tsuneharu. When Yoshitake died without a child in 1452, Mochitane's son Yoshitane succeeded him and in 1456, he complained to the shogunate about Tsuneharu's tyranny. This caused the conflict between the two factions to surface again, and in 1458, it escalated into a battle in Echizen Province. This battle, described as "an unprecedented battle between master and servant" (Daijoin Temple and Shrine Miscellaneous Records), was a counterattack by local lords against the Kai clan, who were trying to push ahead with their own control of their own province, at the expense of their lord. At first, the Horie clan, who supported Yoshitoshi, had the advantage, but in March of the following year Tsuneharu secured the support of the shogunate, and the battle on August 11th confirmed the victory of the Kai side. However, the next day, Tsuneharu is thought to have died in Kyoto, which allowed the rival Asakura clan to rise to power. The monk Taikyoku of Tofukuji Temple wrote in his diary, Hekizan Nichiroku, that "this is a punishment from heaven."

(Akira Kawamura)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：長禄3.8.12(1459.9.8)
生年：生年不詳
室町時代の武将。斯波氏の家臣。将教の子。実名は将久。永享11(1439)年までに出家して美濃入道常治を名乗る。応永27(1420)年,父が没したあと越前(福井県)・遠江(静岡県)両国守護代となる。永享1年,将軍足利義教から管領就任を固辞する斯波義淳の説得を命じられた際,義淳に管領の器量はないといい放った(『満済准后日記』)ほど,主家をしのぐ権勢を誇っていた。同8年,2歳の斯波千代徳丸(義健)が家督を継ぐと常治の専権はいっそう強まり,ほかの重臣との対立も生じるようになる。文安4(1447)年ごろには,反甲斐派の斯波家臣が斯波氏庶流の持種と結んで常治に対抗している。享徳1(1452)年義健が子のないまま没すると,持種の子義敏がその跡を継ぎ,康正2(1456)年幕府に常治の専横を訴えた。これにより両派の対立は再び表面化し,長禄2(1458)年,ついに越前一国を舞台とする合戦に発展した。「主従の合戦未曾有の次第なり」(『大乗院寺社雑事記』)といわれたこの合戦は,主家をさしおいて独自の分国支配を推し進めようとした甲斐氏に対する国人の反撃であった。戦いは初め義敏派の堀江氏らが有利に立ったが,翌年3月に常治は幕府の支持をとりつけ,8月11日の合戦で甲斐方の勝利が確定した。しかし,その翌日常治は京都で没したものと思われ,以後ライバル朝倉氏の台頭を許すことになる。東福寺の僧太極は「天の罰する所なり」と,日記『碧山日録』に記している。<参考文献>鈴木良一『応仁の乱』

(河村昭一)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Naval blockade

>>: Ban on Pirate Ships - Kaijozoku Senkinshirei