Tiger of Oiso - Ooisotora

Japanese: 大磯の虎 - おおいそのとら

Year of death: 1245
Year of birth: Angen 1 (1175)
A prostitute from Oiso, Sagami Province (Kanagawa Prefecture) in the early Kamakura period. She is also called Tora Gozen or San Tora Gozen. Her foster mother was Kikuzuru, a wealthy man from Oiso-juku, and her real mother was Yashao, a prostitute from Hiratsuka-juku. Her father was said to be Dainagon Fushimi Sanemoto, or Uemon no Kami Minamoto Nobuyori's older brother Motonari's wet nurse, Uchinai Judge Kacho. She excelled in waka poetry and was beautiful. In the "Soga Monogatari," she became the mistress of Soga Juro Sukenari, and when the Soga brothers committed a vendetta at the foot of Mount Fuji in 1193 and Sukenari was executed, she was arrested and interrogated, but was found innocent and pardoned. She then became a nun, visited the mother of the Soga brothers, climbed Hakone with her mother, held a memorial service for the brothers, and visited the site of the vendetta. She later lived at Oiso Koraiji Temple, but then went to Kumano in Kii Province (Wakayama Prefecture). Legends about Tora no Gozen remain throughout the country, and her actions after she became a nun and traveled to sacred sites throughout the country are believed to be related to the formation and spread of the Soga Monogatari.

(Kenji Iinuma)

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

Japanese:

没年：寛元3(1245)
生年：安元1(1175)
鎌倉初期の相模国(神奈川県)大磯の遊女。虎御前,三虎御前ともいわれる。養母は大磯宿の長者菊鶴,実母は平塚宿の遊女夜叉王ともいわれる。父は大納言伏見実基とも,右衛門督源信頼の兄基成の乳母の子宮内判官家長ともいわれる。和歌の道にも優れ,容姿端麗であった。『曾我物語』では,曾我十郎祐成の愛人となり,富士の裾野で曾我兄弟が仇討ち事件(1193)を起こし,祐成が誅せられると,捕縛され取り調べられるが,罪はないとして許され,出家して尼となり,曾我兄弟の母を訪ね,母と共に箱根に登り,兄弟の供養をし,仇討ちの地も訪れた。その後,大磯高麗寺に住んだが,紀伊国(和歌山県)熊野に赴いた。虎御前の伝承は全国に残るが,出家の身となり,諸国の霊地を歩いた行動が『曾我物語』の形成と流布に関係があるとみられている。

(飯沼賢司)

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

<<: Oita Expressway - Oita Expressway

>>: Oiso Inn - Oiso Inn