The Four Heavenly Kings of Kiso Yoshinaka

...Sometimes they are simply called the Four Heavenly Kings, but the most famous are the Four Heavenly Kings of Yorimitsu, which are Watanabe Tsuna, Sakata Kintoki, Usui Sadamitsu, and Urabe Suetake (Yashirobon Heike Monogatari, Kojidan, Volume 2, etc.), and in the side notes of Minamoto (Watanabe) Tsuna in the Sonpi Bunmyaku, they are referred to as "Yorimitsu Ason's Four Heavenly Kings, Part 1" and "Yorimitsu's Four Heavenly Kings." Volume 3 of the Jikkunsho lists Minamoto no Yorinobu, Fujiwara no Yasumasa, Taira no Korehira, and Taira no Muneyori as the Four Heavenly Kings of military commanders, and Volume 9 of the Heike Monogatari lists Imai Kanehira, Higuchi Kanemitsu, Nei Mitsuchika, and Tate Chikatada as the Four Heavenly Kings of Kiso Yoshinaka, and Volume 48 of the Genpei Seisuiki lists Sato Tsugunobu, Sato Tadanobu, Kamata Morimasa, and Sato Mitsumasa as the Four Heavenly Kings of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Other examples of the four heavenly kings of Nitta Yoshisada include Kuriu Akitomo, Shinozuka Iga no Kami, Hata Tokiyoshi, and Yura Tomoshige; the four heavenly kings of Oda Nobunaga include Shibata Katsuie, Takigawa Kazumasu, Niwa Nagahide, and Akechi Mitsuhide; the four heavenly kings of Tokugawa Ieyasu include Sakai Tadatsugu, Ii Naomasa, Honda Tadakatsu, and Sakakibara Yasumasa; and the four heavenly kings of Toyotomi Hideyori include Kimura Shigenari, Sanada Yukimura, Chosokabe Morichika, and Goto Mototsugu.

*Some of the terminology used to refer to "Kiso Yoshinaka's Four Heavenly Kings" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…単に四天という場合もあるが，中でも頼光の四天王が有名で，渡辺綱，坂田金時，碓井（うすい）貞光，卜部（うらべ）季武(屋代本《平家物語》，《古事談》巻二など)をいい，《尊卑分脈》の源(渡辺)綱の傍書にも〈頼光朝臣郎等四天其一〉〈頼光四天〉などと見える。《十訓抄》巻三には武将の四天王として源頼信，藤原保昌，平維衡，平致頼をあげ，《平家物語》巻九などに木曾義仲の四天王として今井兼平，樋口兼光，根井光親，楯親忠が見え，《源平盛衰記》巻四十八に源義経の四天王として佐藤継信，同忠信，鎌田盛政，同光政が見える。他に新田義貞の四天王として栗生顕友，篠塚伊賀守，畑時能，由良具滋，織田信長の四天王として柴田勝家，滝川一益，丹羽長秀，明智光秀，徳川家康の四天王として酒井忠次，井伊直政，本多忠勝，榊原康政，豊臣秀頼の四天王として木村重成，真田幸村，長宗我部盛親，後藤基次などがある。…

※「木曾義仲の四天王」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報