Abe Muneto - Abe no Muneto

Date of birth and death unknown. A military commander in Oshu during the late Heian period. Son of Abe Yoritoki and younger brother of Sadato. Called Toriumi Saburo, he defended Toriumi no Ki (Kanagasaki Town, Iwate Prefecture), which was a strategic point across the Isawa River and choked Isawa Castle. During the Battle of Zenkunen (1051-1062), he led the resistance against the Abe forces alongside his brother Sadato, but was defeated in the Battle of Kuriyagawa no Ki (Morioka City) and surrendered. He was taken prisoner and taken to the capital, and later exiled to Kyushu. When he went to the capital, a nobleman showed him plum blossoms and asked, "Munenori, what do you think of these?" To which he replied, "I see they are plum blossoms from my country, but what do the people of Omiya think?" This is a famous story.

[Takahashi Tomio]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。平安後期、奥羽の武将。安倍頼時(よりとき)の子、貞任(さだとう)の弟。鳥海(とりうみ)三郎と称し、鳥海柵(とりうみのき)（岩手県金ヶ崎町）を守ったが、これは胆沢(いさわ)川を挟んで、胆沢城ののどを扼(やく)する要衝(ようしょう)であった。前九年の役（1051～1062）では、兄貞任と並んで、安倍軍抵抗の指揮をとったが、厨川柵(くりやがわのき)（盛岡市）の戦いに敗れて降伏し、捕虜として都に上せられ、のち九州に配流となった。都に上ったとき、梅の花を示し「宗任、これはいかに」ときく公家(くげ)に、「我が国の梅の花とは見たれども、大宮人はいかがいふらん」と答えたという伝えは、有名である。

［高橋富雄］

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