Iioka Sukegoro - Iioka no Sukegoro

Japanese: 飯岡助五郎 - いいおかのすけごろう

Year of death: April 14, 1859 (May 16, 1859)
Year of birth: 1792
A gangster from the late Edo period. His real surname was Ishiwata. He is said to have been born in Yamazaki, Kogo Village, Miura County, Sagami Province (Kanagawa Prefecture). A man of great strength from an early age, he was invited to become a disciple of Edo sumo elder Tomozuna Ryosuke, taking the shikona (sumo wrestler's name) Tsunagasaki. After he retired, he became a fisherman for Amimoto Bungoro at Sakudahama on the Kujukuri Coast of Kazusa, which was booming with the booming dried sardine boom. In a fishing ground that needed many boatmen, he made himself known as the leader of the boatmen, and grew to become the boss of a gang of gamblers. He later moved to Iokahama in Shimousa and established a family. In 1840, he received a certificate from the Sumo Association as a "Kinkyo Kinki Sumo Caretaker" and became a big boss who served as a guide for the Kanto Torishiyaku (Kanto Control Agency), but he came up against the rising Sasagawa Shigezo, who had claimed the Sasagawa Riverbank of Shimousa as his territory. In the same year, the Kanto Toriyaku ordered Sukegoro to arrest Shigezo, which led to a duel on the banks of the Tone River, but he failed and was sentenced to imprisonment. In 1847, Shigezo was assassinated, and in 1849, the Toriyaku forced the remaining members of the faction, including Tomigorō, to commit suicide, bringing the matter to a close. This incident was later publicized in the story and rokyoku (traditional Japanese folk song) "Tenpo Suikoden," but while Shigezo was a fighter from start to finish and was killed, Sukegoro served as the government's stooge and was victorious, and so, partly due to his bias towards the judge, he was cast as the villain. He died in Iioka and was buried at Kodaiji Temple.

(Bin Takahashi)

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

Japanese:

没年：安政6.4.14(1859.5.16)
生年：寛政4(1792)
江戸後期の侠客。本姓は石渡氏。相模国(神奈川県)三浦郡公郷村山崎の生まれといわれる。幼時から大力の持ち主で,誘われて江戸相撲年寄友綱良助に入門,四股名綱ケ崎を名乗ったが,廃業後干鰯景気で沸く上総九十九里浜の作田浜の網元文五郎の漁師となった。多くの舟子を必要とする漁場にあって舟子を束ねる顔役として売り出し,博徒の親分に成長した。のち下総飯岡浜に移住し,一家を構えた。天保11(1840)年には相撲会所から「近国近在相撲世話人」の証状をもらい,また関東取締出役の道案内を務める大親分となったが,下総笹川河岸を縄張りに台頭してきた新興の笹川繁蔵と対決することになる。同15年関東取締出役から繁蔵召し捕りを命ぜられたことから,対決は頂点に達し,大利根河原の決闘となるが,召し捕りに失敗し,借牢の処分を受けるはめとなった。弘化4(1847)年繁蔵を暗殺,嘉永2(1849)年取締出役が残党の勢力富五郎らを自殺させたことで一件は落着する。この事件は講談,浪曲の「天保水滸伝」となって後世に喧伝されるが,終始武闘派で殺された繁蔵に比し,助五郎はお上の手先を務め,勝利したため,判官びいきも手伝って悪役の役回りとなった。飯岡で没し,光台寺に葬られた。

(高橋敏)

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

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