Takatsukasa Kanehira

Japanese: 鷹司兼平 - たかつかさ・かねひら

Year of death: Eijin 2.8.8 (1294.8.30)
Year of birth: Ansei 2 (1228)
A nobleman in the mid-Kamakura period. The founder of the Takatsukasa family, one of the five regent families (the family name comes from the fact that the family had a mansion in Takatsukasa Muromachi, Kyoto). His father was the chancellor Konoe Iezane, and his mother was the daughter of Fujiwara Tadayuki, Junior Second Rank. He came of age at the age of 10 and was appointed as the Right Guard Shosho, Junior Fifth Rank Lower. The following year, he was promoted four times in one year to the rank of Gon Dainagon and Right Guard Shosho, Junior Second Rank. After this, he served as the Minister of the Interior, the Right, and the Left, and in 1252 (Kencho 4), he succeeded his brother Konoe Kanetsune and became regent and clan head at the young age of 25. In December of the previous year, a plot for rebellion was discovered in Kamakura, and the Shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, Fujiwara Yoritsugu, was replaced. Yoritsugu's grandfather Kujo Michiie died suddenly upon hearing the news, and the Minister of the Right Kujo Tadaie was also forced to resign due to his involvement in the incident. With the fall of their rival, the Kujo family, the power of the Konoe family increased relatively. It is not without this that Kanehira, who was not the legitimate heir of the Konoe family, was able to seize the position of clan head. He resigned from his official position in 1261, but from 1268 to 1275, he placed his eldest son, Mototada, in the position of regent, and in 1275, he again became regent and clan head himself, a position he held until 1287. In total, he monopolized the positions of regent and chancellor for 23 years, which is an extremely rare case. It is important to note that the Kujo family had fallen into a deep decline, and that Motohira (Kanehira's nephew), the head of the Konoe family, died young, but Kanehira himself must have been a man skilled in the art of maneuvering through life. At that time, real power in the imperial court was in the hands of the retired emperor, but it seems that Kanehira sometimes managed government affairs in lieu of the retired emperor Kameyama from the Kenji era to the beginning of the Koan era. However, this was nothing new, and as Emperor Kameyama's power rose, Kanehira's voice was lost. In 1290, he became a monk, taking the Buddhist name Kakuri. He was called Shonen'in-dono. He was the last regent to lead the government of the Imperial Court.

(Kazuto Hongo)

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

Japanese:

没年：永仁2.8.8(1294.8.30)
生年：安貞2(1228)
鎌倉中期の公卿。五摂家のひとつ鷹司家の祖(家名は京都鷹司室町に邸宅があったことによる)。父は関白近衛家実,母は従二位藤原忠行の娘。10歳で元服して正五位下右近衛少将に任官。翌年には1年のうちに4度も昇進して従二位権大納言兼右近衛大将になった。このあと内・右・左大臣を経て,建長4(1252)年,兄近衛兼経のあとをうけて25歳の若さで摂政,氏長者となる。前年12月鎌倉で謀反計画が発覚し,鎌倉幕府将軍藤原頼嗣は更迭された。頼嗣の祖父九条道家はこの報を聞いて急死し,右大臣九条忠家も事件への関与を理由に辞任させられた。ライバルである九条家が没落すると近衛家の力は相対的に増大した。近衛家の正嫡ではない兼平が氏長者の座を手中にできたのはこのことと無縁ではない。弘長1(1261)年にいったん官を辞すが,文永5(1268)年から同10年までは嫡子基忠を摂関の地位に据え,建治1(1275)年には再び自ら摂政,氏長者となって弘安10(1287)年までその任にあった。合計すると23年もの間,摂政,関白の地位を独占していたわけで,きわめて珍しい事例である。九条家の凋落が甚しかったこと,近衛本家の基平(兼平の甥)が早世したことも見逃せないが,兼平自身が処世の術にたけた人物だったのだろう。このころの朝政の実権は上皇のもとにあったが,兼平は建治年間から弘安初年にかけて,亀山上皇をさしおいて政務をみたこともあったようだ。ただしそれは何ら新味のないもので,やがて亀山上皇の勢力が台頭するとともに兼平の発言権は失われていく。正応3(1290)年に出家,法名覚理。称念院殿と称される。朝政を主導した最後の摂関であった。

(本郷和人)

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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