Yoshisada Nitta - Yoshisada Nitta

A military commander on the side of the Southern Court during the period of the Northern and Southern Courts at the end of the Kamakura period. Son of Tomou-ji. He was the head of the powerful Nitta clan, based in Nitta-sho, Kozuke Province (parts of Ota City, Isesaki City, and Midori City, Gunma Prefecture), but as he was known by his nickname Kotaro, he was merely a retainer who was so neglected by the Kamakura Shogunate that he did not even have an official title. During the Genko Incident (1331), he initially participated in the attack on Chihaya Castle as part of the Shogunate army, but returned home midway through. In 1333 (Genko 3, Shokei 2), he received an imperial decree from Prince Moriyoshi and rebelled against the Hojo clan and raised an army. With his clan in Kozuke and Echigo as his core, he rallied anti-Shogunate forces from all over the Kanto region, won the battles of Kotesashigahara (Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture) and Bubaigawara (Fuchu City, Tokyo), took Kamakura on May 22, and forced the regent Hojo Takatoki and others to commit suicide. Due to his achievements, he was highly valued under the Kenmu government, and was appointed as the provincial governor of Echigo and other areas, head of the military staff, and was further promoted to Sakonoe no Chujo, but he soon came into fierce conflict with Ashikaga Takauji. In 35 (Kenmu 2), he pursued Takauji, who had descended to the Kanto region, but was defeated in the Battle of Hakone Bamboo. Shortly after, however, they attacked Takauji, who had come to Kyoto, and were victorious in the Battle of Kyoto, driving him back to Kyushu for a time. In 36 (1st year of the Engen era, 3rd year of the Kenmu era), they fought against Takauji, who had risen again, at Minatogawa and Ikuta Forest in Settsu (Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture), and Emperor Godaigo's side lost Masashige Kusunoki and others, and were forced to abandon Kyoto. After that, Yoshisada moved to Hokuriku and attempted to make a comeback with Echizen Kanagasaki Castle (Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture) as his base, but in 1804 he lost it and his eldest son Yoshiaki also committed suicide. Then, on July 2, leap year 1805, during a battle with the army of the guardian Shibata Takatsune and the monks of Hiraizumi Temple in Fujishima, Echizen (Fukui City), he encountered an ambush and was killed in battle. After leaving Kozuke to attack Kamakura, Yoshisada never set foot in the area again. Compared to the Ashikaga clan, whose clans acted together under Takauji and Tadayoshi, the Nitta clan was of course of lower status, but from the beginning, powerful clans such as the Yamana and Iwamatsu clans acted separately from Yoshisada, and Yoshisada could only mobilize a few illegitimate families of the main line, such as his younger brother Yoshisuke Wakiya, the Odate and Horiguchi clans, and in this respect Yoshisada's weakness was already apparent. Nevertheless, Yoshisada was made to rival Takauji by Godaigo, and he met a tragic end.

[Chijiwa Toru]

"The Fundamental Historical Materials of the Nitta Clan" by Chiji Kazumi (1974, Kokusho Kankokai)" ▽ "Japanese History 9: The Northern and Southern Courts War" by Sato Shinichi (1965, Chuokoron-Shinsha) ▽ "Japanese History 11: The Northern and Southern Courts War" by Sato Kazuhiko (1974, Shogakukan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鎌倉末・南北朝時代の南朝方の武将。朝氏(ともうじ)の子。上野(こうずけ)国新田荘(しょう)（群馬県太田市、伊勢崎市とみどり市の各一部）を拠点とする豪族新田氏の惣領(そうりょう)であったが、小太郎という通称から知られるように、官途名すらもたぬほど鎌倉幕府からは冷遇された一御家人(ごけにん)にすぎなかった。元弘(げんこう)の変（1331）には、初め幕府軍の一員として千早(ちはや)城攻撃に加わったが、その途中帰国。1333年（元弘3・正慶2）、護良(もりよし)親王の令旨(りょうじ)を得て北条氏に背き挙兵。上野・越後(えちご)に展開する一族を中核に、関東各地の反幕府勢力を糾合、小手指原(こてさしがはら)（埼玉県所沢市）・分倍河原(ぶばいがわら)（東京都府中市）の合戦に勝ち、5月22日鎌倉を落とし、得宗(とくそう)北条高時(たかとき)以下を自殺させた。その功により、建武(けんむ)政権下では重用され、越後などの国司(こくし)、武者所頭人(むしゃどころとうにん)、さらに昇進して左近衛中将(さこのえのちゅうじょう)などに任ぜられたが、やがて足利尊氏(あしかがたかうじ)と激しく対立するようになる。35年（建武2）、関東に下った尊氏を追撃するが箱根竹の下の合戦に大敗。しかしその直後、上洛(じょうらく)した尊氏を迎撃、京都合戦で勝利を収め、一時は尊氏を九州に追い落とす。36年（延元1・建武3）、再挙した尊氏と摂津湊川(せっつみなとがわ)・生田(いくた)の森（兵庫県神戸市）に戦い、後醍醐(ごだいご)天皇方は楠木正成(くすのきまさしげ)らを失い、京都を放棄した。その後、義貞は北陸に移り、越前金(えちぜんかな)ヶ崎(さき)城（福井県敦賀(つるが)市）を拠点に再起を図るが、37年これを失陥、嫡男義顕(よしあき)も自刃、ついで38年閏(うるう)7月2日、越前藤島（福井市）で守護斯波高経(しばたかつね)・平泉(へいせん)寺衆徒の軍と合戦中、伏兵に遭遇、戦死した。義貞は、鎌倉攻めのため上野を出たあと、ついに一度も上野の地を踏むことはなかった。尊氏・直義(ただよし)を中心に一族がまとまって行動した足利氏に比べ、新田氏は家格の低さももちろんだが、山名(やまな)・岩松(いわまつ)氏ら有力な一族が当初から義貞と別行動をとり、わずかに弟脇屋義助(わきやよしすけ)をはじめ、大館(おおだち)・堀口(ほりぐち)氏らの本宗系の庶子家しか動員しえなかったのであり、この点に、すでに義貞の非力さが存在した。にもかかわらず義貞は後醍醐によって尊氏の対抗馬に仕立て上げられ、悲劇の末路をたどることになったのである。

［千々和到］

『千々和実著『新田氏根本史料』（1974・国書刊行会）』▽『佐藤進一著『日本の歴史9　南北朝の動乱』（1965・中央公論社）』▽『佐藤和彦著『日本の歴史11　南北朝内乱』（1974・小学館）』

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