Fujiwara no Hidesato - Fujiwara no Hidesato

Date of birth and death unknown. A powerful clan leader in the Kanto region during the mid-Heian period. His father was Shimotsuke Daijo Murao, a descendant of the Fujiwara clan of the Uona lineage, and his mother was said to be the daughter of Shimotsuke no Jō Kashima. He wielded great influence as a local lord in Shimotsuke (Tochigi Prefecture), and was exiled with 17 members of his family in 916 (Engi 16). He continued to commit acts of violence and was investigated afterwards. He excelled in military strategy, and when the Taira no Masakado Rebellion broke out, in February 940 (Tenkei 3), he marched to northern Shimōsa (Ibaraki Prefecture) with Taira no Sadamori and others as Shimotsuke no Jō and Oryōshi. For his achievement in defeating Masakado, he was appointed to the rank of Junior Fourth Rank, Shimotsuke no Kami (Lord of Shimotsuke), and Musashi no Kami (Lord of Musashi), and together with Minamoto no Tsunemoto and Taira no Sadamori, he paved the way for his advancement into the central government as a military aristocrat. His son Chiharu retired from the central political world when he was arrested during the Anna Incident (969), but his descendants spread throughout northern Kanto and Oshu, and developed into various clans such as Oyama, Yuki, Shimokobe, Ashikaga, and Watari. The story of how he defeated the centipede on Mount Mikami at the request of a dragon woman on Lake Biwa is famous in works such as "Tawara Tōda Monogatari," and he later became a popular protagonist in literature and theater.

[Toyohiko Fukuda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。平安中期の関東の豪族。父は魚名(うおな)流藤原氏の系譜を引く下野大掾村雄(しもつけだいじょうむらお)、母は下野掾鹿嶋(かしま)の女(むすめ)と伝える。下野（栃木県）の土豪として勢いを振るい、916年（延喜16）に一族17人とともに配流、その後も乱行があって糺勘(きゅうかん)されている。軍略に優れ、平将門(まさかど)の乱が起こると、940年（天慶3）2月、下野掾・押領使(おうりょうし)として平貞盛(さだもり)らと下総(しもうさ)北部（茨城県）に出陣。将門を討った功により従(じゅ)四位下、下野守(かみ)・武蔵守などに任じられ、源経基(つねもと)、平貞盛らとともに軍事貴族として中央進出の道を開いた。子千晴(ちはる)が安和(あんな)の変（969）に坐(ざ)して中央政界からは後退するが、子孫は北関東・奥羽の各地に広まり、小山(おやま)、結城(ゆうき)、下河辺(しもこうべ)、足利(あしかが)、亘理(わたり)などの各氏として発展する。琵琶(びわ)湖の竜女の願いにより三上(みかみ)山のむかでを退治した説話は『俵藤太(たわらとうだ)物語』などで有名であり、のち文学・演劇の主人公として広く親しまれる。

［福田豊彦］

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