Minamoto no Sanetomo - Minamoto no Sanetomo

Japanese: 源実朝 - みなもとのさねとも

Year of death: 27th January, 1219 (13th February, 1219)
Year of birth: 3rd August 9th of Kenkyu (1192.9.17)
The third Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate. As the second son of Yoritomo and Hojo Masako, he was born just after Yoritomo was appointed Shogun. Yoritomo gathered influential people in the Shogunate to ask for their future protection, and unlike his older brother Yoriie, he grew up under the protection of his grandfather Hojo Tokimasa, with great expectations. As Yoriie succeeded him as Shogun and the conflict with powerful Gokenin deepened, Yoritomo's presence gradually increased, and in August 1203 (Kennin 3), when Yoriie fell seriously ill, he was given the position of Jito of 38 provinces in the Kansai region, and on September 2, when Yoriie was imprisoned in Izu during the Hiki Rebellion, he was finally appointed Shogun. At first, he needed the assistance and guardianship of Tokimasa, Masako, and Hojo Yoshitoki, but in July 1204 (Genkyu 1), he directly listened to the government, and eventually established the Shogun's Household Management Office and enhanced the Shogunate's litigation and political system centered on the Mandokoro. In 1209, he was promoted to the rank of Junior Third Rank and became a nobleman. He issued a letter from the Shogun's Household Affairs Office, concentrating real power in the office of the Emperor, and implemented a succession of new policies. His politics were heavily influenced by Kyoto politics, and he actively adopted Kyoto-style culture. He invited a samurai reader from Kyoto, and instead of marrying the daughter of Ashikaga Yoshikane, who had been chosen as the Empress's wife, he married the daughter of Bomon Nobumasa, who was the sister of the Nishi no Mikado, a favorite of Emperor Gotoba. He was so passionate about kemari and waka poetry, which Emperor Gotoba was passionate about, that he was criticized for "making utamari his profession in this day and age, like the decline of martial arts." In July 1209, he sent 30 waka poems he had composed to Fujiwara no Teika, asking for his guidance, and these waka poems were compiled after his death as the Kinkai Wakashu. In order to transplant this culture to the shogunate, he developed a cultural space centered on the palace's sleeping quarters, and created a Kyoto-style cultural space in the eastern part of the country. However, as they had no children, the issue of succession arose, and Masako went to Kyoto to secure a promise to welcome Emperor Gotoba's son Yorihito as his successor. Emperor Gotoba likely envisioned a shogunate that could be regulated by Sanetomo, using him as a receptacle. Thus, his official rank rose one after another, but this caused great concern among the vassals of the Kanto region. In particular, the aftereffects of the Wada War, in which Hojo Yoshitoki had fought in the forefront, were great. After the battle, he was caught between the criticism of the anti-Hojo vassals and the forces of Kyoto, and was mentally exhausted, but it was Eisai who comforted him. On February 4, 1214 (Kenpo 2), he recommended a medicine from China and presented him with a book titled "Kissa Yojoki" (Record of Healthy Living with Tea). Next came Chin Heqing, a man from Song who cast the Great Buddha of Todaiji Temple. Under his influence, he built a Chinese ship and attempted to travel to Song, but the ship did not float at Yuinoura and rotted away. He then tried to strengthen the government office in the fourth year of Kenpo, but he became increasingly wary of the power of Kyoto, and in January of Jokyu 1 (1219), he was killed by his nephew Kugyo along with his attendant reader Minamoto Nakaaki, immediately after visiting Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine to congratulate the Minister of the Right. <References> Yoshimoto Takaaki, "Minamoto no Sanetomo," Gomi Fumihiko, "Azuma Kagami no Hodo"

(Fumihiko Gomi)

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

Japanese:

没年：承久1.1.27(1219.2.13)
生年：建久3.8.9(1192.9.17)
鎌倉幕府第3代将軍。頼朝と北条政子の次男として頼朝が征夷大将軍に補任された直後に生まれる。頼朝は幕府の有力者を集めてその将来の守護を頼んでおり,また兄頼家と違って祖父北条時政の保護の下で大きな期待をかけられて成長。頼家が跡を継いで将軍となり有力御家人との対立が深まるにつれ,その存在は次第に重みを増していき,頼家が重病になった建仁3(1203)年8月には関西38カ国の地頭職を譲られ,9月2日に頼家が比企氏の乱により伊豆に幽閉されると,ついに将軍に立てられた。当初は時政や政子,北条義時の補佐,後見を必要としたが,元久1(1204)年7月には直接に政道を聴断し,やがて将軍家政所を整備し政所を中心にした幕府の訴訟,政治制度を充実させていった。承元3(1209)年に従三位になって公家に列すると,将軍家政所下文を発して政所に実権を集め,次々と新たな政策を展開していった。その政治には京都の政治の影響が強く,また積極的に京風の文化を取り入れた。京都から侍読を招き,御台所に足利義兼の娘が決まっていたのを覆えして後鳥羽上皇の寵愛する西御方の姉妹で坊門信清の娘を妻にしている。後鳥羽上皇が熱中していた蹴鞠と和歌にも,「当代は歌鞠をもって業となす,武芸廃れるに似たり」と批判されるほどに執心した。承元3年7月には詠んだ和歌30首を藤原定家に送って指導を求めており,和歌は死後に『金槐和歌集』としてまとめられた。こうした文化を幕府に移植するため,御所の寝殿を中心とする文化空間を整備し,東国に京風の文化空間を創っていった。しかし,子が生まれなかったことから後継者問題が起きて,政子は上洛して後鳥羽上皇の皇子頼仁を後継者として迎える約束をとりつけた。後鳥羽上皇は実朝を受け皿にして意のままになる幕府を構想したのであろう。かくしてその官位は次々と上昇していったが,それは関東の御家人に大きな危惧を生んだ。特に和田合戦では北条義時が表に立てて戦っただけに後遺症は大きく,合戦後,反北条勢力の御家人の批判と京の勢力との板挟みにあい,精神的にまいったが,それを慰めたのが栄西である。建保2(1214)年2月4日には中国伝来の良薬を勧め,その効能を記した書『喫茶養生記』を進呈した。次いで現れたのは東大寺の大仏を鋳た宋人陳和卿で,その影響で唐船を建造して渡宋を試みたが,船は由比の浦に浮かばず朽ち果てる。次いで建保4年に政所の充実をはかったが,京の勢力を警戒する動きが強まり,承久1(1219)年1月に右大臣拝賀のため鶴岡八幡宮に詣でた直後に甥の公暁によって侍読の源仲章と共に殺害された。<参考文献>吉本隆明『源実朝』,五味文彦『吾妻鏡の方法』

(五味文彦)

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

<<: Shigeyuki Minamoto

>>: Minamoto no Kaneyuki