Minamoto no Yoshinaka

A military commander in the late Heian period. He was commonly known as Kiso Kanja or Kiso Yoshinaka. He was born in 1154 (Kyushu 1) in the eastern part of Japan as the second son of Yoshikata, the second son of Minamoto Tameyoshi, the legitimate heir of the Seiwa Genji clan. According to the Sonpi Bunmyaku, his mother was a prostitute. The following year, Yoshikata was attacked and killed by Yoshihira, the eldest son of his elder brother Yoshitomo, at Okura Mansion in Hiki County, Musashi Province, leaving Yoshinaka an orphan. However, thanks to the efforts of Saito Betto Sanemori and others, he was given refuge by Nakahara Kaneto, a local lord in Shinano who was the husband of Yoshinaka's wet nurse. Yoshinaka, who came of age in the mountains of Kiso, received an imperial decree from King Mochihito in 80 (Jisho 4) at the age of 27, and about a month after Minamoto no Yoritomo, he raised the flag of subjugation of the Taira clan in the Kiso Valley. Within the same year, he had taken control of Shinano and advanced to Kozuke, the hometown of his late father, and the following year, 81 (Yowa 1), he annihilated the large army of Josukemochi of Echigo, a ally of the Taira clan, at Yokota Riverbed on the Chikuma River, bringing Echigo into his sphere of influence. He subsequently came into conflict with Yoritomo, who had control over the eastern provinces, but in March of 83 (Juei 2), he sent his eldest son Yoshitaka to Kamakura to make peace with Yoritomo, and in May he defeated a large army led by Taira no Koremori, who was invading the Hokuriku road, in a night attack at Kurikara Pass on the border between Kaga and Etchu. He then won consecutive victories in the battles of Ataka and Shinohara, bringing the Hokuriku region under his control, and in July he won over Mount Hiei to his side, finally forcing the Taira clan to flee the capital, and achieving his long-cherished dream of going to Kyoto. Emperor Goshirakawa immediately appointed Yoshinaka, without any title or title, to Junior Fifth Rank, Left Horse Captain and Echigo no Kami, and then to Iyo no Kami, but due to the lack of political power resulting from the poor military discipline of the troops who marched to Kyoto, his ignorance of the court noble society, and the lack of capable advisors, Yoshinaka's reputation after his entry into Kyoto fell, and the desire for Yoritomo to march to Kyoto grew stronger among the retired emperor. In October, he was defeated in a battle to pursue the Taira clan who had marched westward at Mizushima in Bitchu, and after returning to Kyoto, the retired emperor's anti-Yoshinaka sentiment became obvious, and finally Yoshinaka expelled the retired emperor's close aides in a coup d'état, seizing dictatorial power, and in January of 84 (Genryaku 1), he became Seii Taishogun with the rank of Junior Fourth Rank, and was given the title of "Asahi Shogun." However, this was only short-lived, as at the end of the previous year he was defeated by the armies of Minamoto no Noriyori and Yoshitsune, who had set out from Kamakura as Yoritomo's deputies. On January 20th, while fleeing to the Hokuriku region, he was killed in battle at Awazu on the shores of Lake Biwa, at the age of 31.

Yoshinaka raised his troops in the Kiso Valley, which was not the base of the Minamoto clan like in the eastern provinces, and overthrew the Taira government, which was at its height of its power, in just under three years, despite his sphere of influence being in the Hokuriku region, which was made up of small samurai groups. His military strategy shows that he was a first-rate military commander. However, although he had brave subordinates such as his foster brothers Imai Kanehira and Higuchi Kanemitsu, his fatal weakness was that he had no capable political advisors other than Tayubo Kakumyo. After entering Kyoto, Kakumyo also left Yoshinaka, and not only tried to pass on the customs of the Shinshu samurai in the court society, but also forcibly pushed Prince Mochihito's son, Hokurikunomiya, to succeed to the throne after Emperor Antoku left for the west, which decisively drove the courtiers against Yoshinaka. Although he was a military commander with a strong heart, he was unable to build a strong base in the samurai society and was inevitably forced to decline.

[Shimoidetsumiyo]

“Kiso Yoshinaka” written by Shimoide Sekiyo (1966, Jinjin Oraisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安後期の武将。通称を木曽冠者(きそかんじゃ)、木曽義仲という。清和(せいわ)源氏の嫡流源為義(ためよし)の次子義賢(よしかた)の次男として1154年（久寿1）東国に生まれた。『尊卑分脈(そんぴぶんみゃく)』によれば母は遊女。翌年、義賢は兄義朝(よしとも)の長子義平(よしひら)に武蔵(むさし)国比企(ひき)郡の大倉(おおくら)館に襲われて討ち死にし、義仲は孤児となったが、斎藤別当実盛(べっとうさねもり)らの計らいで義仲の乳母(めのと)の夫である信濃(しなの)の土豪中原兼遠(かねとお)にかくまわれた。木曽の山中で成人した義仲は、27歳の80年（治承4）以仁(もちひと)王の令旨(りょうじ)を受け、源頼朝(よりとも)の約1か月のち平氏討伐の旗を木曽谷にあげた。年内に信濃を手中にして亡父の故地上野(こうずけ)まで進出、翌81年（養和1）平氏側の越後(えちご)の城助茂(じょうすけもち)の大軍を千曲(ちくま)川の横田河原で壊滅し、越後を勢力圏に入れた。その後、東国を支配下に置いた頼朝と対立したが、83年（寿永2）3月長子義高(よしたか)を鎌倉に送って頼朝と和睦(わぼく)、5月に北陸道を進攻してきた平維盛(これもり)らの大軍を加賀・越中境の倶利伽羅(くりから)峠に夜襲をかけて大破し、続く安宅(あたか)・篠原(しのはら)の戦いにも連勝、北陸を支配下に収め、7月には比叡(ひえい)山を味方に引き入れて、ついに平氏一門を都落ちさせ、念願の上洛(じょうらく)を果たした。後白河(ごしらかわ)法皇はただちに義仲を無位無冠から従(じゅ)五位下左馬頭(さまのかみ)兼越後守(えちごのかみ)ついで伊予守に任じたが、上洛軍の軍紀の乱れと、彼の公家(くげ)社会への無知や有能な顧問がいなかったことからくる政治力の欠如によって、入京後の義仲の評価は下がり、頼朝の上洛を望む空気が院中に強まった。西下した平氏を追討する戦いも10月に備中水島(びっちゅうみずしま)で敗れ、帰洛してから院の反義仲色は露骨となり、ついに義仲はクーデターで院の近臣を追放して独裁権を握り、84年（元暦1）正月に従四位下征夷(せいい)大将軍となり「旭(あさひ)将軍」と称された。しかしそれもつかのまで、前年末に頼朝の代官として鎌倉を進発していた源範頼(のりより)・義経(よしつね)の軍に敗れ、1月20日北陸道へ落ちる途中、琵琶湖畔の粟津(あわづ)で31歳で討ち死にした。

　東国のように源氏の地盤でない木曽谷で兵をあげ、小武士団からなる北陸を勢力圏としていたにもかかわらず、全盛を誇っていた平氏政権をわずか3年足らずで打倒した武略は、義仲が第一流の武将であったことを示す。しかし乳兄弟の今井兼平(かねひら)・樋口兼光(ひぐちかねみつ)のような勇武な部将はいたが、大夫房覚明(たゆうぼうかくみょう)以外に有能な政治顧問のいなかったのが致命的弱点であった。その覚明も入京後は義仲から離れ、信州武士の習いを公家社会で通そうとしたのみならず、安徳(あんとく)天皇西下後の皇位継承に、以仁王の皇子北陸宮(ほくろくのみや)を強引に推したのが、公家を決定的に反義仲に追いやった。情に厚い武将であったが、武士社会のなかに強い地盤を築く余裕もなく没落していかざるをえなかったのである。

［下出積與］

『下出積與著『木曽義仲』（1966・人物往来社）』

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