Minamoto no Yorimitsu - The source of the

Japanese: 源頼光 - みなもとのよりみつ

Year of death: 19 July 1021 (29 August 1021)
Year of birth: Tenryaku 2 (948)
A military commander in the mid-Heian period. The eldest son of Mitsunaka. The ancestor of the Settsu Genji clan. He served Emperor Sanjo, who was the Crown Prince, for a long period of more than twenty years. During this time, he was ordered by the Crown Prince to shoot a fox sleeping on the west side of the temple hall with an arrow with a frog's eye, which he did brilliantly. In 988, he presented 30 horses to guests at a banquet celebrating the completion of the new residence of Regent Fujiwara Kaneie, and in 1018, when Kaneie's son Michinaga rebuilt the Tsuchimikado Palace, he presented all of the furniture and furnishings. His service to the regents is noticeable, but it is likely that he was providing economic service using the wealth he gained while serving as the governor of Tajima (Hyogo Prefecture) and Mino Province (Gifu Prefecture). When he became the governor of Mino, he exchanged letters with Oe Masahira, who had become the governor of the neighboring province of Owari, to celebrate each other's departure (Honcho Bunsui, Volume 7). Like his father, he had a mansion in the Sakyo district of Heian-kyo, and for a time he had Fujiwara no Michitsuna live there as his son-in-law. The story of him cutting off the head of Onitsumaru and the story of Shuten-doji tell us of his fierceness as a warrior, but this cannot be found in the official history, and it is believed that he was a bodyguard who served the regent family.

(Oboriya Hisashi)

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

Japanese:

没年：治安1.7.19(1021.8.29)
生年：天暦2(948)
平安中期の武将。満仲の嫡男。摂津源氏の祖。二十余年という長期間にわたり東宮時代の三条天皇に仕えた。この間,御堂の西で寝ている狐を蟇目の矢で射ることを東宮から命ぜられ見事に射たという。永延2(988)年摂政藤原兼家の新第落成の祝宴で客人に馬30頭を贈り,寛仁2(1018)年兼家の子,道長の土御門殿再建のとき家具,調度のすべてを献上した。摂関家への奉仕が目立つが,但馬(兵庫県)や美濃国(岐阜県)などの国守を歴任した間に得た財力で経済的な奉仕を行ったものであろう。美濃守になったとき,隣国の尾張守となった大江匡衡とたがいの門出を祝って書簡を交わしている(『本朝文粋』巻7)。父と同様,平安京左京一条に邸を構え,一時期,藤原道綱を婿に迎えて住まわせた。鬼同丸の首を打ちおとした話や酒呑童子の話は猛き武者ぶりを伝えるが,正史からは探れず,摂関家に臣従した護衛役というところが実像であろう。<参考文献>朧谷寿『源頼光』

(朧谷寿)

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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