Yoshida Sadafusa

Japanese: 吉田定房 - よしだ・さだふさ

Year of death: Rekio 1/Engen 3.1.23 (1338.2.13)
Year of birth: Bun'ei 11 (1274)
He was a nobleman in the late Kamakura period and the early period of the Northern and Southern Courts. His father was Gon Dainagon Tsunenaga, and his mother was the daughter of Gon Chunagon Kotobuki Sadatsugu. His father was a senior vassal in the Daikakuji line, and Sadafusa also served the retired Emperor Go-Uda and Emperor Go-Daigo, and was highly trusted. He served as an envoy to the Kamakura shogunate several times as a representative of the Daikakuji line, and in 1321 he went to Kamakura to consult on whether or not to end Go-Uda's cloistered government and start Emperor Go-Daigo's direct rule. After receiving the Shogunate's approval and returning to Kyoto, he was highly valued by Emperor Go-Daigo, and together with Manri-no-koji Nobufusa and Kitabatake Chikafusa, he was called "Go-no-Mifusa" (The Three Fusa) in reference to the "Mifusa" of the Go-Sanjo Court. In 1324, when Emperor Go-Daigo's plan to overthrow the Shogunate was revealed and the Shochu Incident occurred, Sadafusa helped the Emperor by making a plea. Sadafusa judged it impossible to quickly overthrow the shogunate, and often remonstrated with the emperor, who continued to prepare for an uprising. In 1330, he presented a ten-point opinion paper arguing that overthrowing the shogunate was impossible. However, the emperor did not accept this, so in 1331, Sadafusa finally informed the shogunate of a plot to overthrow the shogunate, led by Hino Toshiki. He tried to protect the emperor and the imperial court at the expense of Toshiki. This sparked the Genko Rebellion, in which the emperor was exiled to Oki Islands, and a nationwide civil war began. When the shogunate was eventually destroyed and the emperor returned to Kyoto to establish the Kenmu Restoration, Sadafusa was once again used to great advantage, and promoted to Minister of the Interior. As it was customary for members of his family to only reach the rank of Dainagon, this shows the degree of the emperor's trust in him. In 1336, when Ashikaga Takauji raised an army and the Emperor barricaded himself in Yoshino, Sadafusa followed him and served the Southern Court, eventually dying in Yoshino. He wrote a diary, "Kichigaiki."

(Kazuto Hongo)

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

Japanese:

没年：暦応1/延元3.1.23(1338.2.13)
生年：文永11(1274)
鎌倉後期・南北朝初期の公卿。父は権大納言経長,母は権中納言葉室定嗣の娘。父は大覚寺統に仕える重臣で,定房もまた後宇多上皇,後醍醐天皇に仕えて信任が厚かった。大覚寺統の代表として何度か鎌倉幕府への使者に立ったが,元亨1(1321)年には後宇多院政の停止・後醍醐天皇親政の開始の可否を諮るために鎌倉に赴いた。幕府の賛同を引き出して帰京すると後醍醐天皇に重く用いられ,万里小路宣房,北畠親房と共に,後三条朝の「三房」になぞらえて「後の三房」と称された。正中1(1324)年,後醍醐天皇の討幕計画が露顕し,正中の変が起こると,陳弁につとめて天皇を助けた。定房は早急な討幕は不可能であると判断し,なおも挙兵の準備をすすめる天皇をしばしば諫めた。元徳2(1330)年には10カ条の意見書を奉呈して討幕の不可を論じている。しかし天皇はこれを容れなかったため,ついに定房は元徳3/元弘1(1331)年,日野俊基を主謀者とする討幕計画が存在することを幕府に密告した。俊基を犠牲にして,天皇と朝廷とを守ろうとしたのである。これが発端となって元弘の乱が起こり,天皇は隠岐に流されて全国的な内乱が始まる。やがて幕府が滅び,天皇が帰京して建武の新政が行われると,定房は再び重く用いられ,内大臣に昇進した。彼の家は大納言どまりが通例であったから,天皇の信任のほどが知れる。建武3/延元1(1336)年足利尊氏が挙兵して天皇が吉野に立て籠もると定房もこれを追って南朝に仕え,まもなく吉野に没した。日記『吉槐記』がある。

(本郷和人)

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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