Mr. Okazaki

Japanese: 岡崎氏 - おかざきうじ

A medieval samurai family whose main territory was Okazaki, Osumi County, Sagami Province. A branch of the Miura clan of the Kanmu Heishi clan, Yoshizane lived in this area and called it Okazaki. Yoshizane and his son Yoshitada (Sanada Yoichi) were among the first to join his army when Minamoto no Yoritomo raised an army in 1180 (Jisho 4), but Yoshitada met a tragic end in the Battle of Ishibashiyama. Thanks in part to the achievements of his son's death in battle, Yoshizane became a powerful vassal of the Kamakura shogunate, but he is also a man with many anecdotes that are said to be typical of the single-minded Kamakura samurai. There are famous stories about how Yoshizane was happy to wear a mizuginu kimono that he had requested from Yoritomo, but was teased by the jealous Kazusa no Suke Hirotsune, who became angry and a big fight ensued; and how he was moved by the sound of Nagao Sadakage chanting sutras, who had been entrusted to him as his son's enemy, and so he spared him. However, after losing a lawsuit over the territory of his grandson Sanetada, the family fortunes declined, and Yoshizane's later years were also miserable.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

相模国大住郡岡崎を本領とする中世の武家。桓武平氏三浦氏の一族で，義実がこの地に住して岡崎を称したのに始まる。義実とその子義忠(佐奈田余一)は，1180年(治承4)の源頼朝挙兵に際していちはやくその麾下（きか）に参じ，石橋山の戦で義忠は非運の最期を遂げる。息子が戦死した功もあって，義実は鎌倉幕府の有力御家人となるが，一本気な鎌倉武士の典型として伝えられるエピソードが多い人物でもある。頼朝にねだって下された水干を着て喜んだのを，やっかみ半分の上総介広常にからかわれて腹を立て大げんかした話や，息子の仇として預けられた長尾定景の読経の声に感じて彼を助命した話などは有名であるが，孫実忠の所領をめぐる訴訟に負けてからは家運も衰え，義実の晩年も不遇であった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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