Hōjō Tokimasa

Hōjō Tokimasa (1138 –1215) was the leader of the Hōjō clan. The Hōjō clan was descended from the Taira clan, and was related to the imperial family. The Hōjō clan controlled the province of Izu.

The Taira and the Minamoto became the dominant clans after the Hōgen Rebellion in 1156. In 1160 the Heiji Rebellion pitted the Taira against the Minamoto clans. Both were struggles over imperial power, that is, who would become emperor, but they resulted in establishing the supremacy of certain warrior clans. Tokimasa kept the Hōjō out of these struggles. In 1160, as a result of the Heiji Rebellion, the head of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto no Yoshitomo and his eldest sons were killed or executed. The victorious Taira under Taira no Kiyomori spared the lives of Yoshitomo’s three young sons, who were mere boys. The two youngest, Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori, were sent to monasteries. The oldest Yoritomo, 13, was brought into the Hōjō clan as an exile, under the protection of Tokimasa.

Tokimasa had two children who would become very important in the Kamakura Period: his daughter Masako, the oldest child (born 1156) and Yoshitoki (born 1163), his heir.

Masako married Minamoto no Yoritomo. Yoritomo would become the leader of the Minamoto clan.

In 1180, Prince Mochihito, a son of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa, enlisted the Minamoto leaders to go to war and oust the Taira and Emperor Antoku whom the Taira had placed on the throne. Yoritomo entered the conflict with the support of Tokimasa.

Yoritomo created his base at Kamakura, in the Izu domain. Tokimasa was his advisor. During the Genpei War Yoritomo was able to set up a system of governance of his samurai called the bakufu (“tent government”) that regulated all military matters and made his samurai loyal to him and not any governing body from Kyoto. 

The Genpei War between the Minamoto and Taira resulted in complete Minamoto victory and the death of young Emperor Antoku. The Minamoto (with the support of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa) enthroned Emperor Go-Toba. Minamoto no Yoritomo was then the undisputed military ruler of Japan. Yoritomo did not move to Kyoto, but remained in Kamakura with Tokimasa and the Hōjō clan.

Minamoto no Yoritomo relied on Hōjō Tokimasa in Kyoto after the Genpei War. Tokimasa received the imperial order for Yoritomo to “hunt down” Minamoto no Yukiie and Minamoto no Yoshitsune for their rebellion and the first appointments of shugo and jito, the stewards and constables of the Kamakura bakufu, that helped solidify allies for the new regime. Yoritomo consolidated his power by killing his brothers Minamoto no Yukiie and Minamoto no Yoshitsune. When Minamoto no Yoritomo was granted the title of shogun by Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Hōjō Tokimasa was thus the head of one of the most powerful families in Japan, he was the father-in-law of the shogun.

Hōjō no Tokimasa was then in a very good position not only politically but also with his family. In 1182, Tokimasa’s son, Yoshitoki, wed. That same year, Masako and Yoritomo had a son, Minamoto no Yoriie, Yoritomo’s heir. The next year, Yoshitoki and his wife had their first child, a son, Hōjō Yasutoki, who would become heir to the Hōjō after Yoshitoki’s death.

When Minamoto no Yoritomo died in 1199, He was succeeded by his son and heir, Minamoto no Yoriie. Since he was considered a minor at the age of 18, a regency council was created by Hōjō Tokimasa, Masako, and Yoshitoki. Tokimasa was appointed as first Hōjō shikken (regent) of the Kamakura bakufu. He remained shikken until his abdication in 1205.

Yoriie proved problematic for Tokimasa for Yoriie despised his mother, his uncles, and the Hōjō family in general, preferring his wife’s family, headed by his father-in-law Hiki Yoshikazu. Yoriie also was independent, not always going along with his grandfather, mother, or uncle. As luck would have it, for Tokimasa at least, in 1203, Yoriie became gravely ill. Tokimasa conceived a plan to divide Japan between Yoritomo’s second son, Minamoto no Sanetomo, and Minamoto no Ichiman, Yoriie’s son. Hiki Yoshikazu did not trust Tokimasa and began to plan to assassinate Tokimasa.

When Yoshikazu’s plan was revealed to Tokimasa, he proved to be equally as devious. Tokimasa invited Yoshikazu to his home for Buddhist services. After Hiki exited the services, bakufu troops executed him. Following that, Hōjō troops entered Hiki’s residence and executed high-ranking members of the Hiki clan, including Minamoto no Ichiman.

Shogun Yoriie, bedridden, abdicated. He went to Shuzenji in Izu but was murdered in 1204. It is thought that this was the work of Tokimasa.

Tokimasa installed Minamoto no Sanetomo as shogun, while he controlled the executive office (mandokoro) of the bakufu, along with Oe Hiromoto.

Tokimasa went too far after he ordered his sons Hōjō Yoshitoki, his heir, and his other son, Hōjō Tokifusa, to execute his son-in-law, Hatakeyama Shigetada, on charges of rebellion brought on by Hiraga Tomomasa. Both Yoshitoki and Tokifusa had good relations with Hatakeyama.

At this point, Tokimasa had lost the trust in Yoshitoki, Tokifusa, Masako (his oldest daughter), and their younger sister. When Yoshitoki heard rumors that Tokimasa was planning to have Shogun Sanetomo assassinated and replaced by Hiraga, who was responsible for the death of Hatakeyama, that was all they could take. Hiraga was executed. Sanetomo was placed under armed guard for his protection.  Masako and Yoshitoki informed their father that they would lead a rebellion.

Tokimasa realizing he had no more allies, retired from his post of shikken and head of the Hōjō family, shaved his head, and became a Buddhist monk, living out the rest of his days in a monastery. He died in 2015 at the age of 78.