Minamoto no Yoshiie

Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039 – 1106), also known as Hachimantarō, was a Minamoto clan busho (military commander) of the Late Heian Period, and Chinjufu shogun (Commander-in-chief of the defense of the North). He was the grandson of Minamoto no Yorinobu of the Kawachi-Genji (Minamoto clan). He became famous as a skillful and brave warrior in the Zenkunen War (Early Nine Years’ War), the Gosannen War (Later Three Years’ War), and as a guard for Emperor Shirakawa. He has been greatly admired over the years and many legends and anecdotes were made about him, as well as much historical research and debate.

Kawachi-Genji was a branch of Seiwa-Genji based in Kawachi province. Seiwa-Genji was a family of Imperial descendants of Emperor Seiwa, who were given the family name, Minamoto.

His highest official rank before his death was Shoshiinoge (Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade).

The Early Nine Years’ War

While most provinces were overseen by just a Governor, Mutsu Province, the Honshū region in northeastern Japan, also had a general in charge of controlling the Emishi natives, who had been subjugated when the Japanese took over the area in the ninth century. Historically, this post was held by a member of the Abe clan. Many conflicts arose between the Abe general and the Governor over administrative control of the province.

Abe no Yoritoki was levying taxes and confiscating property without remitting same to the government. The Governor asked the government in Kyoto for help. Minamoto no Yoriyoshi was appointed both Governor and Chinjufu Shogun and sent to Mutsu to reign in Abe. Yoshiie, then about fifteen, went with his father.

The campaign against the Abe clan lasted twelve years (nine, with three years truce). Yoshiie fought alongside his father in most if not every battle. Abe no Yoritoki died in 1057, but his son Abe no Sadato took command of their forces. Yoriyoshi finally defeated the Abe clan with the assistance of the Kiyohara clan (sometimes referred to as Kiyowara) of Dewa no kuni (Dewa Province).

Yoshiie returned to Kyoto in early 1063 with many trophy heads including that of Abe no Sadato.

Yoshiie was awarded for his valor by being assigned to the Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) of Dewa no kuni no kami (Governor of Dewa Province) on February 25, 1063.

As a result of his dramatic prowess in battle, he earned the name Hachimantarō, the son of Hachiman, the god of war. 

The Later Three Years War

Yoshiie was the chief commander in another important conflict of the Heian period, The Later Three Years War.

After becoming the Governor of Mutsu Province in 1083, he interfered in the internal conflict of the Kiyohara clan, triggering The Later Three Years’ War. This was the same Kiyohara that had fought alongside of his father against the Abe clan. Kiyohara no Masahira, Harihira, and Iehira were disputing leadership over the Kiyohara clan that had turned violent.

It was a war of shifting alliances. Initially Yoshiie allied with Iehira, attempting diplomacy. Failing that, Yoshiie alongside Iehira and Fujiwara no Kiyohira battled Kiyohara no Sanehira. After Sanehira was defeated, Iehira and Yoshiie fought.

It was a war of difficult terrain, bitter cold and snow, and slaughter on both sides. During the winter of 1086, the Minamoto had to withdraw. Iehira, with his uncle Takahira, then established a camp near Yoshiie’s fortress at Kanezawa.  

Everything came to a head in 1087, at the Kanazawa stockade. Yoshiie, allied with his brother Yoshimitsu and Fujiwara no Kiyohira, laid siege to the Kiyowara position from August to November 1087. After many months of failed starts and skirmishes, the stockade was set aflame, and the Kiyohara defeated and both Iehira and Takahira killed.

Despite Yoshiie’s heroics, his action was not sanctioned by the Imperial Court. Rather the court dispatched an order to terminate the hostilities, referring to it as a private war, “Yoshiie’s Battle.”

After his victory, Yoshiie sought official post-war consent but was rejected by the Court. The Court considered it a “private war,” and gave Yoshiie no reward and removed him as which, because it considered it a ‘private war,’ made no reward and removed him as Governor of Mutsu Province.

Yoshiie did not remit Mutsu Province’s tax to the Court, which repeatedly pressed him for several years. The law at that time required the submission of a designated amount of tax to pass the Zuryo-koka-sadame (criteria to determine if one is eligible for employment) to be assigned to an official government post, and Yoshiie’s rank remained unchanged. Instead Yoshiie returned to Kyoto and resumed his post commanding the Palace Guards and escorting the emperor.

The Claws and Fangs of Emperor Shirakawa

While Yoshiie was not rewarded for his “private battle” in The Later Three Years’ War, Emperor Shirakawa was not above using him for his own purposes. Yoshiie became the claws and fangs of Emperor Shirakawa. Some of his most notable actions were as follows. Hunting and killing Minamoto no Shigemune, the Office of the Right Division of the Middle Palace guards for feuding with Minamoto no Kunifusa in Mino Province. In September 1081, Yoshiie was sent to quell a disturbance caused by warrior monks of Onjo-ji Temple who had attacked Enryaku-ji Temple (in retaliation for actions by the warrior monks of Enryaku-ji).  In October 1081, Yoshiie and his younger brother, Minamoto no Yoshitsuna, formed a guard to protect Emperor Shirakawa during his imperial visit to Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu Shrine from attacks by Onjo-ji warrior monks. Later Yoshiie was ordered to raise a sizeable force to protect Kyoto against a rumored attack by the combined forces of the warrior monks of Enryaku-ji and Onjo-ji. In 1104, Yoshiie and Yoshitsuna chased and captured warrior monks from Mt. Hiei

Promotion, a visit to the Imperial Residence, to Death

In 1098, after a ten year wait, Yoshiie passed the Zuryo-kokka-sadame, with the help of Emperor Shirakawa and was promoted to Shoshiinoge (Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade) in a special ceremony that ruffled a few feathers of the kugyo (aristocracy). Yoshiie was also granted permission to visit the Imperial Palace in October. Both extraordinary events.

In 1106, Yoshiie was dispatched to aid his son, Minamoto no Yoshikuni (the ancestor of the Ashikaga clan) who was battling his uncle, Minamoto no Yoshimitsu, with an imperial arrest warrant for Yoshimitsu. During the campaign, Yoshiie died.

Descendants
Minamoto no Yoritomo, who established the Kamakura bakufu.

Ashikaga Takauji (also known as Minamoto no Takauji), who established the Muromachi bakufu. 

Yoshisada Nitta (also known as Minamoto no Yoshisada) samurai of the Southern Court.