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He had seen his elder brother and two of
the latter's three sons done to death. He had seen the "removal" of
several of his father's most trusted lieutenants. He had seen the
gradual upbuilding of the Hojo power on this hecatomb of victims.
That he perceived something of his own danger would seem to be a
natural inference. Yet if he entertained such apprehensions, he never
communicated them to his mother, Masa, who, from her place of high
prestige and commanding intellect, could have reshaped the issue.
The fact would appear to be that Hojo Yoshitoki's intrigues were too
subtle for the perception of Sanetomo or even of the lady Masa.
Yoshitoki had learned all the lessons of craft and cunning that his
father could teach and had supplemented them from the resources of
his own marvellously fertile mind. His uniformly successful practice
was to sacrifice the agents of his crimes in order to hide his own
connexion with them, and never to seize an opportunity until its
possibilities were fully developed. Tokimasa had feigned ignorance of
his daughter's liaison with Yoritomo, but had made it the occasion to
raise an army which could be directed either against Yoritomo or in
his support, as events ordered. There are strong reasons to think
that the vendetta of the Soga brothers was instigated by Tokimasa and
Yoshitoki, and that Yoritomo was intended to be the ultimate victim.
This was the beginning of a long series of intrigues which led to the
deaths of Yoriiye and two of his sons, of Hatakeyama Shigetada, of
Minamoto Tomomasa, of Wada Yoshimori, and of many a minor partisan of
the Yoritomo family. In the pursuit of his sinister design, there
came a time when Yoshitoki had to choose between his father and his
sister. He sacrificed the former unhesitatingly, and it is very
probable that such a choice helped materially to hide from the lady
Masa the true purport of his doings. For that it did remain hidden
from her till the end is proved by her failure to guard the life of
Sanetomo, her own son, and by her subsequent co-operation with his
slayer, Yoshitoki, her brother. A mother's heart would never
wittingly have prompted such a course.
There is a tradition that Sanetomo provoked the resentment of Masa
and Yoshitoki by accepting high offices conferred on him by
Kyoto--chunagon, and general of the Left division of the guards--in
defiance of Yoritomo's motto, "Wield power in fact but never in
name," and contrary to remonstrances addressed to him through the
agency of Oye no Hiromoto. There is also a tradition that, under
pretense of visiting China in the company of a Chinese bonze, Chen
Hosiang, he planned escape to the Kinai or Chugoku (central Japan),
there to organize armed resistance to the Hojo designs. But it is
very doubtful whether these pages of history, especially the latter,
should not be regarded in the main as fiction. Sanetomo was too much
of a littérateur to be an astute politician, and what eluded the
observation of his lynx-eyed mother might well escape his perception.
In 1217, Yoshitoki invited Kugyo from Kyoto and appointed him to be
betto of the shrine of Hachiman (the god of War) which stood on the
hill of Tsurugaoka overlooking the town of Kamakura. Kugyo was the
second and only remaining legitimate son of Yoriiye. He had seen his
father and his two brothers done to death, and he himself had been
obliged to enter religion, all of which misfortunes he had been
taught by Yoshitoki's agents to ascribe to the partisans of his
uncle, Sanetomo. Longing for revenge, the young friar waited. His
opportunity came early in 1219. Sanetomo, having been nominated
minister of the Left by the Kyoto Court, had to repair to the
Tsurugaoka shrine to render thanks to the patron deity of his family.
The time was fixed for ten o 'clock on the night of February 12th.
Oye no Hiromoto, who had cognizance of the plot, hid his guilty
knowledge by offering counsels of caution. He advised that the
function should be deferred until daylight, or, at any rate, that the
shogun should wear armour. Minamoto Nakaakira combatted both
proposals and they were rejected. Sanetomo had a vague presentiment
of peril. He gave a lock of his hair to one of his squires and
composed a couplet:
Though I am forth and gone,
And tenantless my home;
Forget not thou the Spring,
Oh! plum tree by the eaves.
Then he set out, escorted by a thousand troopers, his sword of State
borne by the regent, Yoshitoki. But at the entrance to the shrine
Yoshitoki turned back, pretending to be sick and giving the sword to
Nakaakira. Nothing untoward occurred until, the ceremony being
concluded, Sanetomo had begun to descend a broad flight of stone
steps that led from the summit of the hill. Then suddenly Kugyo
sprang out, killed Sanetomo and Nakaakira, carrying off the head of
the former, and, having announced himself as his father's avenger,
succeeded in effecting his escape. But he had been the agent of
Yoshitoki's crime, and his survival would have been inconvenient.
Therefore, when he appealed to the Miura mansion for aid, emissaries
were sent by the regent's order to welcome and to slay him. Sanetomo
perished in his twenty-eighth year. All accounts agree that he was
not a mere poet--though his skill in that line was remarkable--but
that he also possessed administrative talent; that he strove
earnestly to live up, and make his officers live up, to the ideals of
his father, Yoritomo, and that he never wittingly committed an
injustice.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HOJO REGENCY
Thus, after three generations occupying a period of only forty years,
the Minamoto family was ruined, and the reins of power were
effectually transferred to Hojo hands. It would seem natural, in the
sequence of events, that the office of shogun should now descend to
the Hojo. But Yoshitoki understood that such a measure would convict
him of having contrived the downfall of Yoritomo's progeny in Hojo
interests. Therefore a step was taken, worthy of the sagacity of the
lady Masa and her brother, the regent. The Bakufu petitioned the
Kyoto Court to appoint an Imperial prince to the post of shogun. That
would have invested the Kamakura Government with new dignity in the
eyes of the nation. But the ex-Emperor, Go-Toba, upon whom it
devolved to decide the fate of this petition, rejected it
incontinently.
His Majesty, as will presently be seen, was seeking to contrive the
downfall of the Bakufu, and the idea of associating one of his own
sons with its fortunes must have revolted him. In the face of this
rebuff, nothing remained for the Bakufu except recourse to the
descendants of the Minamoto in the female line. Yoritomo's elder
sister had married into the Fujiwara family, and her greatgrandson,
Yoritsune, a child of two, was carried to Kamakura and installed as
the head of the Minamoto. Not until 1226, however, was he invested
with the title of shogun, and in that interval of seven years a
momentous chapter was added to the history of Japan.
THE SHOKYU STRUGGLE
The Shokyu era (1219-1222) gave its name to a memorable conflict
between Kyoto and Kamakura. Affairs in the Imperial capital were
ruled at that time by the ex-Emperor, Go-Toba. We have seen how, in
1198, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Tsuchimikado. It is
not impossible that the idea of rebelling, sooner or later, against
the Bakufu had begun to germinate in the mind of Go-Toba at that
date, but the probability is that, in laying aside the sceptre, his
dominant aim was to enjoy the sweets of power without its
responsibilities, and to obtain leisure for pursuing polite
accomplishments in which he excelled. His procedure, however,
constituted a slight to the Bakufu, for the change of sovereign was
accomplished without any reference whatever to Kamakura. Tsuchimikado
was a baby of three at the time of his accession. He had been chosen
by lot from among three sons of Go-Toba, but the choice displeased
the latter, and in 1210, Tsuchimikado, then in his fifteenth year,
was compelled to abdicate in favour of his younger brother, Juntoku,
aged thirteen, the eighty-fourth occupant of the throne. Again,
Kamakura was not consulted; but the neglect evoked no remonstrance,
for Sanetomo held the post of shogun at the time, and Sanetomo always
maintained an attitude of deference towards the Imperial Court which
had nominated him to high office.
Juntoku held the sceptre eleven years, and then (1221) he, too,
abdicated at his father's request. Very different considerations,
however, were operative on this occasion. Go-Toba had now definitely
resolved to try armed conclusions with the Bakufu, and he desired to
have the assistance of his favourite son, Juntoku. Thus three
cloistered Emperors had their palaces in Kyoto simultaneously. They
were distinguished as Hon-in (Go-Toba), Chu-in (Tsuchimikado) and
Shin-in* (Juntoku). As for the occupant of the throne, Chukyo
(eighty-fifth sovereign) he was a boy of two, the son of Juntoku.
Much has been written about Go-Toba by romanticists and little by
sober historians. The pathos of his fate tends to obscure his true
character. That he was gifted with exceptional versatility is
scarcely questionable; but that he lacked all the qualities making
for greatness appears equally certain. That his instincts were so
cruel as to make him derive pleasure from scenes of human suffering,
such as the torture of a prisoner, may have been due to a neurotic
condition induced by early excesses, but it must always stand to his
discredit that he had neither judgment to estimate opportunities nor
ability to create them.
*Shin-in signifies the "original recluse;" Chu-in, the "middle
recluse;" and Shin-in "the new recluse."
Briefly summarized, the conditions which contributed mainly to the
Shokyu struggle had their origin in the system of land supervision
instituted by Yoritomo at the instance of Oye no Hiromoto. The
constables and the stewards despatched by the Bakufu to the provinces
interfered irksomely with private rights of property, and thus there
was gradually engendered a sentiment of discontent, especially among
those who owed their estates to Imperial benevolence.
the latter's three sons done to death. He had seen the "removal" of
several of his father's most trusted lieutenants. He had seen the
gradual upbuilding of the Hojo power on this hecatomb of victims.
That he perceived something of his own danger would seem to be a
natural inference. Yet if he entertained such apprehensions, he never
communicated them to his mother, Masa, who, from her place of high
prestige and commanding intellect, could have reshaped the issue.
The fact would appear to be that Hojo Yoshitoki's intrigues were too
subtle for the perception of Sanetomo or even of the lady Masa.
Yoshitoki had learned all the lessons of craft and cunning that his
father could teach and had supplemented them from the resources of
his own marvellously fertile mind. His uniformly successful practice
was to sacrifice the agents of his crimes in order to hide his own
connexion with them, and never to seize an opportunity until its
possibilities were fully developed. Tokimasa had feigned ignorance of
his daughter's liaison with Yoritomo, but had made it the occasion to
raise an army which could be directed either against Yoritomo or in
his support, as events ordered. There are strong reasons to think
that the vendetta of the Soga brothers was instigated by Tokimasa and
Yoshitoki, and that Yoritomo was intended to be the ultimate victim.
This was the beginning of a long series of intrigues which led to the
deaths of Yoriiye and two of his sons, of Hatakeyama Shigetada, of
Minamoto Tomomasa, of Wada Yoshimori, and of many a minor partisan of
the Yoritomo family. In the pursuit of his sinister design, there
came a time when Yoshitoki had to choose between his father and his
sister. He sacrificed the former unhesitatingly, and it is very
probable that such a choice helped materially to hide from the lady
Masa the true purport of his doings. For that it did remain hidden
from her till the end is proved by her failure to guard the life of
Sanetomo, her own son, and by her subsequent co-operation with his
slayer, Yoshitoki, her brother. A mother's heart would never
wittingly have prompted such a course.
There is a tradition that Sanetomo provoked the resentment of Masa
and Yoshitoki by accepting high offices conferred on him by
Kyoto--chunagon, and general of the Left division of the guards--in
defiance of Yoritomo's motto, "Wield power in fact but never in
name," and contrary to remonstrances addressed to him through the
agency of Oye no Hiromoto. There is also a tradition that, under
pretense of visiting China in the company of a Chinese bonze, Chen
Hosiang, he planned escape to the Kinai or Chugoku (central Japan),
there to organize armed resistance to the Hojo designs. But it is
very doubtful whether these pages of history, especially the latter,
should not be regarded in the main as fiction. Sanetomo was too much
of a littérateur to be an astute politician, and what eluded the
observation of his lynx-eyed mother might well escape his perception.
In 1217, Yoshitoki invited Kugyo from Kyoto and appointed him to be
betto of the shrine of Hachiman (the god of War) which stood on the
hill of Tsurugaoka overlooking the town of Kamakura. Kugyo was the
second and only remaining legitimate son of Yoriiye. He had seen his
father and his two brothers done to death, and he himself had been
obliged to enter religion, all of which misfortunes he had been
taught by Yoshitoki's agents to ascribe to the partisans of his
uncle, Sanetomo. Longing for revenge, the young friar waited. His
opportunity came early in 1219. Sanetomo, having been nominated
minister of the Left by the Kyoto Court, had to repair to the
Tsurugaoka shrine to render thanks to the patron deity of his family.
The time was fixed for ten o 'clock on the night of February 12th.
Oye no Hiromoto, who had cognizance of the plot, hid his guilty
knowledge by offering counsels of caution. He advised that the
function should be deferred until daylight, or, at any rate, that the
shogun should wear armour. Minamoto Nakaakira combatted both
proposals and they were rejected. Sanetomo had a vague presentiment
of peril. He gave a lock of his hair to one of his squires and
composed a couplet:
Though I am forth and gone,
And tenantless my home;
Forget not thou the Spring,
Oh! plum tree by the eaves.
Then he set out, escorted by a thousand troopers, his sword of State
borne by the regent, Yoshitoki. But at the entrance to the shrine
Yoshitoki turned back, pretending to be sick and giving the sword to
Nakaakira. Nothing untoward occurred until, the ceremony being
concluded, Sanetomo had begun to descend a broad flight of stone
steps that led from the summit of the hill. Then suddenly Kugyo
sprang out, killed Sanetomo and Nakaakira, carrying off the head of
the former, and, having announced himself as his father's avenger,
succeeded in effecting his escape. But he had been the agent of
Yoshitoki's crime, and his survival would have been inconvenient.
Therefore, when he appealed to the Miura mansion for aid, emissaries
were sent by the regent's order to welcome and to slay him. Sanetomo
perished in his twenty-eighth year. All accounts agree that he was
not a mere poet--though his skill in that line was remarkable--but
that he also possessed administrative talent; that he strove
earnestly to live up, and make his officers live up, to the ideals of
his father, Yoritomo, and that he never wittingly committed an
injustice.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HOJO REGENCY
Thus, after three generations occupying a period of only forty years,
the Minamoto family was ruined, and the reins of power were
effectually transferred to Hojo hands. It would seem natural, in the
sequence of events, that the office of shogun should now descend to
the Hojo. But Yoshitoki understood that such a measure would convict
him of having contrived the downfall of Yoritomo's progeny in Hojo
interests. Therefore a step was taken, worthy of the sagacity of the
lady Masa and her brother, the regent. The Bakufu petitioned the
Kyoto Court to appoint an Imperial prince to the post of shogun. That
would have invested the Kamakura Government with new dignity in the
eyes of the nation. But the ex-Emperor, Go-Toba, upon whom it
devolved to decide the fate of this petition, rejected it
incontinently.
His Majesty, as will presently be seen, was seeking to contrive the
downfall of the Bakufu, and the idea of associating one of his own
sons with its fortunes must have revolted him. In the face of this
rebuff, nothing remained for the Bakufu except recourse to the
descendants of the Minamoto in the female line. Yoritomo's elder
sister had married into the Fujiwara family, and her greatgrandson,
Yoritsune, a child of two, was carried to Kamakura and installed as
the head of the Minamoto. Not until 1226, however, was he invested
with the title of shogun, and in that interval of seven years a
momentous chapter was added to the history of Japan.
THE SHOKYU STRUGGLE
The Shokyu era (1219-1222) gave its name to a memorable conflict
between Kyoto and Kamakura. Affairs in the Imperial capital were
ruled at that time by the ex-Emperor, Go-Toba. We have seen how, in
1198, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Tsuchimikado. It is
not impossible that the idea of rebelling, sooner or later, against
the Bakufu had begun to germinate in the mind of Go-Toba at that
date, but the probability is that, in laying aside the sceptre, his
dominant aim was to enjoy the sweets of power without its
responsibilities, and to obtain leisure for pursuing polite
accomplishments in which he excelled. His procedure, however,
constituted a slight to the Bakufu, for the change of sovereign was
accomplished without any reference whatever to Kamakura. Tsuchimikado
was a baby of three at the time of his accession. He had been chosen
by lot from among three sons of Go-Toba, but the choice displeased
the latter, and in 1210, Tsuchimikado, then in his fifteenth year,
was compelled to abdicate in favour of his younger brother, Juntoku,
aged thirteen, the eighty-fourth occupant of the throne. Again,
Kamakura was not consulted; but the neglect evoked no remonstrance,
for Sanetomo held the post of shogun at the time, and Sanetomo always
maintained an attitude of deference towards the Imperial Court which
had nominated him to high office.
Juntoku held the sceptre eleven years, and then (1221) he, too,
abdicated at his father's request. Very different considerations,
however, were operative on this occasion. Go-Toba had now definitely
resolved to try armed conclusions with the Bakufu, and he desired to
have the assistance of his favourite son, Juntoku. Thus three
cloistered Emperors had their palaces in Kyoto simultaneously. They
were distinguished as Hon-in (Go-Toba), Chu-in (Tsuchimikado) and
Shin-in* (Juntoku). As for the occupant of the throne, Chukyo
(eighty-fifth sovereign) he was a boy of two, the son of Juntoku.
Much has been written about Go-Toba by romanticists and little by
sober historians. The pathos of his fate tends to obscure his true
character. That he was gifted with exceptional versatility is
scarcely questionable; but that he lacked all the qualities making
for greatness appears equally certain. That his instincts were so
cruel as to make him derive pleasure from scenes of human suffering,
such as the torture of a prisoner, may have been due to a neurotic
condition induced by early excesses, but it must always stand to his
discredit that he had neither judgment to estimate opportunities nor
ability to create them.
*Shin-in signifies the "original recluse;" Chu-in, the "middle
recluse;" and Shin-in "the new recluse."
Briefly summarized, the conditions which contributed mainly to the
Shokyu struggle had their origin in the system of land supervision
instituted by Yoritomo at the instance of Oye no Hiromoto. The
constables and the stewards despatched by the Bakufu to the provinces
interfered irksomely with private rights of property, and thus there
was gradually engendered a sentiment of discontent, especially among
those who owed their estates to Imperial benevolence.
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