Nitta Yoshisada
Encyclopedia
Nitta family
The ' was one of several major families descended from the Seiwa Genji, and numbered among the chief enemies of the Ashikaga shogunate, and later the Hōjō clan regents...
in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....
in the Nanboku-chō period, capturing Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
from the Hōjō clan
Hojo clan
See the late Hōjō clan for the Hōjō clan of the Sengoku Period.The in the history of Japan was a family who controlled the hereditary title of shikken of the Kamakura Shogunate. In practice, the family had actual governmental power, many times dictatorial, rather than Kamakura shoguns, or the...
in 1333.
Long an enemy of Ashikaga Takauji
Ashikaga Takauji
was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...
, Nitta Yoshisada is often blamed for the split between the Northern and Southern Courts
Nanboku-cho
The , spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Muromachi bakufu of Japan's history.During this period, there existed a Northern Imperial Court, established by Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto, and a Southern Imperial Court, established by Emperor Go-Daigo in...
, as he fought against the Ashikaga and for the Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....
. This rivalry came largely from the fact that the Ashikaga were ranked above the Nitta, despite their being descended from a younger ancestor; since the ancestors of the Nitta did not fight alongside their Minamoto cousins in the Genpei War
Genpei War
The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late-Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192....
, they were never accorded power or prestige at Kamakura.
In 1331, after being ordered by the bakufu
Ashikaga shogunate
The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...
(shogunate) to join an army at the Chihaya fortress, Nitta received summonses from Prince Morinaga
Prince Morinaga
was a son of Emperor Go-Daigo and Minamoto no Chikako executed by Ashikaga Tadayoshi in 1335.When Moriyoshi was 18, Go-Daigo had him named the head abbot of the Enryakuji temple on Mount Hiei....
and Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....
to strike at the Hōjō, so he left his post. Returning to his home province of Kozuke, Nitta rallied the aid of other descendants & vassals including his brother Nitta Yoshisuke
Nitta Yoshisuke
thumb|200px also known as , was the brother of Nitta Yoshisada in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-cho period, capturing Kamakura with his brother from the Hōjō clan in 1333....
of the Minamoto clan, and began to march towards Kamakura through Musashi
Kozuke-Musashi Campaign
The Kōzuke-Musashi campaign was a rapid and direct assault during the Japanese Genkō War by Nitta Yoshisada that led up to the Siege of Kamakura in 1333. It consisted of a number of battles over a brief period...
. On the approaches to the city, Nitta enjoyed some early victories, routing the Hōjō defenders and pursuing them towards the city.
The fall of Kamakura in 1333
Kamakura on land is completely surrounded by steep hills, making an army attack very difficult. Nitta first tried to enter through the Gokurakuji Pass and the Kewaizaka Pass
Kamakura's Seven Entrances
The city of Kamakura, Kanagawa in Japan, is closed off on three sides by very steep hills and on the fourth by the sea: before the construction of several modern tunnels and roads, the so-called Seven Entrances , or were its main links to the rest of the world...
, but concentrated Hōjō forces stopped him. Judging it impossible to enter by land, Nitta decided to try by sea bypassing the Inamuragasaki
Inamuragasaki
is a cape at the western end of Yuigahama in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The cape divides Yuigahama from Shichirigahama and Enoshima. Its name seems to stem from its shape, similar to a stack of rice at harvest time...
Cape on Sagami Bay
Sagami Bay
Sagami Bay , also known as the Sagami Gulf or Sagami Sea, lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the...
, west of Kamakura. Once there, Nitta took advantage of a low tide and moved his men in through the beaches to the south but, according to the Taiheiki
Taiheiki
The is a Japanese historical epic , written in the late 14th century. It deals primarily with the Nanboku-chō, the period of war between the Northern Court of Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto, and the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino....
, he threw his sword into the surf and prayed to Ryūjin
Ryujin
, also known as Ōwatatsumi, was the tutelary deity of the sea in Japanese mythology. This Japanese dragon symbolized the power of the ocean, had a large mouth, and was able to transform into a human shape. Ryūjin lived in Ryūgū-jō, his palace under the sea built out of red and white coral, from...
, who parted the waters for him.
The stele at , the tiny bay west of Inamuragaki, says:
666 years ago on May 21, 1333 Nitta Yoshisada, judging an invasion on land to be difficult, decided to try to bypass this cape. This is the place where, according to tradition, he threw his golden sword into the waves, praying the sea-god to withdraw them and let him pass.
(Erected in 1917)
The city was taken, and the Hōjō clan's influence destroyed.
Following the fall of Kamakura (and of the Hōjō regency), Nitta was appointed Governor of Echigo
Echigo Province
was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called , with Echizen and Etchū Provinces. Today the area is part of Niigata Prefecture, which also includes the island which was the old Sado Province. This province was the northernmost part of the...
and Vice-Governor of Harima
Harima Province
or Banshu was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tamba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji....
and Kozuke
Kozuke Province
was an old province located in the Tōsandō of Japan, which today comprises Gunma Prefecture. It is nicknamed as or .The ancient provincial capital was near modern Maebashi. During the Sengoku period, Kōzuke was controlled variously by Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, the late Hōjō clan, and...
Provinces, as Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....
redistributed the Hōjō lands. Moreover, he courted Emperor Go-Daigo's secretary Kōtō-Naishi (匂当内侍), and married through the Emperor's mediation.
Death of Nitta Yoshisada
During the following few years, Nitta's rivalry with Ashikaga TakaujiAshikaga Takauji
was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...
(and his brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi
Ashikaga Tadayoshi
was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period of Japanese history and a close associate of his elder brother Takauji, the first Muromachi shogun. Son of Ashikaga Sadauji and of a daughter of Uesugi Yorishige, the same mother as Takauji, he was a pivotal figure of the chaotic transition...
) came to a head, with the two planning rebellion, and issuing a call that "Nitta Yoshisada must be destroyed." They fought a number of battles, many of them in and around Kyoto, in the same locations as famous battles of the Genpei War
Genpei War
The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late-Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192....
; in the end, Nitta was defeated, but continued to be a thorn in Takauji's side until his death on July 2, 1338.
Nitta's death was as remarkable as his life. Turnbull (2003) writes that Nitta was fighting in the Siege of Kuromaru against Hosokawa Akiuji
Hosokawa Akiuji
was a samurai general in the service of the Ashikaga Northern Court, during Japan's Nanboku-chō period.In 1338, he was sent by Ashikaga Takauji to assist in the defence of the Kuromaru, a fortress belonging to Kanrei Shiba Takatsune. His men clashed with fifty horsemen under the command of Nitta...
, an ally of Takauji, when his horse was felled by arrow fire. Nitta, pinned under the dead horse and unable to move was an easy target for archers. As a final act, Nitta drew his short sword and cut off his own head. Record has it that a number of his fellow samurai committed junshi seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
nearby, in a show of allegiance.