was an early Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

 military commander. A gokenin

Gokenin

A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods. In exchange for protection and the right to become shugo or jitō , in times of peace a gokenin had the duty to protect the imperial court and Kamakura, in case of war had to fight with his forces under the...

 of the Kamakura shogunate

Kamakura shogunate

The Kamakura shogunate was a military dictatorship in Japan headed by the shoguns from 1185 to 1333. It was based in Kamakura. The Kamakura period draws its name from the capital of the shogunate...

, he was the first director (bettō

Betto

is a term which originally indicated the head of an institution serving temporarily as the head of another one, but which came to mean also the full-time head of some institution...

) of the Samurai-dokoro

Samurai-dokoro

The Samurai-dokoro was an office of the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates....

.

He was the son of Miura Yoshiaki and grandson of Sugimoto Yoshimune, making him a descendant of the Heike

Heike

Heike may refer to:* Heike clan, a Japanese clan name* Heikegani, a species of crab named after the Heike clan* Heike * The Tale of the Heike, an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War...

. Among his sons were Wada Yoshinao, Asahina Yoshihide

Asahina Yoshihide

, also known as , was a Japanese warrior of the early 13th century, and the son of Wada Yoshimori. His name stems from the fact he used to live in . Though very likely a historical figure, Yoshihide appears in literature and in Kabuki as a somewhat superhuman legendary character...

, and Wada Yoshishige. He also had a nephew, Wada Tanenaga.

He fought in the battles of Ichi-no-Tani (1184) and Dannoura (1185) and participated in the campaign against Kiso Yoshinaka (1184) and Fujiwara Yasuhira (1189).

Like many others, he and his family became victims of the struggle for power that followed the death of the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199.-Early life and exile :Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, heir of the Minamoto clan, and his official wife, a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, who was a member of the...

. Tension had been growing between the Hōjō Regents

Shikken

The was the regent for the shogun in the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. The post was monopolized by the Hōjō clan, and this system only existed once in Japanese history, between 1203 and 1333...

 and Wada, and open war started when Wada Yoshinao, Wada Yoshishige and Wada Tanenaga were accused of conspiracy and arrested. Yoshimori, who was in Kazusa, returned to Kamakura and managed to free his two sons. Tanenaga was however detained and exiled to Mutsu province. War ensued (the so-called ) and in 1213 he was defeated and killed together with his family. The Wada are traditionally supposed to be buried in the Wadazuka Mound in Kamakura, however this is only an unproven theory born after excavations in situ during the Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

. .