Yuki Chikamitsu (結城親光)
Chikamitsu YUKI (year of birth unknown - March 2, 1336) was a busho (Japanese military commander) who lived from the Kamakura period to the period of the Northern and Southern Courts. Chikamitsu was the second son of Munehiro YUKI and his older brother was Chikatomo YUKI. Chikamitsu's common name was Kuro.
Career
In the Genko Incident in 1331, he joined the army of the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) to attack Shimoakasaka-jo Castle of Kawachi Province (present-day Chihaya Akasaka-mura Village, Minamikawachi County, Osaka Prefecture) where Masashige KUSUNOKI held up, but later, Chikamitsu joined Takauji ASHIKAGA to attack the Rokuhara Tandai (the office of shogunal deputy in Kyoto placed by the Kamakura bakufu) in Kyoto. Under the Kenmu Restoration after the fall of the Kamakura bakufu, Chikamitsu was appointed the officer of the Onshogata (the Reward Office which was the administrative organ of the Kenmu Restoration, responsible for granting military awards called 'onsho') and the Zasso ketsudansho (the Miscellaneous Claims Court which was the central judicial organ of the Kenmu Restoration). When Takauji ASHIKAGA, who had turned against the new government, made his way to Kyoto by defeating the Imperial army at the Battle of Hakone and Takenoshita, Chikamitsu disguised to surrender in order to assassinate Takauji. "Taiheiki" (The Record of the Great Peace, a Japanese military epic written in the late 14th century) shows as follows: When Sadanori OTOMO, who attended to Chikamitsu, asked why Chikamitsu, who gave up, didn't undress his armor, Chikamitsu thought Sadanori noticed his plot to assassinate Takauji then he killed Sadanori and some Ashikaga soldiers swarming on him at random, intending to kill as many of his enemies as possible, but was defeated by a Ashikaga soldier. "Baishoron" (literally, the argument about Japanese plum and pine; a Japanese historical epic written in the mid-14th century) depicts as follows: Chikamitsu gave a fatal blow with his sword to Sadanori, who fought back to behead Chikamitsu before breathing his last. Alternatively, some believed that Chikamitsu targeted Sadanori who had betrayed the Imperial army and changed the side to the Ashikaga army during the Battle of Hakone and Takenoshita, not Takauji.
Under the Kenmu Government, Chikamitsu YUKI, Masashige KUSUNOKI, Tadaaki CHIGUSA and Nagatoshi NAWA (the Governor of Hoki Province) were collectively called the 'Sanboku Isso' (literally, the three trees [ki in Japanese] and the single grass [gusa in Japanese], implying part of the sound of each person's name or title).