Suruga Jiro (駿河次郎)
Jiro SURUGA (birth and death date unknown) lived in the late Heian period and was a vassal of MINAMOTO no Yoshitsune. His name is said to be Kiyoshige, but this name was given during the Edo period. He is considered as one of the Four Great Retainers of MINAMOTO no Yoshitsune. He was called Chugen (rank below the common soldier), Zoshiki (low-level) and was of low social position.
He was originally a huntsman. He was MINAMOTO no Yoritomo's vassal, but around October 1180, he became the vassal of MINAMOTO no Yoshitsune. Later, he followed Yoshitsune in the Battles of Uji River, Ichinotani, Yashima, and Dannoura. According to the "Genpei Seisui Ki" (Rise and Fall of the Minamoto and the Taira clans), after the decline of the Taira clan, he killed TAIRA no Munemori's child, TAIRA no Yoshimune, who was a captive, on the orders of Yoshitsune. In "Gikeiki" (a military epic about the life of Yoshitsune), he warded off the assassin Shoshin TOSANOBO, who had received an imperial order to attack Yoshitsune, and beheaded him at Rokujo Kawara riverbank..