Minamoto no Suezane (源季実)
MINAMOTO no Suezane (year of birth unknown - February 16, 1160) was a busho (Japanese military commander) of the end of the Heian Period. He was the second son of MINAMOTO no Suenori of the Montoku-Genji (Minamoto clan from the line of Emperor Montoku). His mother was the daughter of Atsutoshi SHIMOTSUKE. He had the title of Third-ranked Assistant Officer of the Left division of the imperial palace gate guards. He was also called Suo no hogan (judge of magistrate of Suo Province). His imina (personal name) was Suezane.
He was from the lineage that began from the Prince MINAMOTO no Yoshiari of Emperor Montoku, and his father Suenori was a northern bushi (samurai warrior) that served Emperor Toba. Due to this relationship, Suezane became the servant of Emperor Goshirakawa during the Hogen War (also called the Hogen Rebellion or Hogen Disturbance) of 1156 and guarded Yodo Road at the beginning. When the side of Emperor Sutoku started to be defeated, he tightened the security on Ujiji, supplied the Nanto Army (Southern Capital Army), and did the after battle clean up duties of arresting FUJIWARA no Norinaga and MINAMOTO no Narimasa, identified a severed head of beheaded MINAMOTO no Tameyoshi, and transferred hostage MINAMOTO no Tametomo.
However, since he did not accompany the visit of Tenno-ji Temple of Shinzei immediately after the war, his court duties were stripped away and faced in-house arrest. As a result, he allied with FUJIWARA no Nobuyori and MINAMOTO no Yoshitomo and defeated Shinzei and was temporarily assigned with the position of Kawachi no kami (the governor of Kawachi Province) with the rank of Jugoinoi (Junior Fifth Rank). However, he soon faced a retaliation force by TAIRA no Kiyomori and escaped. In addition to being dismissed from the court position, he was captured with his legal son, MINAMOTO no Suemori, and was beheaded.