Miura Mitsumura (三浦光村)
Mitsumura MIURA was a gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi through Edo periods) of the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) during the mid Kamakura period. The fourth son of Yoshimura MIURA. A younger maternal half-brother of Yasumura MIURA.
"Azuma Kagami" (The Mirror of the East) has records of him from October 12, 1218 through August 3, 1247.
Career
Mitsumura was entrusted to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine when he was little to become a Buddhist monk and became a disciple of Kugyo. Later he was returned to his family home by the Miura clan, and was appointed as a kinju (attendant) of the new seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians"), Mitora (later Yoritsune KUJO), along with Shigetoki HOJO and Tomohiro YUKI in 1223. Since then, Mitsumura served Yoritsune for 20 years as a close associate. In 1231, he was appointed Saemon no jo (third-ranked officer of the Left Division of Outer Palace Guards) and concurrently held the position of kebiishi (officials with judicial and police powers). Then, he was appointed as Iki no kuni no kokushi (Governor of Iki Province) in 1237 and Noto no kuni no kami (Governor of Noto Province) in 1241. When Yoritsune KUJO let his son Yoritsugu KUJO succeed the shogunship in 1244, Mitsumura was added as one of the Kamakura bakufu hyojoshu (a member of Council of State) for the purpose of giving support to the new shogun. Mitsumura was good at military art as well as Kangen (gagaku piece without dance), and was a good biwa (Japanese lute) player thanks to the lessons given by FUJIWARA no Takatoki.
When the third regent Yasutoki HOJO died, the bakufu was split into a regent, the Hojo clan side and the shogun side, and kept fighting against each other. In 1246, a plot to eliminate the fifth regent Tokiyori HOJO was exposed that was conspired by certain members of the hyojoshu, including Mitsutoki NAGOE who supported the Shogun Yoritsune KUJO (Miya-sodo [allied attempt at rebellion]). Although Mitsumura was involved in the plot, because Tokiyori wanted to avoid a direct confrontation between the Hojo clan and the Miura clan, Mitsumura was not punished but was ordered to guard Yoritsune who was to be escorted to Heian-kyo (the ancient capital of Japan in current Kyoto). According to "Azuma Kagami," Mitsumura cried in front of Yoritsune before going back to Kamakura and said, 'I do want you to come back to Kamakura again,' wishing Yoritsune's return to Kamakura. A theory says that Mitsumura already had a secret connection with Michiie KUJO, who was the father of Yoritsune and had influence over the Imperial Court. Mitsumura was regarded as a threat to the Hojo clan for being a vanguard who controlled the powers of anti-Hojo and Shogun side forces backed by Michiie.
In July 1247, the following year, the Miura clan and the Hojo clan finally had an armed conflict in Kamakura. Mitsumura led the army and fought, and urged his older brother Yasumura to rise in revolt. However, Yasumura had never shown his will to fight, and the Miura clan lost against the bakufu army without a rebellion by the family head Yasumura, and the Miura clan was cornered in MINAMOTO no Yoritomo's Hokkedo Hall. Mitsumura regretted his brother's cowardice, lamented over the fall of the Miura clan and parting from his wife and children, showed his guts by cutting his face with a knife so that people wouldn't recognize, and then killed himself along with the rest members of the clan (Battle of Hoji). Mitsumura's surviving wife was the daughter of FUJIWARA no Yoshishige, a Hokumen (north face) of the Emperor Toba, and she was known for her beauty. Therefore, Mitsumura especially regretted the parting from his wife, and they exchanged each other's kosode (a kimono with short sleeves worn as underclothing by the upper classes) for their last moment. Mitsumura died while his kosode still smelled like him, and his wife cried over the loss of her husband. Mitsumura's wife, who had a baby, entered into priesthood and left Kamakura along with the other wives and children of the Miura clan. The grave of the Miura clan is located in the mountainside at the east of the MINAMOTO no Yoritomo Hokke-do Hall.
Career
May 20, 1231: Moshi (envoy), imperial decree, Saemon no jo.
June 11, 1233: Joshaku (conferring a peerage).
August 30, 1236: Jugoinojo (Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade).
March 4, 1237: Iki no kami (Governor of Iki Province).
September 4, 1241: Noto no kami (Governor of Noto Province)
1244: Kamakura Bakufu hyojoshu, former Noto no kami.
May 12, 1245: Shogoinoge (Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade)
July 15, 1247: Executed at the age of 43.