Sakanoue no Iwatate (坂上石楯)
SAKANOUE no Iwatate was a person from the Nara period.
According the old orthography of kana (Japanese phonograms), his name was pronounced 'SAKANOUHE no Ihatate.'
The clan to which Iwatate originally belonged was named IWARE and its family name was SUGURI; however, the name of the clan was later changed to the SAKANOUE and its family name to KISUN. Iwatate had a wife, Kitatsugu, a son, Ujinari, and a daughter, Akiho. His official rank was Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) and Fourth Order of Merit.
Iwatate was mobilized as a soldier in 764 to suppress FUJIWARA no Nakamaro's Rebellion and performed a great feat of slaying FUJIWARA no Nakamaro (Oshikatsu EMI) there. For this feat, Iwatate was promoted in the same year from Daihatsuinoge (Greater Initial Rank, Lower Grade) to Jugoinoge, and was bestowed with the Fourth Order of Merit in 765. Iwatate was appointed as the Chief Commander of Gaiefu (the police for surrounding area of the Imperial Palace), and in 765, changed his clan and family name to SAKANOUE and Kisun. He was appointed as the Assistant Governor of Dewa Province in 766, and also as the Chief Commander of Chuefu (the police for the Imperial Palace) in 774. He had passed away by 779.
Achievements
The IWAMURA clan was an immigrant-based samurai-warrior descendants who took root in Hekikai County in Mikawa Province, and this clan, together with the SAKANOUE clan, belonged to the HIGASHIKAN clan (WAKAN clan). Though Iwatate became associated with the HIGASHIKAN clan, and it is highly likely that Iwatate himself was from Mikawa.
In October 764, Oshikatsu EMI (FUJIWARA no Nakamaro) started a rebellion, which ultimately failed, and he was chased down on the western shore of Lake Biwa. Oshikatsu's army was decimated on the 21th, and Oshikatsu hid in a cove within a boat with his wife, his children, and his three or four of his followers, but was eventually caught and slain by Iwatate. Oshikatsu's wife, his children, and his followers all were slain, as well. Iwatate carried Oshikatsu's head to Kyoto. At the time, Iwatate was still just a soldier.
Due to this exploit, Iwatate IWAMURASUGURI who was Daihatsuinoge at the time was promoted to Jugoinoge on November 8 in the same year. Iwatate was bestowed the Fourth Order of Merit on February 5, 765 from among the Second to the Sixth Orders of Merit.
On May 24, in the same year, the family name of SAKANOUE-KISUN was given to three people living in Sakyo (eastern half of Kyoto), including Iwatate IWAMURASUGURI who was Chief Commander of Gaiefu with the rank of Jugoinoge, and to nine people living in Hekikai County in Sanga Province (Mikawa Province), including Oshinawa IWAMURASUGURI who was Juhachiinojo (Junior Eighth Rank, Upper Grade). According to this record, it can be seen that Iwatate was in the same clan with the IWAMURA clan in Hekikai County in Mikawa Province, and also that Iwatate himself was a person from Sakyo. SAKANOUE no Karitamaro also performed an exploit in the FUJIWARA no Nakamaro's Rebellion. As a result, IWAMURASUGURI was incorporated under the SAKANOUE clan who were distant relatives and who were rising in their political status, thereby managing to change and improve his family name.
On June 25, 766 the same day when Bunkyo KUDARA was appointed as the governor of Dewa Province, Iwatate was appointed as his assistant. In June 774, he was appointed as the Chief Commander of Chuefu.
On May 25, 779, three people, Iwatate's wife, Kinoasontatsugu, his son, Kisunujinari SAKANOUE, and his daughter, Akiho made a hand-written copy of a text of Daihannya-haramitsuta in 600 volumes and dedicated that to the late Assistant Governor of Dewa Province, Jugoinoge, and Fourth Order of Merit bearer, Iwatate SAKANOUEKISUN. Of the 600 volumes, Vol. 176 still remains at Tosyodai-ji temple and this dedication is known from the postscript thereof.