Taira no Masakuni (平将国)
TAIRA no Masakuni (year of birth and death unknown) was a busho (Japanese military commander) who lived during the Heian period.
He was said to be the son of TAIRA no Masakado who established a government that was the origin of the military government in the Kanto region and identified himself as 'new emperor.'
He was the sixth head of Bando-Heishi (Taira clan) who was the descendants of Emperor Kanmu, and his son Kotaro fumikuni (小太郎文国) became the progenitor of the Shinoda clan. TAIRA no Yoshikado was his elder brother.
Summary
After his father Masakado, the 'new emperor,' was defeated in the Johei and Tengyo War, young Masakuni identified himself as the second new emperor with his family's support and tried to revive the government. However, it is said that he was defeated and escaped to the Uki-shima island (one of the islands in Matsushima Bay) with his officers, men, menoto (a woman providing breast-feeding to a highborn baby) and so on.
After the war was over, he made an effort to rebuild the exhausted and devastated land with the support of his uncle TAIRA no Yoshifumi. Although his fate after that is not known, there is a famous theory that he was the same person as ABE no Seimei in later years. In addition, in the Arikuji Hot spring at Kihoku Town there is a legend that Masakuni discovered the spring in accordance with an oracle of god and cured people's diseases and wounds.