Koremune Yasutomo (惟宗康友)
Yasutomo KOREMUNE (another names: Yasutomo TONAI/Yasutomo KAGOSHIMA) was a gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate) in the Kamakura Period in Japan. He was born in Kagoshima, Satsuma Province.
He served as Tonai udoneri (ministerial equerry appointed by the Fujiwara clan), an official at Meryo (the section taking care of imperial horses), daibu (master) of Shitokan (four classifications of bureaucrats' ranks) of 大夫日本 and Gunji (local magistrate) for Kagoshima doubling as Benzaishi (official collecting kanmotsu (tribute goods paid as taxes or tithes) and somai (rice)). Also he referred himself as the Kagoshima clan, and was a gokenin of Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) and filled posts of Kinri (the Imperial Palace) Shuin in Nitta-jinja Shrine in Satsuma Province (Satsumasendai City) as well as Inju (the chief of a temple) in Godai-in temple in Bunji era.
[The first generation, Shuin clan]
The Koremune clan originated from a family of bushi (samurai) in Kyoto, who had served Sekke (line of regents and advisers) (Fujiwara clan). Also, relationship between the Koremune clan and Sekkan-ke (families which produced the Regent and the Chief Adviser to the Emperor) must also be considered from the facts that Kagoshima was in Shimazu-no-sho estate (a private estate of the Konoe family that was a Sekkan-ke) and that Yasutomo was Tonai udoneri appointed by the Fujiwara clan.
In December 1203, in respect of arguments over the posts of Gunji and Benzaishi for Kagoshima of yosegori (lands donated to the lord) in Shimazu-no-sho estate (manor), the Kamakura bakufu ordered shugosho (provincial administrative office) to make a decision based on the principle of hereditary succession.
Family tree
The Family name Koremune implies that the Koremune clan descended from the Hata clan and in respect of the members of the clan whose names included a kanji letter "忠" (meaning "faith") as tsuji (distinctive character used in the names of all people belonging to a single clan or lineage), there are two explanations, one is that they were from families branched out from Emperor Shomu and the other is that they were from families branched out from Emperor Daigo. The Shuin clan and the Kokubun clan (Satsuma Province), who were descendants of Yasutomo, are thought to be descendants of Emperor Daigo, from whom Imperial Prince Yasuakira, Prince Yoshiyori and Gusen KOREMUNE descended in this order.