Yoritsuna Utsunomiya (宇都宮頼綱)
Tokitomo KASAMA (adopted child)
Yoritsuna UTSUNOMIYA was a busho(Japanese military commander) between the late Heian period and the early Kamakura period.
He was the fifth family head of the Utsunomiya clan of the Fujiwara family
He was Naritsuna UTSUNOMIYA's son. He was a gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate through the Kamakura, Muromachi and Edo periods) of the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun).
Biography
He was born around 1178, the child of Shigetsuna UTSUNOMIYA and a daughter of TAIRA no Nagamori. Thereafter, he was left with SAMUKAWA no Ama, Yoritsuna's grandaunt and menoto (a woman who provides breast-feeding to a highborn baby) of MINAMOTO no Yoritomo (founder of the Kamakura bakufu), and became an adopted child of her husband, Masamitsu OYAMA. In 1189 he took part in the Battle of Oshu and in March, 1194, attended the ceremony of attaining manhood for Kongo (later Yasutoki HOJO), the eldest legitimate son of Yoshitoki HOJO.
Between May and June, 1194, his grandfather Tomotsuna UTSUNOMIYA was sued by Yukifusa NORO, kokushi (a provincial governor) of the Shimotsuke Province, for looting and possessing the land administered directly by a ruler (over 99 hectare), so the Imperial Court punished the Tomotsuna family and put them under custody of the provincial office of the Bungo Province. Yoritomo was so concerned with this trouble regarding the territories that he himself took command and distributed the land to his vassals before he assumed the position of the seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians"), that the Tomotsuna family were forgiven before long is perhaps due to his approach. One theory states that the Tomotsuna family who were under Yoritomo's direct supervision did not take action immediately on the decision by the Imperial Court, and in fact did not go to the place of banishment in accordance with Yoritomo's intentions.
His grandfather Tomotsuna, who was forgiven as well, became a priest and came to live in retirement in Oha of the Shimotsuke Province (present day Oha, Mashiko-machi, Haga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture), it is believed that at this time Yoritsuna succeeded to head of the Utsunomiya family.
After Yoritomo's death, Yoritsuna accompanied the funeral ceremony of Sanman, Yoritomo's second daughter, who died young in July, 1199, and between October and November he participated in the impeachment of Kagetoki KAJIWARA along with other powerful gokenin.
In Shigetada HATAKEYAMA's Rebellion of July 17, 1205, he allied with the Hojo clan and was very successful, however, between September and October in the same year, he fell under suspicion from the Hojo clan of taking part in a revolt as a coconspirator in the Shigetada incident. On September 28th in the same year, in the midst of the incident, there was a rumor that Yoritsuna was plotting a rebellion, camouflaging it as if he had intended to visit Kamakura for support leading the vassals of the family, so Yoshitoki Hojo, OE no Hiromoto, and Kagemori ADACHI gathered at the residence of Masako HOJO and summoned Tomomasa OYAMA to discuss the matter. On that occasion OE no Hiromoto pointed out Yoritsuna's villainy and disloyalty to the Shogun family and insisted that Tomomasa OYAMA hunt down and kill Yoritsuna, however, Tomomasa refused the hunting on the ground that he was Yoritsuna's brother in law, which allowed Yoritsuna to escape being hunted by the Kamakura government office. On October 2nd Yoritsuna sent a letter to the Kamakura government office through Tomomasa, stating that he had had no intention of rebellion, and later on October 7th this resulted in him becoming a priest in the Shimotsuke Province. There have been rumors that more than 60 members of the vassals of the family also became priests on this occasion. On October 8th Yoritsuna left Utsunomiya Futaarayama-jinja Shrine for Kamakura, and arriving at Kamakura on October 10th, he asked the Tokuso Family of the Hojo clan to see him but he was refused once. Then it is said that he retired from the world to express his apology with his hair cut for presentation through Tomomitsu YUKI, a member of his family, he called himself Jisshin-bo Renjo and built a hermitage at the foot of Mt. Ogura in Kyo Sagano. After this, Yoritsuna became a priest, and as his children were all small, his younger brother Tomonari SHIONOYA came to enter government service on behalf of the Utsunomiya family.
Thereafter, Yoritsuna studied under Shoku, a disciple of Honen, and by around 1214 he was permitted by the Kamakura government office, and between June and July, receiving an official appointment to improve Enjo-ji Temple, he put his efforts to repair Sannosha and haiden (a hall of worship) of the temple. Since becoming a believer of Jodoshu sect, he had built the Nenbutsu-do Hall in 京常盤 (Kyotokiwa), Utsunomiya and Kiryu with his ample fortunes, and it is said that their histories have been succeeded by the present as Komyoji school 'Saiho-ji Temple' (Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City), Utsunomiya 'Seigan-ji Temple', Kiryu 'Saiho-ji Temple' (Kiryu City), respectively. In 1216 while Yoritsuna seized the estate of the Kasuga Taisha Shrine, calling himself jito (a manager and lord of manor) of Mibunosho in the Iga Province, 信賢, a monk of Kofuku-ji Temple, and sued him at the Kamakura government office through the Imperial Court, but the case was outside of the category of Goseibai shikimoku (code of conduct for samurai), so it was settled by Kirokusho (government agency of lawsuits).
In July, 1221, the Jokyu War occurred but Yoritsuna served as Kamakura rusui (a caretaker or keeper in the Kamakura government office) and because of this service he was granted the post of shugoshiki (post of provincial constable) of the Iyo Province after the war. When Kanin-dono (Kanin Palace) in Kyoto was rebuilt between April and May, 1250, he took charge of nishi nifu of zoei zassho (an officer in charge of construction). On January 2, 1260, he died in Kyoto at the age of 88. According to his will, he was believed to be buried beside the Shoku's tomb in Yoshimine-dera Temple, Kyo-nishiyama (mountains in west area of Kyoto). Today other than this Yoshimine-dera Temple, his gravestones lie also in Segan-ji Temple in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, and in Jizo-in Temple (Mashiko-machi) in Mashiko-machi, Haga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture.
Kajin (waka poet)
Like his father, Yoritsuna was an outstanding kajin, and by deepening a friendship with FUJIWARA no Sadaie with the same family line, raised the position of the Utsunomiya poetry circle to be comparable with the Kyoto poetry circle and Kamakura poetry circle; he laid the foundation for these circles to be celebrated as the three great poetry circles in Japan. Hyakunin Isshu (one hundred waka poems by one hundred poets) is believed to begin with 98 decorative waka which had been selected by Sadaie as fusumae (images drawn on fusuma sliding door) when Yoritsuna lived in his villa in Kyoto, Ogura villa. Many of Yoritsuna's works are included in the thirteen imperial anthologies of Japanese poetry.