Yoshimura Miura (三浦義村)
Yoshimura MIURA was a busho (Japanese military commander) of the Sagami Province in the beginning of the Kamakura Period. He was a powerful senior vassal in the Kamakura bakufu. His original last name was Taira. His bloodline can be traced back to Kanmu-Heishi (Taira clan), and he was of the Banto-Eight Heishi, which stems from TAIRA no Yoshifumi.
He was the second son of Yoshizumi MIURA
Biography
In 1180, he joined MINAMOTO no Yoritomo's army with his father, Yoshizumi. For generations, the MIURA clan served the MINAMOTO clan, and played a major role in the defeat of the TAIRA clan; as a major powerhouse, they held significant influence in the Kamakura bakufu. In 1190, the clan was appointed as a lieutenant in Uhyo-e. In 1199, during the incident of Kagetoki KAJIWARA, he played a major role, and also participated in the incident of Shigetada HATAKEYAMA.
In 1213, he formed an alliance with his cousin Yoshimori WADA, the Samurai-dokoro shoshi at the time, in order to defeat the Hojo clan, but he betrayed Yoshimori at the last minute by informing Yoshitoki HOJO that Yoshimori has raised an army; consequently, Yoshimori was defeated, and the WADA clan was destroyed (Battle of WADA). He was involved in many major conspiracies, and was keenly interested in making his way up the political ladder in the shogunate. In 1218, he was appointed as one of the directors of police department.
On January 17th, 1219, the 3rd generation shogun MINAMOTO no Sanetomo was assassinated by Kugyo (MINAMOTO no Yoriie's son). Kugyo sent a message to Yoshimura, saying, "I am the new Daishogun (commander-in-chief) of Togoku (Eastern provinces)." "Prepare for my arrival." To this, Yoshimura lied, saying "We will send you an envoy once the preparation has been made," and sent an assassin after him. Kugyo eventually lost his patience, and made his way up the back mountain to Yoshimura's home, where he encountered the assassin; after a fierce battle, he shook of the assassin, but was killed while climbing the wall surrounding Yoshimura's home. The details of this incident are lost, but there is a theory that Yoshimura was the mastermind behind it all, who provoked Kugyo into assassinating Sanemoto, in order to be rid of those two at the same time; Yoshimura's wife was Kugyo's wet nurse, and his son, Mitsumura MIURA, was a disciple in the Kugyo household, suggesting that Yoshimura had close ties with Kugyo, which makes this theory plausible. Due to his achievement in subduing Kugyo's usurpation, he was appointed as local director of Suruga region within the same year.
In 1221's Jokyu War, he received word from his brother, Taneyoshi MIURA, who was a close advisor of the Emperor Gotoba, urging him to rise and take action; Yoshimura immediately notified Yoshitoki of this. Yoshimura make his way up the Tokai-do Road as one of the bakfu army's Daisho (Major Captain), and returned to the capital after defeating the kyogata (supporters of the Imperial court in Kyoto). Taneyoshi was defeated and killed.
After the death of Yoshitoki HOJO in 1224, his widow, Iga no kata, aspired to make her son, Masamura HOJO, the shikken (close advisor to the shogun and the second highest position in bakufu), and her son-in-law, Sanemasa ICHIJO, the Shogun, and caused an incident known as the Igashi no hen. Yoshimura, who was eboshi-oya (a person who puts an eboshi (formal headwear for court nobles) on a young man's head on his genpuku ceremony) to Masamura, was also involved in this ploy, but the ama shogun (nun warlord) Masako HOJO personally paid a visit to Yoshimura's home, convincing him otherwise; the incident ended with the banishment of the Iga family.
When the hyojoshu (Council of State) was established in 1225, Yoshimura became a member of this. He also signed the Goseibai-shikimoku (the samurai code of conduct). He died on December 31, 1245.
Personal Profile
He was known among the Kyoto aristocrats as an ambitious political schemer. In the document "Kokon Cho Monju", it is recorded that when Tanetsuna CHIBA, a young noble from the Shimousa Province, sat on the upper ranking seat than Kamiza (seat of honor) in the Shogun's place, where Yoshimura sat, and Yoshimura remarked, "the dogs of Shimousa do not know their place;" to this, Tanetsuna replied, "the dogs of MIURA devour their friends," criticizing Yoshimura's betrayal in the Battle of WADA.