Looking into Taira no Masakado, I began to see the origins of the Eastern warriors

Introduction

The Taira no Masakado grave mound is located in the office district of Otemachi, Tokyo.
When I heard the name "Masakado," all I could think of was that grave mound and the "Taira no Masakado's Rebellion" I had read about in my textbooks.

However, I honestly did not really understand what the Kanto region (which I believe was called Bando at the time) was like during the Heian period, what kind of people lived there, or why the warriors came to hold power.

As I looked into various things, I became very curious not about the battle of the "Masakado's Rebellion" itself, but about why the warriors of the Eastern provinces were born in Kanto.

As I researched what I was curious about myself, I felt that I could see a bit of the grand flow of history that led not only to the story of one warrior named Taira no Masakado, but also to the subsequent Kamakura Shogunate by Minamoto no Yoritomo, and further to Tokugawa Ieyasu opening the shogunate in Edo.

To begin with, why were there warriors in Kanto?

Many Bando warriors appeared in the NHK Taiga drama "The 13 Lords of the Shogun," such as the Chiba clan, the Kazusa clan, the Miura clan, the Hatakeyama clan, and the Wada clan.

In the drama, they are active as if it were natural. But when I think about it again, it is strange.
The capital during the Heian period was Kyoto. Politics and culture were centered in Kyoto. Yet, the Kamakura Shogunate was born. Why did the warriors become such a major force in Kanto instead of Kyoto? That was the first thing I was curious about.

The Eastern provinces were a "distant region"

Tokyo is the center of Japan now.
However, the capital during the Heian period was Kyoto. The Eastern provinces were a region hundreds of kilometers away from the center of politics.

It would take months for the "Daijokanpu" (official government orders), which were orders issued by the Imperial Court, to reach the Eastern provinces from Kyoto. This is surprisingly slow even compared to the Sengoku period, when information determined victory or defeat.

It was likely not rare for the situation on the ground to have completely changed by the time the orders arrived.

The provincial governors alone could not govern the Eastern provinces

The Imperial Court governed the regions by dispatching provincial governors to each province. However, provincial governors were officials who would return to Kyoto after their term of several years ended. On the other hand, there were powerful local families who lived in that land for generations, and among them were officials called district administrators (gunji) in various places.

There were long-standing human relationships and conflicts of interest in the region, such as land boundaries, water rights, inheritance, and marriage. It was not easy for a newly arrived provincial governor to grasp and judge all of that. The district administrators handled the practical work.

Even so, for problems that could not be solved, petitions were sent to the Imperial Court in Kyoto. The Imperial Court would deliberate and issue a Daijokanpu. However, as written before, communication with Kyoto took time, and by the time it reached the Eastern provinces, it seems that battles had already begun or even ended on the ground.

While researching, I felt that "the people of the Eastern provinces must have had no choice but to protect themselves on their own."

The vast land raised the warriors

Another thing that was interesting was the land called the Kanto Plain. The Kanto Plain, centered on Ibaraki and Tochigi Prefectures, is the largest plain in Japan. Even now, the plain stretches as far as the eye can see, but in the Heian period, there was still a lot of land left that could be developed.

If you clear fields, you can harvest rice.
It is also suitable for raising horses.
Protecting vast land, developing it, and sometimes protecting the clan from conflict.
While taking on such roles, the armed powerful families gradually gained power. "Warriors" did not exist from the beginning. People who armed themselves to protect their region came to be called warriors later.

Taira no Masakado was one of those Eastern warriors

Taira no Masakado is a member of the Kanmu Taira clan, who are said to be descendants of Emperor Kanmu. His grandfather, Taira no Takamochi, was sent to the Eastern provinces from the Imperial Court as the Assistant Governor of Kazusa. Even after his term ended, he did not return to Kyoto but continued to live in Bando, and his descendants also expanded their influence in various places. Masakado was also a person who grew up within such Eastern warrior bands.

It is said that Masakado had the power to gather 8,000 cavalry at his peak. There were clans that had taken root in the Eastern provinces for generations and people under their command, and Masakado was an influential person above them.
In other words, Masakado was neither a hero who suddenly appeared nor a person who suddenly started a rebellion.
He was a symbol of the warrior society that grew up in the Eastern provinces.

A battle that began from a conflict between relatives

When I hear "Taira no Masakado's Rebellion," I have the impression of a major incident where he rebelled against the Imperial Court from the beginning.
However, in reality, that was not the case.

The people Masakado first fought were members of his own clan.
His uncle Taira no Yoshikane, Taira no Kunika, and Minamoto no Mamoru, all of them were powerful families with influence in the Eastern provinces.

It is said that the word "woman dispute" remains in some historical materials as the trigger for the first conflict. Although the detailed content is unknown, it is thought that it was a dispute over a woman, or a problem related to marriage or inheritance.

It seems strange to us today, but for the powerful families of that time, marriage was an important issue related to the connection between families and the control of land. In other words, Masakado's battle did not start as a war to "take over the country" from the beginning, but started from a conflict between clans.

The Imperial Court could not move immediately either

When the conflict grew, both Masakado's side and the opposing side would appeal to the Imperial Court.
"Please judge this."
"Please punish the other party."
They would write petitions and send them to Kyoto.

Kyoto and the Eastern provinces were very distant worlds.
The petition arrives.
Deliberate at the Imperial Court.
Create a Daijokanpu.
It reaches the Eastern provinces.
By that time, a new battle had already begun on the ground, or it had already been settled.
It is likely that the idea of working overtime to write a reply quickly because they were in trouble did not exist for the officials in Kyoto.

From the perspective of the people on the ground,
"In the end, we have no choice but to solve our own problems ourselves."
It would have been very natural to think that way. This distance might have led to the independence of the Eastern warriors.

"Masakado's Rebellion," where did it become a rebellion against the Imperial Court?

Then, when did the conflict between the clans become "Masakado's Rebellion"? A major turning point was 939. Masakado attacked and captured the Shimotsuke provincial government office, followed by the Kozuke provincial government office. The provincial government office was the administrative center for the Imperial Court to rule the regions.

In today's terms, it is a place that has a role combined like a prefectural office, a court, and a tax office. By occupying that place, the conflict between the clans came to be perceived as a rebellion against the Imperial Court.

And Masakado called himself the "New Emperor."
Looking only at this word, it seems as if he tried to become the Emperor. However, there are various theories about this even now, and there is a view that he "tried to show legitimacy as a ruler of the Eastern provinces." I truly felt that history is something that cannot be understood with just one line in a textbook.

Masakado was defeated. But the Eastern warriors remained

In 940, Masakado was killed in battle against Fujiwara no Hidesato, Taira no Sadamori, and others. It is said that he was struck by an arrow fired by the enemy and died in combat. Thus, the "Masakado Rebellion" came to an end. However, the era of the Eastern warriors did not end there.

Rather, it began here.
The clan of Taira no Sadamori, who fought against Masakado, as well as the descendants of his uncle, Taira no Yoshifumi, continued to maintain their power in the East thereafter. Among the descendants of Taira no Yoshifumi is Chiba Tsunetane, who would later support Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Those Bando warriors who played active roles in "The 13 Lords of the Shogun" were also part of the lineage of Eastern warriors that continued from the time of Masakado.

Why did the Bando warriors choose Yoritomo?

While researching this time, I had one question.
"The 13 Lords of the Shogun" features many influential Bando warriors, such as the Chiba, Miura, and Kazusa clans.
If they had this much power, couldn't one of them have become the leader themselves?

However, the person they chose was Minamoto no Yoritomo, who had been exiled to Izu. Yoritomo was the leader of the Minamoto clan and a person with a family lineage connected to the Imperial Court.
The Eastern warriors possessed military power.
On the other hand, to build a government, they also needed a "reason for them to legitimately rule the country," or in other words, a justification.
As a banner for that cause, Yoritomo was likely the most suitable figure.

Masakado also spoke of his own lineage as one of the justifications for his rule over the East.
Of course, one cannot think of Masakado and Yoritomo in the same way.
Even so, within the flow of "attempting to build a new government based in the East," I felt something that overlapped.

Ieyasu also chose the Kanto region

Furthermore, about 400 years later, Tokugawa Ieyasu also established his shogunate in the Kanto region.
It goes without saying that the political systems have changed significantly from the time of Masakado and the time of Yoritomo.

Even so, they share the point that they built their governments based on the land of Kanto.

In the final episode of "The 13 Lords of the Shogun," there was a scene where a young Ieyasu reads the "Azuma Kagami," a history book written about the Kamakura Shogunate, and reflects on the era of Yoritomo.

I would like to research on another occasion how Ieyasu studied the Kamakura Shogunate and applied it to the creation of the Edo Shogunate.

From Taira no Masakado to Yoritomo.
From Yoritomo to Ieyasu.
Triggered by a casual interest, I felt I could see the history of the Eastern warriors as a single continuous flow.

Conclusion

At first, when it came to Taira no Masakado, I only knew about his head mound and the "Masakado Rebellion."

However, as I researched, I came to understand that Masakado was not merely a rebel, but one of the figures who symbolized the era when Eastern warriors were gaining power.

There are still many things I do not know.
What was the specific situation in various parts of Bando at that time?
Are there any remains such as buildings?
What was the "Woman's Argument"?
How is it depicted in the "Shomonki"?
What kind of thoughts are recorded in the letters left by Masakado himself that still remain today?
How does the history of the Eastern warriors connect to the Kamakura Shogunate after this?

This note article is the entrance to that.
I would like to continue tracing the history of the Eastern warriors while researching one thing at a time.

End