History of Asia

Tomoe Gozen, a vassal of Minamoto no Yoshinaka and also her

In the article by Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Tomoe Gozen I touched on that.

Tomoe Gozen is a vassal and mistress of Yoshinaka, and once he went to the battlefield, he was active as a general of the Kiso Yoshinaka army . ] Is written. However, [The Tale of the Heike] and [Genpei Jōsuiki] It is said that he is not a real person because he appears only within.

Still, Tomoe Gozen is an inseparable person when talking about the Genpei War. Its popularity and name recognition are said to be more famous than Yoshinaka Kiso.

So, this time, I would like to write about Tomoe Gozen.

Tomoe Gozen who dreamed of subduing the Taira clan with Yoshinaka Kiso

Yoshinaka Kiso, a military commander of Shinano Province, who draws the blood of Genji who made his name more than anyone else in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period.

His beloved, on the battlefield, " he was active as a general of the Kiso Yoshinaka army . "The female warrior whose bravery is handed down, that is Tomoe Gozen is.

The year of birth of Tomoe Gozen is not clear, and there is a difference of about 10 years from 1153 to 1163. She is said to have been born as the daughter of Kaneto Nakahara, a powerful family in Kiso, Shinshu.

Her brothers include her childhood friend Kanehira Imai, who is a senior vassal of Yoshinaka, and other great masters who obeyed Yoshinaka until the end. It is said that the whole family served Yoshinaka Kiso.

Tomoe Gozen was a very beautiful woman with white color and long hair.

Once she goes to the battlefield, she becomes a strong bower, and if she has a Japanese sword, she transforms into a female warrior who wants to deal with even demons and gods, defeats the 100,000 Taira clan, and reverses Genpei's power. Famous as the battle that made you [ Battle of Kurikara Pass ] Then, she played an active part as a general of a corps.

Encounter between Yoshinaka Kiso and Tomoe Gozen

Tomoe Gozen was three years below her Yoshinaka and spent the same time with Yoshinaka and Kiso with Higuchi Kanemitsu and Imai Kanehira. She dreamed of becoming a follower of her Yoshinaka from an early age, and from an early age she was an active woman riding a horse, handling bows and swords.

As she spends the same time with her two brothers, she is said to have naturally become a good friend of her. However, her Yoshinaka and Tomoe Gozen did not eventually become a married couple.

Her father, Kaneto Nakahara, is said to have married her gentle sister, not her Tomoe Gozen, to her Yoshinaka.

Aiming for Shinano without conflict with Yoshinaka Kiso

Yoshinaka himself wanted to make Shinano Province, which raised him, a country without conflict, and he was looking for a way to expand his power by forming a marriage relationship with other powerful tribes. Tomoe Gozen, who had her love, stays in the position of her mistress despite having mixed feelings, and follows the same path for the peace of her Yoshinaka and Shinano.

The time when Yoshinaka and Tomoe Gozen lived was a time when the order of the country was fundamentally disturbed, and it was also the boundary of the times. Tomoe Gozen, a woman born in a region of Shinano Province, understood her aspirations for Yoshinaka to become a leader in her time, and she tried to fulfill it together.

Even in the battle of Awazu, where Yoshinaka Kiso died unemployed by a large army of Kamakura dispatched by Minamoto no Yoritomo, when she finally became only five masters and servants, she wore beautiful armor and rode a strong rough horse. It is said that the figure was firmly in it.

The brave episode of Tomoe Gozen in the final battle of Yoshinaka

Genpei War at the end of the Heian period [ Genpei War ], Let me introduce the episode that best conveys the bravery of Tomoe Gozen, who is a mistress of Yoshinaka Kiso who was active as a general on the Genji side and who is also a good vassal.

Tomoe Gozen who was near Yoshinaka Kiso at the Battle of Awazu

Yoshinaka can be said to be the most important player in the subjugation of the Heike clan, but he was defeated by Minamoto no Yoritomo at the age of 31 without becoming the main character in history. It is also the last battle of Yoshinaka Kiso [ Battle of Awazu ], Tomoe Gozen is by her Yoshinaka, and her bravery is written in The Tale of the Heike.

According to The Tale of the Heike, the Kamakura army was in a state of losing to the Kamakura army of 60,000, while the Kiso Yoshinaka army was about 1600. At the end, you will die in Omi Kuritsu, where Lake Biwa spreads with just five horses. Yoshinaka was 31 years old and Tomoe Gozen was 28 years old.

Tomoe Gozen also fought to be close to Yoshinaka Kiso as her vassal in the Battle of Awazu. And the Tale of the Heike describes the last moment of Yoshinaka Kiso with Tomoe Gozen.

Even so, Tomoe Gozen did not try to leave her side of Yoshinaka, but when he saw Yoshinaka who kept telling him to run away repeatedly, Tomoe Gozen said, [ Is there any good enemy? I want to show you my last battle ] It seems that he said.

At that time, Mr. Hachiro Mita, who is famous in Musashi Province, appears with 30 horses.

Tomoe Gozen rushed into the army and when he approached Hachiro Mita, he grabbed him and dragged him off his horse, pressed it against the saddle of his horse, twisted his neck and threw it away. And Tomoe Gozen took off his armor and left in the direction of the eastern country.

Even though he couldn't be Yoshinaka's wife, he was the closest to supporting Yoshinaka Kiso. You would have decided that you would be together until the last minute. However, when she saw her Yoshinaka telling her to run away to remind her of Tomoe Gozen, she knew the depth of her love for herself, and she gave her thoughts by burning herself in her battle. Maybe I wanted to burn my figure.

Tomoe Gozen became a nun and ended his 91-year-old life.

What happened to Tomoe Gozen, who left the battlefield crying and crying after receiving the wish of Yoshinaka Kiso, who was prepared to die in the battle with the Kamakura army? ??

There are about 15 Tomoe Gozen mounds nationwide. Among them, it is said that the area around Tomoe Gozen is the site of the hermitage where Tomoe Gozen spent his last years as a nun so that he could be protected by a pine called Tomoematsu in Fukumitsutenjin, Nanto City, Etchu (Toyama Prefecture).

In The Tale of the Heike, it was only written that Tomoe Gozen fled to the east after listening to her wishes for Yoshinaka.

Military memoirs written from the middle to the latter half of Kamakura [ Genpei Jōsuiki ] Then, she was caught after falling to Shinano and went to Kamakura. There, he is charged with death as a defeated general, but Yoshimori Wada, a leading gokenin, [ I want a child with such a rigid person . ] And pleaded for her life, and she became the wife of Yoshimori Wada.

After that, Yoshimori Wada was born, and it is said that Yoshimori Asahina, who is proud of his bravery, was born.

However, Genpei Jōsuiki is a military story, and the fiction theory is so rich that it is not a legend.

Also, in Azuma Kagami, there is a biography of a female warrior with a strong bow called Echigo's Hangaku Gozen, and the story of the latter half of the story is almost the same as that of Tomoe Gozen, so it was not confused. It is said that.

Currently, Kurikara Pass On the information board of Tomoezuka in the area, along with an outline of the contents of Genpei Jōsuiki, [ Nun and Kansei, October 22, 1945, at sunset, Mr. Ishiguro built Tomoe Temple here. It is reported that it was done ] Is written.