Minamoto no Yoriie

Assassination of the Second Kamakura Shogun

The Second Kamakura Shogun, Minamoto no Yoriie was assassinated in 1204.

Second Kamakura Dono, Shogun, Minamoto no Yoriie.

Minamoto no Yoriie was born September 11, 1182, the eldest son of the Shogun Minamoto no Yorotomo and his wife, Hojo Masako. Born in Kamakura, the seat of his father’s shogunate, from a young age he showed great interest and skill in the martial arts and horse riding, and at the age of just 17 inherited his father’s position as head of the Minamoto clan on the Shogun, Yoritomo’s sudden death in 1199, becoming the second Minamoto Shogun in 1202. |In the turbulent months following Yoritomo’s death, the capital was enveloped in rumors of military raids and riots. Large numbers of samurai descended upon Kyoto, where they remained on guard against potential unrest in the capital by any warlord looking to take advantage of the sudden change of government. The Sansaemon Incident occurred during this period.

(The Sansaemon Incident, believed to have been a planned coup de’tat occurred in February 1199, immediately after Yoritomo's death. The name 'Sanzaemon' comes from the fact that the suspects, Goto Motokiyo, Nakahara Masatsune, and Ono Yoshinari were all ranked Saemonjo. Yoritomo’s death had stirred up the political situation, but the shogunate, which wanted a smooth transfer of power from Yoritomo to Yoriie, tried to calm the situation down, and so dissatisfied elements within the military were quickly discovered, exposed and dealt with.)

Yoriie then caused controversy within the court for having dared alter his father’s policies. The alterations caused a rift between mother and son when Masako then moved to prevent him from holding any political power and orchestrated the formation of a 13 member Council of Elders to govern in her son’s name. The council was headed by Masako’s father, Yoriie’s grandfather, Hojo Tokimasa. Minamoto no Yoritomo had relied heavily on the Hojo clan to attain his position, however, Yoriie had a dislike of his maternal relatives, and instead preferred the company and council of his wife’s father, Hiki Yoshikazu.

In response to this council, Yoriie rebelled and appointed five young trusted supporters, including Ogasawara Nagatsune, Hiki Saburo, Hiki Tokikazu, Wada Tomomori and Nakano Yoshinari, with Taira Tomoyasu, and Kajiwara Kagetoki as his political guardians, and refused to hold audiences or be seen in public unless they were in attendance. Angered by having become a puppet to the Hojo led council and his mother’s interference, Yoriie plotted to overthrow the council, and oust his maternal grandfather, however the plot was discovered, Yoriie was arrested and forced to resign. By this stage, Yoriie had fallen ill, and had suggested that his younger brother Sanetomo take his place, with Yoriie’s ’s son, Ichiman as heir. As such, his younger brother Sanetomo was made Shogun. Sanetomo was to be the last of the Minamoto clan to rule from Kamakura. Yoriie’s father in law, Hiki Yoshikazu was also later revealed to have made moves to assassinate Sanetomo in an effort to not only restore Yoriie to his rightful position, but also in order to increase his own influence in court.

Hojo Masako, Yoriie’s mother is said to have overheard the plot being discussed, and passed the information to her father, Tokimasa. Tokimasa then invited Hiki Yoshikazu to his private residence with the offer of a position in court, and when Hiki accepted the invitation, was assassinated October 8, 1203 on his arrival at the Hojo mansion. The Hojo then attacked and destroyed the remainder of the Hiki clan.   

Hojo Masako. Public Domain

Yoriie himself too ill to fight, fled to the onsen hot springs resort Shuzenji region in central Izu Peninsula, where it is believed his grandfather organized his assassination.

Regarding his death, the Azuma Kagami records only briefly mention that news of Yoriie's death was received via a courier. According to the Gukansho records dated on the day of his murder, Yoriie, who resisted, had a cord tied around his neck and was stabbed to death.  According to the Horyakukanki, a history book of the Northern and Southern Courts period, he was killed while taking a bath. While the details differ, the cause of his death is understood. Yoriie’s three sons would all meet violent early ends too, mostly as a result of the power struggles that enveloped the shogunate.

Yoriie has been painted as somewhat of a poor ruler, and his achievements have been downplayed. In records compiled by the Hojo clan Yoriie is depicted as a dark ruler who indulged in entertainments and the mistresses of his vassals. However, the description is believed to specifically degrade Yoriie as part of a political act by the Hojo clan — a character assassination following his actual assassination.

In the end, Yoriie died without being able to show any special characteristics as a politician, and after that, a quagmire of power struggles among the gokenin, the higher ranked warlords and vassals, continued. As the influential vassals continued to fall apart over several generations of infighting, the power of the Hojo clan, who had survived the power struggle, gradually came to prominence.