u/Memedsengokuhistory

Hey everyone. It’s been a while since I’ve done a post (and I know I still haven’t updated my Shinano series and Oshu series), but I guess here’s a new series that may or may not be finished. 

So without further ado, let’s get into our protagonist for the chapter here. 

A map of the shoens in Hizen province (by Memed Sengoku History)

Section 1: Origins of the Matsuura clan

The Matsuura clan (松浦氏) has two different stories of origins: 1) they are descendants of the Oshu Abe clan (奥州安倍氏), specifically from Abe no Muneto (安倍宗任), younger brother of Abe no Sadato (安倍貞任). 2) They are descendants of the Saga Genji (嵯峨源氏), who descended from the lineage of Emperor Saga (嵯峨天皇). 

Abe no Muneto theory: This genealogy came from Heike no Monogatari and its related work. As many of you may already know, Abe no Sadato fought against Minamoto no Yoritomo’s great-great-great-grandfather Yoriyoshi (6 generations difference) in the former 9-year war, and was subsequently defeated and executed. As Sadato’s younger brother, Muneto is said to have been exiled to Iyo province in Shikoku, before being exiled to Chikuzen province in Kyushu. Edo period work “Zenzen-Taiheiki” (前々太平記) also follows this narrative, with the addition that Muneto had come to serve Minamoto no Yoshiie (son of Yoriyoshi) but still desired to return to Oshu. Hence, he secretly trained men in the mountains of Tsukushi province (later split into Chikuzen & Chikugo provinces) and requested to be granted land in the Matsuura district of Hizen province. Alongside Watanabe no Tsuna’s descendants - the two families would later be known as the “Matsuura-to” (松浦党, meaning the “Matsuura group”). 

Saga Genji theory: This genealogy is dated to be prior to Heike no Monogatari, and is more in line with the Matsuura clan’s own compiled genealogy, the Kaseiden (家世伝). However, as the author (Toyama Mikio/外山幹夫) noted - just because this came earlier does not necessarily mean that it is correct. That being said, the Matsuura clan clearly has a connection with cetain historical figures such as Hizen’s Kokushi (governor) Minamoto no Tomo (源知, unsure if that’s how it should be pronounced) who fought against the Toi invasion (刀伊の入寇), and Minamoto no Sunao (源順) who was the cultivator of Uno-no-mikuriya (宇野御厨, an estate in Matsuura district that we will talk about later). Of course, Abe no Muneto was a prisoner of rebellion, while Saga Genji is a descendant of the Emperor - which one appears more favourable is easy to tell.^(1)

Section 2: The nature of the “groups”

This came from a paper discussing the nature of the Matsuura group as a whole. There have been different theories on how they behaved, with some arguing that they acted as a coalition (ikki/一揆) with the main family as its leader, while others argue that they more or less acted as independent lords who may or may not work with each other. The word “group” (“to”/党) itself is interesting. We can see this term used to refer to various regional groups from the Kamakura period to the Sengoku period. The most famous one is probably the Musashi 7 groups (武蔵七党), which includes the Yokoyama group (横山党), Inomata group (猪俣党), Kodama group (児玉党), Murayama group (村山党), Noyo group (野予党), and the Tan group (丹党) (there are also two others, Tsuzuki (綴党) & Kisai (私市党) groups, adding to a total of 9 groups). During the Sengoku period, we also know “groups” like the Yuasa (湯浅党) and Suda (隅田党) groups in Kii province. However, professor Seno Seiichiro (瀬野精一郎) argued that the use of the term “group/to” was actually a derogatory term that is really only used by outsiders to refer to a group of people who live in an area. For example, the use of “鎮西凶党等” (Chinzei villains) to refer to the Matsuura group in Meigetsu-ki (明月記), written by court noble Fujiwara no Sadaie (藤原定家). Indeed, we can also think about terms like “Akuto” (悪党, “villainous group” - thanks to u/Morricane for pointing that out), and the use of “Nichiren-to/日蓮党” by non-Nichirenists to refer to Nichirenists is likely to also involve derogatory undertones (thanks to Professor Dan Sherer for providing this information). 

The author of the paper (Ishimura Yuna/石村優奈) also pointed to the fact that the Matsuura group is recorded to have taken different sides during the Genpei war - with both Heike no Monogatari (平家物語) and Azuma Kagami (吾妻鏡) offering two seemingly conflicting accounts. In Heike no Monogatari, it was described that the Usuki (臼杵), Totsugi (戸次) and Matsuura groups aligned themselves with Ogata Koreyoshi (緒方惟栄)^(2) and attacked Heike’s Dazaifu (太宰府)^(3) in 1180 (when the Heike were starting to punish the people who opposed them). Similarly, it was also written in Heiki no Monogatari that when the Heike forces arrived at Yashima in 1185, it was reported that tens of thousands of men from Kyushu - comprising the Usuki, Hetsugi and the Matsuura group - were coming to attack them, scaring them crapless. However, in both Heike no Monogatari and Azuma Kagami, a seemingly opposite account was also offered. Both sources tell that at the later battle of Dan no Ura in 1185, the Heike navy split into 3 groups - led by Yamaga no Hideto (山鹿秀遠)^(4), the Matsuura group, and men of the Heike themselves. So in this view, it looks like the Matsuura forces joined Yoritomo’s side since the beginning and at the battle of Yashima, but then switched sides to the Heike during the battle of Dan no ura - roughly a month after Yashima?

Ishimura pointed out that this seemingly bizarre inconsistency can be explained if we stop viewing the Matsuura group as a “coalition group”, but rather along Professor Seno’s argument - that they were simply a group of people inhabiting an area who don’t necessarily work together, and hence may have different interests and loyalties. The following story in the next section (and what I consider to be the “meat” of this post) supports this theory. 

Section 3: Urabe and the generational conflicts

To support her argument, Ishimura pointed to an incident involving different members of the Matsuura group - specifically, the Mine clan, the Aokata clan and the Yamashiro clan. The story is a little complicated, so let me break it down for you:

During the late Heian period (before the Genpei war), an area called “Urabe” (浦部) within Uno-no-mikuriya was administered by the local Jito, Kiyohara no Korekane (清原是包). Uno-no-mikuriya is an estate that roughly covers the Northern part of modern-day Nagasaki prefecture, as well as various surrounding islands such as the Goto islands and Hirado island. For the more exact boundaries of this estate, please see my map attached above. The Urabe area covers roughly modern-day Nakadori island (中通島) and Wakamatsu island (若松島) - two large islands of the Goto island chain. Interestingly enough, Urabe was listed as “Urabe area within Ojika island” (小値賀島内浦部), meaning that at the time, “Ojika island” (nowadays just a small island above Nakadori island) may have been used to refer to a much wider area. 

Anyway, Korekane was charged with colluding with pirates and disturbing the peace. Finally after an incident with a Korean ship, he had his position as Ryoshu (領主, which in this case likely means an administration position under the Ryoke/領家)^(5) stripped, which was then passed down to his niece Mitsuko (三子). Mitsuko was married to a man named Minamoto no Naosu (源直), who operated as an administrator on her behalf and was appointed Bensaishi (弁済使, tax collector for the Shoen lords, very similar to what the later Jito does). Korekane was later reappointed as Ryoshu and attempted to regain ownership over the land, but was caught by Naosu and executed in Hirado. Naosu and Mitsuko would later divorce, and Naosu married a widow of a Song merchant captain. The widow had a son with her, and Naosu took him as his stepson. This kid is later known as Minamoto no Tsuranu (源連), to whom Naosu transferred the land rights of Urabe to. However, Korekane’s nephew, a monk named Jinkaku, came from Todaiji (東大寺) in Yamato and claimed that Korekane had passed the ownership to him before he died. Furthermore, Mitsuko and Naosu's son Kakomu (囲) also entered the battle and claimed to be the rightful owner. The whereabouts of Mitsuko herself are unknown, but Kakomu’s claim was supported by his adoptive father (Mitsuko’s later husband). To make it worse, Korekane’s later wife also joins in and claims that she and Korekane’s son, Matsuboshi (松法師), should be the rightful owners of it. Matsuboshi was quickly killed, so he was out of the picture, but the remaining three parties continued on fighting for ownership over the Urabe area. 

Under the Kamakura Bakufu, the Jito position over Urabe was first confirmed with Tsuranu, but then Jinkaku was recognised as the rightful owner of it. Tsuranu's adopted son, Mine Tamotsu (峯持) was later recognised as the Jito, and Jinkaku and his family were recognised as administrators under the Mine clan. This, of course, did not resolve the conflict, as tensions continued to exist between the Mine clan and Jinkaku's descendants, the Aokata clan (青方氏). The fight over Urabe also appeared to have surfaced between members of the Matsuura group itself, as we see the Mine clan fighting for its rule in lawsuits with certain individuals named Minamoto no Hitoshi (源等) and Takashima Mitsuru (鷹島満, likely from the Takashima clan on Takashima island). The Mine clan later spawned off a significantly more famous family - the Hirado Matsuura clan (平戸松浦氏), who would eventually take over the main family. At some point in time, control over Urabe appeared to have shifted from the Mine clan to the Hirado Matsuura clan and the Shisa clan (志佐氏, another Matsuura group member). 

To add more fun to the constant conflicts, the Uku clan (宇久氏, a family supposedly from the Uku island/宇久島 who moved to Fukue island/福江島) also began the efforts of uniting all of the Goto island chains. They would succeed and eventually change their name to the Goto clan (五島氏, obviously referencing the Goto islands), but that's a story for the next chapter. 

Kakomu was never recognised as Jito over Urabe, but was instead granted the Jito position over Yamashiro-ura (山代浦).^(6) Kakomu's descendants would take up the name of "Yamashiro" and become the Yamashiro clan (山代氏). 

So far, this has been pretty soap opera-ish, but I’ll try to simplify the connection of each party below. I’ve also compiled a family map to show exactly who was connected to whom:

Family connections: 

As we can see in the family map - from Korekane’s perspective, this is a fight between your nephew-in-law’s adopted son, your nephew, your son, and your great nephew. I think that was the part of the story I found really funny - just how complicated the family relationship was in this seemingly obscure conflict. 

Family map of all parties involved in the conflict

Claim connections: 

1. Minamoto no Tsuranu: his claim is simple - his father Naosu was appointed as Bensaishi, and passed the role down to him. 
2. Jinkaku: his claim is that Korekane passed the ownership down to him before he died. As Korekane was reinstated as Ryoshu before he died, this inheritance should be legitimate. 
3. Kakomu: his claim is that Mitsuko passed the ownership to him - and since his mother inherited the position from Korekane (before Korekane was reinstated), he should have claim
4. Matsuboshi: his claim is that he is the son of Korekane, who was officially reinstated as Ryoshu before being killed by Naosu (effectively same claim as Jinkaku)

What Ishimura noted was interesting is that Korekane’s claim came from the Imperial court, while Naosu was backed by the Heike, who then reassured his control over Urabe. Following this perspective, it’s not hard to imagine that Naosu likely sided with the Heike during the Genpei war. This may explain why the Kamakura Bakufu shifted the claim from Naosu to Jinkaku. During the earlier years of the Kamakura bakufu, the stability of the newly founded state was low and they could only guarantee the fief of lords across Japan, even those who opposed them during the Genpei war. However, after the Bakufu became more stable, they were able to start excising the pesky hidden enemies and traitors, and install more favourable claimants. As for why Tsuranu’s stepson Tamotsu was then appointed as Jito over Jinkaku - we are really not super sure why this happened. 

The timeline is as follows:

1. Unknown year -> Ninpei 2nd year (1152): Kiyohara no Korekane administered over the land as Ryoshu. However, he committed acts of violence, disturbed the people and finally was removed after an incident involving a Korean ship. 
2. Ninpei 1st year (1151): As Korekane was fired, his niece Mitsuko inherited the position. As a representative of Mitsuko’s wife, Minamoto no Naosu was appointed Bensaishi. 
3. Chokan 2nd year (1164): Korekane was reinstated as Ryoshu over Ojika island. This was around when the Heike began establishing their dominance, and Naosu received reaffirmation of land right by the Heike. Korekane was killed by Naosu later that year. 
4. Juei 2nd year (1183), 22nd day of the 3rd month: Mitsuko transferred the position to her and Naosu’s son, Kakomu. By this time, Naosu was already divorced from Mitsuko. 
5. Juei 3rd year (1184), 7th day of the 2nd month: Naosu had married a Song merchant’s widow and took her son as his step-son, and transferred the land right to him. This son is Minamoto no Tsuranu. 
6. Bunji 4th year (1188), 8th day of the 3rd month: Minamoto no (Chika/値賀) Tsuranu supposedly received a confirmation of land rights from Minamoto no Yoritomo. This specific document could not be found outside of Tsuranu’s own claim.^(7) 
7. Kenkyu 3rd year (1192), 2nd day of the 6th month: Kakomu was granted the Jito position over Yamashiro-ura within Uno-no-mikuriya, but no documents suggested that he was granted the position of Jito over the Urabe area. 
8. Kenkyu 7th year (1196), 20th day of the 7th month: Officials from the Kamakura Bakufu^(8) judged the case over Urabe and granted the Jito position to Jinkaku, signed by Yoritomo. 
9. Genkyu first year (1204), 22nd day of the 8th month: Minamoto no Tsuranu is ordered to stop interfering with the affairs within Urabe, and the Jito position is reaffirmed with Jinkaku. This is signed by Hojo Tokimasa.^(9) 
10. Kenei 2nd year (1207), 22nd day of the 8th month: Minamoto no Sanetomo reaffirmed the Jito position to Jinkaku.^(10)
11. Jogen 2nd year (1208), 7th month: Jinkaku transferred the rice fields, dry fields (usually comprising non-rice grains that do not require a lot of water, like wheat, Bailey…etc.) and the Zaike (residence) to his second son, Fujiwara no Ietaka. However, due to disputes from Ietaka’s son, Yoshitaka, Jinkaku then transferred the land and residence to his eldest son, Fujiwara no Michizumi (later known as Michitaka, we will just call him Michitaka from now on). The two brothers later split the land amongst themselves. 
12. Kenpo 7th year (1219), 3rd day of the 6th month: Matsuura Tsuranu transferred the Jito position to his nephew, Matsuura (Mine) Tamotsu.
13. Jokyu first year (1219), 2nd day of the 11th month: Aokata Michitaka formed an adoptive father-son relationship with Mine Tamotsu. 
14. Jokyu 3rd year (1222), 26th day of the 5th month: Mine Tamotsu was officially appointed as Jito over the Ojika island (which includes Urabe). 
15. Antei 2nd year (1228), 13th day of the 3rd month: Bakufu ordered Yamashiro Saburo Katashi (源三郎固, Kakomu’s son, who was also known as Yamashiro Tsubura/山代圓) to interfere with affairs within Urabe, and affirmed the right to the Jito office under Mine Tamotsu.^(11) 
16. Ryakunin first year (1238), 25th day of the 12th month: In the settlement document drafted by Mine Tamotsu and Minamoto no Hitoshi, Aokata Michitaka was designated with Sata-shiki (沙汰職, Sata position, a subordinate position under the Jito) of Urabe. From this, we can see that the Aokata clan had already been incorporated as a vassal of the Mine clan.
17. (Unknown time): Aokata Michitaka had privately divided the land and transferred it to his sons without permission from the Mine clan. This reignited the conflict between the Mine and Aokata clans.
18. Shogen first year (1259), 16th day of the 7th month: Mine Shizumu (峰湛) and Takashima Mitsuru entered into a lawsuit regarding whether or not Urabe counted as a part of Ojika island.^(12) 
19. Bunei 8th year (1271), 25th day of the 11th month: Shogun Minamoto no Koreyasu reassured Mine Shizumu’s Jito position over lands in Hizen that include Hirado (平戸), Kawachi (河内), Nozaki island (野崎島), Minamiguro island (南黒島), and Ojika island.
20. Koan 4th year (1281): Fujiwara no Ietaka and his son Yoshitaka fought against the Mongol invasion, and received lands in Kanzaki-no-sho (神崎庄) in Hizen and Mizuma-no-sho (三潴庄) in Chikugo, as well as the Jito positions over these two shoen. 
21. (Unknown time): Aokata Yoshitaka’s younger brother, Hirotaka (弘高)’s son Tokitaka (時高) lived in the Shirauo (白魚) area of Urabe, and assumed the surname “Shirauo”). 
22. Einin 6th year (1298), Aokata Magoshiro Takanao (青方孫四郎高直) filed a lawsuit against Shirauo Tokitaka for illegally occupying his Shukugen island (祝言島) and Ore island (折島), and won the suit. 
23. Kagen 3rd year (1305): Over 10 people, including Aokata Takaie’s (青方高家) son Hachiro Takatsugu (八郎高継), his other son Matajiro (又次郎), his relatives the Sone Yoichi (曽根与一) father & son duo and others, burnt down the residence and salt-making hut of a certain Sojiro (宗次郎) who lives in Aokata, pillaging his wealth in the process. Sojiro was under the governance of Mine Sadamu (峯貞), so this obviously posed a threat towards Sadamu’s rule. 
24. Showa (正和) 4th year (1315), 2nd day of the 6th month: the Mine clan and the Shirauo clan fought over control of Saho (佐保) and Shirauo in Urabe, and the Chinzei Tandai (鎮西探題, a position that oversees affairs in Kyushu) ruled that these areas belonged to the Mine clan, and the Shirauo clan was to serve as Sata under the Mine clan. 
25. From this point onwards, conflicts did not subside in Urabe. Instead, families such as the Hirado Matsuura (branch family of the Mine clan, but later overthrew the Mine main line), Shisa (志佐, descendant of the main line Matsuura clan), Aokata and Uku (宇久) split the control over the island.

 

Territorial split over Urabe (in Oei 29th year/1422):

1. Hirado Matsuura controlled Hamanoura-go (浜ノ浦郷), Inoseto-go (飯の瀬戸郷), Tsuzuki-go (続郷), and Michidoi-go (道土井郷).^(13)
2. Hirado Matsuura and Shisa shared Imazato-go (今里郷), Mikeura-go (三ヶ浦郷), Arakawa village (荒川村), and Shukunoura village (宿の浦村).^(14)
3. Hirado Matsuura, Shisa and Uku shared Funakakushi-go (船隠郷), Tsukiji-go (築地郷), Menoyama-go (米の山郷), Oraikawachi-go (大らいかわち郷), Furusato-go (古里郷), Kiri-go (桐郷) and Sato-go (里郷).^(15)
4. Aokata clan’s exact land isn’t listed, but the area of “Aokata” roughly corresponds with modern-day Aokata-go (青方郷), and there are quite a few locations with the name “Shirauo” in the Southern part of modern-day Shukunoura-go.

 

Footnotes: 

1. Fun fact: the Matsuura clan (and their supposed ancestor, the Saga Genji Watanabe clan in general) has the distinct tradition of giving their sons only one word for their first names, as opposed to the two-worded first names that are common in almost every other family. This tradition became lost as they had to establish lord-vassal relationships with other daimyos later on due to the practice of receiving Henki (偏諱). Henki involves the lord giving you a word from his first name to establish the close relationship between the two, usually with you placing that word as the first word of your first name to signify respect to this “honour”. You obviously cannot do if you just have… well, one word for your entire first name. For example: Matsuura Okinobu received “Oki” from Ouchi Yoshioki, and Matsuura Takanobu received “Taka” from Ouchi Yoshitaka. 
2. Usuki, Hetsugi and Ogata clans all originate from the Bungo Oga clan (大神氏), in modern-day Oita prefecture. 
3. Dazaifu was the administrative capital of Kyushu. During the Kamakura period, the Kyushu administrative office of Chinzei-Tandai (鎮西探題) was also based in Dazaifu. 
4. The “Yamaga” is also written as 山峨 or 山賀. Yamaga Hideto was a lord of Chikuzen who fought against the Ogata-led coalition forces in Dazaifu.
5. A “Ryoke” is someone or an institution (like a temple or shrine) that is the superior of an estate. We can think of them as essentially the “protector” of the Shoen cultivators (開発領主) - if there’s any trouble, the cultivators can seek help from the Ryoke, with the price of giving some of the income to them. A “Honke” (本家) is another tier above the Ryoke - who are usually influential court nobles. If the issue is something the Ryoke couldn’t solve, then the Honke can step in to deal with it. Honke usually have multiple Ryoke under it (and hence multiple shoens), but a Shoen might not necessarily have an Honke (if they don’t have it, they probably didn’t need it in the first place). As you can see, they are all tied by the same interest: if a Shoen gets confiscated or loses some land, the amount of profits received by the cultivators, Ryoke and Honke would all be harmed. 
6. Yamashiro port, modern-day Yamashiro-cho and Higashi-Yamashiro-cho, Imari city
7. Note: While the name “Chika/値賀” is the same as Ojika island’s “Jika” (値賀) - the Chika here likely refers to the area in Genkai-machi (玄海町) in Saga prefecture.
8. These officials were Fujiwara no Yorihira (藤原頼平, also known as Muto武藤 or Shoni少弐 Yorihira, founder of the Shoni and Daihoji/大宝寺 clan), Oe no Hiromoto (大江広元) and Nikaido Yukimasa (二階堂行政)
9. Tokimasa was the first Shikken, and this is just a year before he was overthrown by his son, Hojo Yoshitoki.
10. This was signed by 5 men: Koremune no Takazane (惟宗孝実), Kiyohara no Kiyosada (清原清定), Nakahara no Nakanari (中原仲業), Nikaido Yukimasa (二階堂行政) and Nakahara Morotoshi (中原師俊). They were the Mandokoro Betto (政所別当), and appear in many other documents under Sanetomo.
11. This is signed by Musashi-no-kami (武蔵守)and Sagami-no-kami (相模守) - which in 1228 should be Hojo Yasutoki (北条泰時, the Shikken) and his uncle Hojo Tokifusa (北条時房, the first Rensho/連署 - essentially assistant Shikken that co-signs with the Shikken, as we see here).
12. Given that Mine Tamotsu (Shizumu’s grandfather) was already granted Jito over Ojika, I believe the likely situation is that Mitsuru interfered in the affairs of Urabe. 
13. Roughly modern-day Inoseto-go/飯ノ瀬戸郷, Tsuzukihamanoura-go/続浜ノ浦郷 and Michidoi-go/道土井郷 of Shinkamigoto-machi/新上五島町.
14. Roughly modern-day Mikanoura-go/三日ノ浦郷, Imazato-go/今里郷, Arakawa-go/荒川郷, and Shukunoura-go/宿の浦郷.
15. This isn’t as easy to see on the modern day map, but Funakakushi-go is a part of modern day Higashikonoura-go (東神ノ浦郷), Tsukiji-go is a part of Shukunoura-go (宿の浦郷), Menoyama is a part of modern day Narao-go (奈良尾郷), Kiri-go and Furusato-go correspond with modern day Kirifurusato-go (桐古里郷), Oraikawachi-go likely has to do with the “Kawachi” mentioned prior, and Sato-go may have something to do with the old Satonoura (里の浦), which makes up a part of modern day Wakamatsu-go (若松郷) on Wakamatsu island.

 

References:

中世長崎の基礎的研究 by Toyama Mikio/外山幹夫

中世前期松浦党にみる「党」の存在形態 by Ishimura Yuna/石村優奈

玄海町史

武家家伝＿青方氏