Fujiwara no Hidesato

Fujiwara no Hidesato (藤原 秀郷), was a kuge (court bureaucrat) of tenth century Heian Japan. He is famous for his military exploits and courage and is regarded as the common ancestor of numerous clans, including the Ōshū branch of the Fujiwara clan.

Fujiwara no Hidesato depicted in an 1890 print by Yoshitoshi.
In this Japanese name, the surname is Fujiwara.

Hidesato served under Emperor Suzaku, and fought alongside Taira no Sadamori in 940 in suppressing the revolt of Taira no Masakado.[1] His prayer for victory before this battle is commemorated in the Kachiya Festival. Hidesato was then appointed Chinjufu-shōgun (Defender of the North) and Governor of Shimotsuke Province.

He was also nicknamed Tawara Tōda, and according to romance he destroyed a giant centipede in Ōmi Province that plagued the Dragon Palace.

Family
  • Father: Fujiwara no Murao (藤原村雄)
  • Mother: daughter of Shimatsuke-no-jō no Kashima (下野掾鹿島女)
    • Wife: daughter of Minamoto no Michi (源通) of the Board of Chamberlains (侍従).
      • Son: Fujiwara no Chitsune (藤原千常)
    • Children by unknown mother:
      • Son: Fujiwara no Chitoki (藤原千時)
      • Son: Fujiwara no Chiharu (藤原千晴)
      • Son: Fujiwara no Chikuni (藤原千国)
      • Son: Fujiwara no Chigusa (藤原千種)

Descendants

Many samurai clans claim descent from Hidesato, including the Northern Fujiwara (Ōshū branch of the Fujiwaras). Some of the others are the Satō, Ōtomo, Mutō, Satō, Iga, Hatano, Oyama, Yūki and Shimokōbe clans.[2][3]

Hidesato in legend
Legend monument for his exploit of slaying the giant centipede at Seta no Karahashi
Further information: My Lord Bag of Rice

Hidesato, also known by the moniker Tawara Tōda or Tawara no Tōta,[4] is known in legend for his exploit of slaying the giant centipede (mukade[5]) of Mount Mikami.[4] Hidesato was recruited to this task by a giant dragon-snake which was, in fact, a resident of the Ryūgū-jō (Dragon Palace). Hidesato meets the Dragon King and is showered with rewards, which included an inexhaustible rice-sack (tawara), from which he allegedly earned his nickname.[6][7] A more rational explanation is that Tawara, also written differently as "田原", represents either a surname or a place name.[8]

This centipede story (cf. "My Lord Bag of Rice") together with a romanticized account of his Masakado expedition comprise the Tawara Tōda monogatari. The monogatari texts have been copied and printed profusely in picture scrolls and illustrated books throughout the Edo Period.[7][6]

Legendary arms
See also: My Lord Bag of Rice § Other attestations

The Ise Shrine's Jingū Chōkokan Museum houses two swords that allegedly once belonged to Hidesato.

One is the Kenukigata tachi (Ise), a tachi of the kenukigata or "tweezer" type.[9][lower-alpha 1] According to tradition, it was the sword obtained by Hidesato from the Dragon Palace, which later became an heirloom of the Akahori clan. After changing hands several times, it came into the possession of the shrine in 1793.[11] Although the Hidesato provenance is unverifiable, this sword is dated to be of the correct period.[11] The other alleged Hidesato sword at the museum is called Mukadegiri "Centipede-cutter".[12] Although its inscriptions claim it to be the work of the swordsmith Shinsoku (神息) from the 8th century, the sword has been dated to the 14th century.[lower-alpha 2][12]

There is also another "tweezer" type sword alleged to have belonged to Hidesato held in Chikubu Island, the Kenukigata tachi (Hōgon-ji).[14][15][16]

See also

Explanatory notes
  1. Called "tweezer" type because there is openwork on the hilt which makes the hilt resemble a pair of tweezers.[10]
  2. The name is Mukadegiri (蚣切) (two characters) on the carved hilt-inscription according to Shūko jusshu (1899).[13]

References

Media related to Fujiwara no Hidesato at Wikimedia Commons

  1. Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. Cassell & Co. p. 199. ISBN 1854095234.
  2. Frédéric, Louis (2002). [Press.https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA202 "Otogi-zōshi and Nara ehon: A Field of Study in Flux"]. Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. p. 220.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. Friday (2008), p. 150.
  4. Sato, Hiroaki (1983). Legends of the Samurai. Kodansha International. p. 38. ISBN 9781590207307.
  5. Foster, Michael Dylan (2009). Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yōkai. University of California Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-520-25361-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  6. Araki, James T. (1981). "Otogi-zōshi and Nara ehon: A Field of Study in Flux". Monumenta Nipponica. 36: 1–5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  7. Kimbrough, R. Keller (2018). "The Tale of Tawara Tōda". Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds: A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales. Columbia University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  8. Visser, Marinus Willem de (1913), The dragon in China and Japan, Amsterdam: J. Müller, pp. 191–193
  9. Satō, Kanzan (1995). The Japanese Sword: a comprehensive guide. Translated by Joe Earle. The Overlook Press. p. 132. ISBN 9780870115622.
  10. Harada, Kazutoshi (2009). Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 197.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  11. Jungu Chōko Museum Agriculture Pavillion (1941). Jingū Chōkokan chinretsuhin zuroku 神宮徴古館陳列品図録 (in Japanese). pp. 23–24.
  12. "Hidesato ni shōten, bushi no rūtsu shitte Tochigi-ken hakubutsukan de kikakuten dentō no hōtō Mukadegiri mo" 秀郷に焦点、武士のルーツ知って　栃木県立博物館で企画展　伝説の宝刀「蜈蚣切」も. Sankei Shinbun (in Japanese). 2018-11-19.
  13. Matsudaira, Sadanobu, ed. (1905), "Ise no kuni dai jingū zō Tawara Todō Hidesato Mukadekiri tachi (no) zu" 伊勢国大神宮蔵俵藤太秀郷蜈蚣切太刀図, Shūko jusshu tōken no bu 集古十種　刀剣之部 (in Japanese), Ikubunsha, p. (1)4
  14. Bureau of Religions, Ministry of Education (1920). Handbook of the Old Shrines and Temples and Their Treasures in Japan. Sanshusha. p. 13.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  15. Matsudaira, Sadanobu, ed. (1905), "Ōmi no kuni Chikubushima zō Tawara Todō Hidesato shonō tachi (no) zu" 近江国竹生島社蔵俵藤太秀郷所納太刀図, Shūko jusshu tōken no bu 集古十種　刀剣之部 (in Japanese), Ikubunsha, p. (2)18
  16. Honma, Junji; Satō, Kan'ichi (1966), Nihontō zenshū dai-6 kan (Nihontō no fūzoku) 日本刀全集 第6巻 (日本刀の風俗) (in Japanese), Tokuma Shoten, p. 53
Bibliography


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