Hachimantaro Yoshiie

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Minamoto no Yoshiie Hachimantaro 源八幡太郎義家 / 源義家
Hachimantarō 八幡太郎 Hachiman Taro (1039 - 1106)



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Because as Emperor Ōjin was an ancestor of the Minamoto clan, Hachiman became the tutelary kami (氏神 ujigami) of the Minamoto samurai clan. Minamoto no Yoshiie, upon coming of age at Iwashimizu Shrine in Kyoto, took the name Hachiman Taro Yoshiie and through his military prowess and virtue as a leader, became regarded and respected as the ideal samurai through the ages.

Hachimantarō, was a Minamoto clan samurai of the late Heian period, and Chinjufu shogun (Commander-in-chief of the defense of the North). The first son of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, he proved himself in battle with the Abe clan in the Zenkunen War (Early Nine Years' War) and the Kiyohara clan in the Gosannen War (Later Three Years' War). Subsequently, he became something of a paragon of samurai skill and bravery.

..... The campaign against the Abe clan lasted twelve years (nine, with three years truce). Yoshiie fought alongside his father in most if not every battle. Abe no Yoritoki died in 1057, but his son Abe no Sadato took up command of his father's forces.
..... Named Governor of Mutsu province in 1083, Yoshiie took it upon himself, without orders from the Imperial Court, to bring some peace and order to the region.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Hachiman Taro
Minamoto Yoshiie, a man who came to embody the spirit of the samurai and a legend even in his own time, was the son of Minamoto Yoriyoshi. Yoriyoshi, the third generation of the Seiwa Genji, was a noted commander, and in 1051 was commissioned to defeat the rebellious Abe family of Dewa. The Abe had for years held prominent posts in this distant, forbidding region, and had come to enjoy a near autonomous existance. Like Taira Masakado, the Abe had been tasked with subduing the northern barbarians, and, from the Court's point of view and over time, become barbarians themselves.

Yoriyoshi's chief opponent was Abe Yoritoki, an unscrupulous character who died of an arrow wound in 1057. By this point in the so-called Former Nine-Years War, Yoriyoshi's son Yoshiie had joined the expedition. A promising young warrior, Yoshiie participated in the Battle of Kawasaki (later in 1057) against Yoritoki's heir Sadato. In a snowstorm, the Minamoto assaulted Sadato's stronghold at Kawasaki and were driven back; in the course of the hard-fought retreat Yoshiie distinguished himself and earned the nickname 'Hachimantaro', or 'First son (or First born) of the God of War (Hachiman)'. Abe Sadato comes across as an altogether more impressive man than his father, and proved a formidable foe even for Yoshiie and Yoriyoshi. Yet the Minamoto cause was much assisted by the enlistment of Kiyowara Noritake, a locally powerful figure whose rugged northern men swelled Yoriyoshi's ranks.

- - - - - Continue reading in the archives :
. The Heian Period - Court and Clan .


- - - - - He founded the temple
. Hoosenji 宝仙寺 Hosen-Ji .
- 明王山 Myoozan 　聖無動院 Shomudo-In　宝仙寺 Hosen-Ji
東京都中野区中央2-33-3 - 2 Chome-33-3 Chūō, Nakano ward, Tokyo

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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :

.................................................................. Fukushima 福島県　 ....................................................

He came to Oshu to fight 奥州征伐 the local people in 1189. At 不動滝 the Fudo Waterfall the 馬の足跡 footprints of his horse can still be seen.


.................................................................. Iwate 岩手県　 ..........................................................

. Hidaka Jinja 日高神社 Hidaka Shrine .
- and Hachimantaro in Mizusawa, Iwate


.................................................................. Nagano　長野県 ..........................................................

. Hachimantaro koma tsunagi sakura 八幡太郎駒繋ぎ桜.
cherry tree where Hachiman Taro bound his horse, Matsumoto Castle



.................................................................. Tochigi 栃木県 ..........................................................

bijin Benten 美人弁天 Benten for Beauty
Itsukushima Shrine, 厳島神社
栃木県足利市本城2丁目1855 - Tochigi, Ashikaga

Akashi Benten 明石弁天

Ashikaga is "the Land of Beauties".
This shrine relates back to 1056, to Akashi hime 明石姫 Princess Akashi
She was a beautiful, gentle woman, protecting her husband 源八幡太郎義家 Minamoto no Yoshiie Hachimantaro, as best as she could.

. Benten, Benzaiten 弁天　弁財天 .



.................................................................. Tokyo 東京都 ..........................................................



Hakkeizaka yoroikakematsu 八景坂鎧掛松 The Armor-hanging Pine at Hakkeizaka slope
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重　－ Meisho Edo hyakkei - One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Here at this pine 八幡太郎鎧掛けの松 Hachimantaro hanged his armour.


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Hachiman Taro: Firstborn of the God of War
By Ned Greenwood
- read at books.google.co.jp -


- Reference in Japanese -

- Reference in English -

yokai database 妖怪データベース
- 17 legends to explore -

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. Legends about Hachiman Shrines 八幡宮　/ 八幡神社 .
- Introduction -

. minwa 民話　folktales / densetsu 伝説　Japanese Legends .
- Introduction -

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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