was an imperial regent in the late 12th century, serving both

Emperor Rokujō was the 79th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1165 through 1168. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his ''imina'') was Nobuhito''- ...

and

Emperor Takakura was the 80th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1168 through 1180. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his ''imina'') was Norihito''-s ...

. He was also called , as he came from the village of Matsudono, near

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. Fujiwara no Tadataka and

Matsudono Moroie , third son of Matsudono Motofusa, was a ''kugyō'' (high-ranking Japanese official) from the late Heian period to the early Kamakura period. Regent Fujiwara no Tadataka and Buddhist monks Gyōi and are his stepbrothers. His mother was Tadako ...

were his first and third sons, respectively. Though wielding great power as ''sesshō'' and ''kampaku'', Motofusa was prevented from becoming the head of the

Fujiwara family The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

by the political maneuvers of

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and '' kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Japan, in 1118 as the first son of Taira ...

. An incident in 1170, while Motofusa was on his way to the Hōjuji Palace, further cemented his rivalry with the

Taira The was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named ...

clan. The Regent, along with a large retinue, was making his way to the palace for a ceremony which the

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was supposed to attend, when a young boy, Taira no Sukemori, refused to make way for him and his retinue. As a result, the Regent's men smashed Sukemori's carriage and humiliated him. Sukemori was a grandson of Kiyomori and so, after a few failed attempts at reprisal, followers of

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(Sukemori's father) attacked the Regent's men on their way to a solemn ceremony, dragging them from their horses and humiliating them. These events, while seemingly minor on the surface, led to a rift between Emperor Go-Shirakawa and the Taira, and therefore to closer relations between Go-Shirakawa and the

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, enemies of the Taira. He is the maternal grandfather of the founder of

Sōtō Zen Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, Cáodòng school, which was founded during the ...

Buddhism in Japan, Eihei Dōgen, son of his daughter Ishi. In 1179, he was ordained as a Buddhist monk and took the

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Zenkan (善観). When he died in 1230, he was given the posthumous Buddhist names Nakayamain (中山院) and Bodaiin (菩提院).

Service as regent

*1166–1168: Sessho under

. *1168–1172: Sessho under

. *1172–1179: Kampaku under Emperor Takakura.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsudono, Motofusa 1144 births 1230 deaths Fujiwara clan Matsudono family People of the Heian period People of the Kamakura period Sesshō and Kampaku Buddhist clergy of the Heian period Buddhist clergy of the Kamakura period 12th-century regents