Kudō Suketsune (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 工藤祐経; 1147 – June 28, 1193) was a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

and ''

gokenin A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods.Iwanami Kōjien, "Gokenin" In exchange for protection and the right to become '' jitō'' (manor's lord), a ''gokenin'' had in times of peace the duty to protect ...

'' in the late

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto * Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms) * ...

and early

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

. He was assassinated during the

Revenge of the Soga Brothers The Revenge of the Soga Brothers (曾我兄弟の仇討ち, ''Soga kyōdai no adauchi'') was a vengeance incident on 28 June 1193, during the Fuji no Makigari hunting event arranged by shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Soga brothers, Soga Sukenari ...

incident.

Life

Suketsune was born in 1147 as the son of

Kudō Suketsugu Kudō Suketsugu (工藤祐継, 1120 - 1162) was a Japanese samurai of the late Heian period. He was also known as Kudō Takiguchi Suketsugu. Life Suketsugu was born in 1120, the son of Kudō Suketaka and his second wife. It is also said that ...

. According to the ''

Azuma Kagami is a Japanese historical chronicle. The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in ...

'', when Suketsune had his coming-of-age ceremony (''

genpuku is a public holiday in Japan held annually on the second Monday of January under the Happy Monday System. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have already reached the age of maturity between April 2 of the previou ...

''), his father promised that Suketsune would marry Mangō Gozen, the daughter of Itō Sukechika, and Sukechika would become Suketsune's guardian. However, Sukechika did not accept the fact that Suketsune, who was not the eldest son, would inherit the manor, and invaded Suketsune's territory following his father's death. Sukechika also made Mangō Gozen divorce Suketsune. Suketsune was deeply angered over these events and ordered the assassination of Sukechika. In October 1176, a group of thugs attacked Sukechika, who was hunting in Okuno, Izu Province with his son Kawazu Sukeyasu. The arrow shot at Sukechika missed, and hit Sukeyasu instead, killing him. In 1193, Suketsune participated in

shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

's large-scale hunting event, the Fuji no Makigari, at the foot of

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

. At midnight on June 28, the final day of the hunting event, two brothers,

Soga Sukenari Soga Sukenari (Japanese: 曾我祐成, 1172 - June 28, 1193) was a Japanese samurai in the early Kamakura period. He and his brother Soga Tokimune are known for being the perpetrators of the Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident. He is a centr ...

and Tokimune, broke into the building where Suketsune and two prostitutes were resting. The two brothers killed Suketsune to avenge their father's death. Ōtōnai, a ''shinkan'' of Kibitsu Shrine in

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

, was also killed in the incident. Sukenari was then killed by Suketsune's retainer Nitta Tadatsune. Tokimune attempted to assassinate the shogun, but was captured by Gosho no Gorōmaru. After the turmoil, Yoritomo questioned Soga Tokimune and considered saving his life, but Suketsune's son Inubusamaru (later It ō Suketoki) cried pleading for justice, and Yoritomo changed his mind and had Tokimune executed. This incident came to be known as the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suketsune, Kudo Samurai 1147 births 1193 deaths 12th-century Japanese people Kabuki characters People of the Heian period People of the Kamakura period

Life

See also

References