Soga Tokimune
Soga Tokimune (Japanese: 曾我時致, 1174 - June 29, 1193) was a Japanese samurai in the early Kamakura period. He and his brother Soga Sukenari are known for their participation in the incident known as the Revenge of the Soga Brothers. He is a central character in noh and kabuki "Sogamono" plays, which are based on the revenge. He is also known as Soga Gorō. Life. Early life and family. Kawazu Hako'ō (河津 筥王) was born in 1174, the son of Kawazu Sukeyasu, a "gōzoku" in Izu Province. He had an elder brother, Ichimanmaru (later Sukenari). Through his father, the  eldest son of Itō Sukechika, he descended from the Itō clan, a branch of the Kudō clan, and through Fujiwara no Korekimi (727–789), ultimately the Fujiwara clan, a powerful family of Japanese regents and court nobility. In 1176, when Hako'ō was two years old, his biological father, Kawazu Sukeyasu, was killed by Kudō Suketsune, who accidentally killed him during an assassination attempt on Itō Sukechika. Suketsune and Sukechika had been quarreling over the inheritance of land. After Sukeyasu's death, Hako'ō's mother remarried to Soga Sukenobu, the lord of Soga Manor in Sagami Province (currently Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture). Sukenobu  became the stepfather of Hako'ō' and Ichimanmaru, and the brothers became members of the Soga clan. The Soga clan was founded by Soga Sukeie, an eighth generation descendant of Taira no Yoshifumi, and they descended from the Kanmu Heishi line of the Taira clan through the Chiba clan, making them direct descendants of the 8th century Emperor Kanmu. Hako'ō and his brother are said to have mourned for their biological father. The Soga brothers had a difficult upbringing, and the elder brother Sukenari took over the Soga family. Hako'ō hated priesthood and escaped from Hakone, relying on his uncle by  marriage, Hōjō Tokimasa, whose late wife was the daughter of Sukechika. Hako'ō held his coming-of-age ceremony ("genpuku") at Tokimasa's mansion with Tokimasa as his guardian ("eboshi-oya"). Tokimasa bestowed the kanji "toki" (時) in his name upon Hako'ō, giving him the "imina" name Tokimune. Tokimasa would be the greatest supporter of the Soga brothers in the midst of their hardships, and the Soga brothers never forgot their father's vengeance. Revenge and death. In June 1193, the Soga brothers, and their father's killer Suketsune, participated in the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo's grand hunting event, called  the Fuji no Makigari, at the foot of Mount Fuji. On June 28, 1193, the last night of the Fuji no Makigari, the brothers set off to kill Suketsune; Sukenari was armed with a "shakudō" "tachi" sword; and Tokimune with a "hyōgogusari" "tachi" sword and a copper "sasuga" sword. Together, the brothers killed Suketsune, thus fulfilling their vow. They also killed a priest called Ōtōnai who had been accompanying Suketsune. The brothers then began a bloodbath and defeated ten samurai, which became known as "jūbankiri" ("slashing of ten"), and, according to "Soga Monogatari", cut so many that the number of  victims is unknown. During the fighting, Nitta Tadatsune killed Sukenari. As his last words, Sukenari told Tokimune, "go and present yourself to Lord Kamakura [Minamoto no Yoritomo] unwaveringly." Now alone, it is said that Tokimune stood like an "oni" and no one dared to charge him. After a brief fight, he stormed into the shogun's mansion attempting to attack the shogun. However, he was apprehended by Yoritomo's strong retainer Gosho no Gorōmaru at the entrance, stopping Tokimune from attacking the shogun. After his apprehension, Tokimune was tied up for questioning. The next day, Tokimune was called in for  questioning about the motives of the massacre. Tokimune insisted Yoritomo personally question him. He gave a detailed explanation about the revenge and its motives. Yoritomo was impressed by Tokimune's bravery and even expressed his desire to make him his retainer. Although at first Yoritomo considered sparing his life, Tokimune was executed that day on June 29, 1193 at the request of Suketsune's son, Itō Suketoki. The youngest brother of Tokimune was invited to Kamakura and joined the elder brothers in death by committing suicide by hanging. A biological brother of the Soga brothers, Hara Kojirō, was executed for  the vengeance incident as a collective punishment for Minamoto no Noriyori losing his position and due to his connection to the incident. Hōjō Tokimasa Mastermind Theory. In Azuma Kagami and Soga Monogatari, after killing Suketsune, Tokimune also attempted to attack shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, which is interpreted as a result of Hōjō Tokimasa's secret maneuvers. Tokimasa had entered Suruga Province and Fujino in advance, before Yoritomo, as a preparation for his secret plan. Furthermore, before that, Tokimasa had established a strong relationship with the Soga brothers, and especially with Tokimune, being his guardian during "genpuku" and bestowing one of  the kanji in his name to Tokimune. Hiroyuki Miura, along with many others have debated that it was through Tokimasa's strong relation to the Soga brothers that led Tokimune to attack the shogun. In popular culture. Theater. Soga Tokimune appears in noh and kabuki in the "Sogamono" plays, which are based on the Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident. Art. Soga Tokimune has been the subject of several "ukiyo-e" paintings. The most famous include the following: