#125
  125. SHIMADZU KOREHISA'S GRANTS OF CONFISCATED DO
                          MAINS IN IRIKI IN, 1396

BEFORE the event mentioned in No. 123 occurred, the historic rivalry between the Shimadzu and
the Shibuya came to a head, and a deadly feud betweem them began at last. In the series of struggles
which ensued, the Shibuya were always forced to take the defensive, for, strong as they were, they
were hardly in a position to attack the enemy, who, on the contrary, could justify his offensive 
acts both as the shu-go charged with the duty of pacifying the kuni and as the logical aspirant for
an overlordship in south Kyu-shu.
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  For the first contest between the rival families, the only source of information is the memoirs of
Yamada Sho-Yei written nearly a hundred years after the event. His account is rather vague and
lacks a precise date, if he is right in saying that the attack was led by Ujihisa, the event must
have occurred some time before his death at Kagoshima, which took place on 20 June 1387. "Dur-
ing the time of Ujihisa, the Shibuya [at the] four places [namely, Togo, Taki, Irikiin, and Keto
in] seized all [the domains there] of the shu-go, and ,moreover, directly served the tan-dai of Kyu-
shu [i.e., Imagawa Ryo-Shun], being exceedingly refractory. Since, however, the Shibuya [lord,
Shigenari,] at Tsuruda, alone was faithful to Ujihisa, [the latter] proceeded thither, and mustered
forces [for an attack]. But as even the neighboring places [which the Shimadzu koku-shi (VIII,
5) names as Hishigari and Ushikuso] allied themselves [with the enemy, Ujihisa's position] be-
came difficult, and he had already raised his camps and [begun to] withdraw, when [the enemy]
threw upon him large numbers of no-bushi.1 Harassed in his retreat, Ujihisa personally fought with
a sword in hand, and Shiki-bu Hiko-shichi [Ymada Tadashige] and Honda Iya-shichi stayed by
him and fell fighting. During the respite, Ujihisa crossed the mountain to this side [to Kagoshima].
Since [the enemy] had pursued him too far, [his men] turned about and fought, killing Omura of
the Shibuya. Henceforth, the war [against the Shibuya] was suspended. This is the so-called 're-
treating fight over the mountain'(yama-biki kassen) of Ujihisa."2
  The second campaign occurred in 1395-1396, and is described as follows in the official history 3
which has relied upon records of the Shimadzu family and the O-ei ki. Shimadzu Korehisa was at
Ikari-yama, and Motohisa had succeeded to his father Ujihisa at Kagoshima. When Motohisa's
hands were free from other warlike cares in the autumn of 1395, Korehisa asked his aid, and, on
25 August, encamped at Yoko-mine, not far from the Niita temple, with a view to attacking Taki.
It was here that he heard, to his great satisfaction, that Imagawa Ryo-Shun, after twenty
years of ceaseless activity in Kyu-shu, had just been compelled for personal reasons to leave Hakata
permanently for Kyoto. Motohisa, at Kagoshima, prayed at a Shinto temple for victory against the
Shibuya, and sent word to his kinsman at Yoko-mine that in his opinion a more tactical move to
deal with the enemy than assailing Taki would be for Korehisa to leave it alone but move his
forces eastward to Taka-maki, at Yamada; that would render untenable the enemy's posts at
Hiwaki, Maeda, and Ichiino.4 As for Kiyoshiki, Motohisa would go directly north from Kagoshima
by way of Yoshida and Kamo, and attack that stronghold of the Iriki-in from the rear, while
Korehisa should give it a blow from the front. The latter, acting upon the advice, took the three
first-named position between 20 and 28 February 1396, and stationed in them his own men. He
was thus enabled to restore Ichiino to a Yoshinaga, the holding of whose ancestors, the Kokubun,
at that place dated probably even before the coming of the Shibuya in 1247.5 On 27 March, Kore-
hisa, by the following documents, also confiscated the original hereditary domains in Iriki in of a
Togo and possibly a Tsuruda, both of the Shibuya stock, and granted them to Isaku and Nikaido,
who had faithfully served the shu-go, (see No. 92). However, since these grants were made before
actual conquest, they could as yet be of little value beyond perhaps inspiring the zeal of recipi-
ents in armed service.
  As Korehisa was on the point of making war upon Kiyoshiki, an order reached him and Moto-
hisa from the new tan-dai, Shibukawa Mitsuyori, who had arrived on 26 May, summoning them
and all the greater go ke-nin in Kyu-shu to Hakata. Korehisa was thus obliged for the moment to
defer his final assault upon Iriki in and to withdraw his forces.




#125-A
                                     A
                         (SK, XXII.)
      "THE original domain left (ato) by Shibuya Satsuma nyu-do Ju-Butsu,6 in Iriki
in, Satsuma kuni.
"The aforesaid is given [to you] in trust(adzuke-oku) as a place of support.7 You
shall administer it in accordance with precedents. Therefore, ordered thus.
  "O-ei 3 y. 2 m. 18 d. [27 March 1396].        Do-Tetsu,8 (monogram).
     "Isaku Osumi9 dono."
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#125-B
                                     B
                     (Nikaido uji sei-to ka-fu, XIV.)
    "The original domain left by Shibuya Gyo-bu sho-yu nyu-do Jo-Zhun, in Iriki
    in, Satsuma kuni.
"The aforesaid is given [to you] in trust as a place of support.7 You shall administer
it in accordance with precedents. Therefore, ordered thus.
  "O-ei 3 y. 2 m. 18 d. [27 March 1396].          Do-Tetsu,8 (monogram).
     "Nikaido Yamashiro10 dono."




  1"There were at the four places [controlled by the Shibuya] great(o) no-bushi called ji-ge,"
(Yamada Sho-Yei z. k). ji-ge("on the ground") is a term usually applied to commoners, as dis-
tinguished from warriors. The use of the term in connection with theno-bishi shows the low social
position they occupied. No-bushi mostly were adventurous rustics who, in this age of continual
warfare, led an exciting life of plunder and mercenariness. The word no-bushi is written in two
ways, the one meaning wilderness(no)-warriors(bushi), and the other, wilderness-sleepers(fushi).
Yama-bushi (yama meaning mountain) was another name of this class of freebooters who were
present in nearly all parts of feudal Japan in this period. (These yama-bushi should not be confused
with the species of itinerant Buddhist monks who were called by the precisely same name.)
  2Yamada Sho-Yei zhi-ki.           3Shimadzu koku-shi, viii, 5-7.
  4The fortresses of Hiwaki and Maeda were in To-no-hara mura. The former was on a hill;
facing the east, it was bounded in front by rice-fields and in rear by a brook; two minor defenses
near the fortress protected it. The Maeda fortress was situated between Hiwaki river and rice-fields.
That of Ichiino was also on a mount protected by wet fields and brook; on the summit was
abundant spring water, a favorable condition for a fortress. San-goku mei-sho dzu-ye, xi, 36-37.
  5See No. 9, 25, and 50.             6Togo Shigenobu.
  7Ryo-sho; see No. 113, n. 2.
  8The early Buddhist name of Shimadzu Korehisa.
  9Isaku Hisayoshi.                  10Nikaido Yukisada.