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Kiryu City Board of Education, 1998, p. 53.
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| The earliest records of a Kiryu domain with a local lord goes back to the 12th century. The domain was located in the Tenjincho - Umedacho area of present day Kiryu, and the first Lord, Rokuro, a vassal to the Ashikaga Lords, was its ruler. His fortress was constructed on level ground at the site of the Umebara Yakushi-Do Temple in Tenjincho. Little is known of Rokuro, usually referred to as the "Former Lord Kiryu" to distinguish him from the Kiryu dynasty which came much later. The following story tells of his demise. |
| In September of the year 1181, Kiryu Rokuro assassinated his liege lord, Ashikaga Toshitusna. The explanation for this drastic action lies buried in history, however, some aspects of the political situation at the time bear light on this most puzzling case. |
| During the feudal period, while the authority of the Emperor was undisputed, his position as a god left him too elevated to deal with the day to day affairs of government. This task was left to the administrative control of the Heike and Genji clans, the heads of which were distantly related to the Emperor and formed part of an extended aristocracy. Controlling power shifted back and forth betweeen these two clans over time. |
| The branch of the Ashikaga family to which Kiryu Rokuro pledged his allegiance belonged to the Taira (Heike) clan which at the time had fallen out of controlling power. |
| Minamoto no Yorimasa (1147-1199) of the Genji clan was the dominant power at the time and the founder of the Kamakura Shogunate (1192-1333), the first warrior government of Japan. This dramatic change occurred in the year 1180 when the forces of Heike and Genji battled at Uji and later at Fujigawa in Shizuoka. Yoritomo emerged as the victor and established the Kamakura Shogunate. |
| As a result, the Taira families (Heike), of which Ashikaga Toshitsuna was one, fell out of power. The most obvious explanation for his assassination by Lord Kiryu lies in this sudden change of power and Kiryu's desire to be associated with the Minamoto (Genji) clan. By assassinating Toshitsuna and taking his head as a trophy to Yoritomo in Kamakura, Kiryu hoped to establish his allegiance to the Genji clan and be recognized as one of his vassals. Unfortunately for Kiryu, however, Yoritomo, thoroughly imbued with the samurai ethic, considered Kiryu as a traitor to his Ashikaga lord and unfit to be a Genji retainer. Yoritomo condemned Kiryu to death and had his head displayed with that of Ashikaga Toshitsuna at Inamura ga Saki. Thus, Rokuro never returned to Kiryu. |
| While the above is the most obvious explanation, another more complicated course of events has also been suggested. This explanation gives proof to the more devious and convoluted politics of the time. The Heike forces, having been defeated at Uji, returned embittered and anxious under the new Kamakura regime. Ashikaga Toshitsuna, it has been postulated, offered himself as a sacrifice in a devious plot to overthrow Yoritomo. Kiryu Rokuro, carrying the head of Toshitsuna to Kamakura, would gain the esteem and confidence of Yoritomo, and while there he would supposedly find the opportunity to assassinate the new shogun. |
| Minamoto no Yoritomo, however, anticipated this move and suspected a plot against him. In a calculated move to protect his new government, Yoritomo, deftly employing the Samurai ethic as his rationale, condemns Rokuro to death and foils the plan to reinstate the power of the Heike. |
| Whichever explanation is correct, the fact remains that Kiryu Rokuro, after a brief 2 years as a vassal, was indeed beheaded in Kamakura and never returned to his domain. It would be another 170 years before the next Kiryu Lord, Kiryu Kunitsuna, would appear. Because of this gap in time, Rokuro is referred to as the "Former Kiryu" and Kunitsuna and his successors as the "Latter Kiryu." |
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