The Reiwa era leader seen in Hojo Yoshitoki, the "practical man" who achieved the "business succession" of the Kamakura shogunate

Hojo Yoshitoki, the second regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, has suddenly been thrust into the limelight as the protagonist of the NHK historical drama "The 13 Lords of the Kamakura Shogunate." Not only did he support Minamoto no Yoritomo from the time of his founding and make a great contribution to the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, Jokyu News Although he achieved unprecedented feats in Japanese history, such as defeating the Imperial army in the Tokugawa Rebellion and completely changing the balance of power between the samurai and the Imperial Court, he has not received as much attention as people like Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
Historian and author Kozo Kaku points out that Yoshitoki's extraordinary information strategy was behind the rise of the Hojo clan, a weak force, to the top of the shogunate. We asked Kaku to explain how Yoshitoki learned this technique and how he used it.

▼Profile of Kozo Kaku
Graduated from the Department of History, Faculty of Letters, Nara University. After a career as an academic, he became a researcher at the Faculty of Letters, Nara University in March 1984. He currently works as a lecturer at universities and companies, while also writing books based on his own unique historical perspective as a historian and author. He is also a lecturer at the National Research Institute for Domestic and Foreign Affairs, the Small and Medium Enterprise College, and the Political and Economic Forum.
・Representative works (new publications)
"Introduction to History as a Liberal Arts Education" (Business Press, 2023)
"Tokugawa Ieyasu's Study Method" (President Publishing, 2023)
・Supervision, translation, etc. (new publications)
"Reading it makes me feel better: Reverse biographies of great people who didn't try hard, Japanese history edition" (Supervised by Shufunotomosha, 2023)
"Comic Edition of Japanese History, Volume 87: Hideyasu Yuki" (Planning, composition, supervision, Poplar Publishing, 2023)
·others
"Sekiguchi Hiroshi's Newest Medieval History," with commentary by Kaku, is currently being broadcast on BS-TBS, every Saturday at 12 noon.

Hojo Yoshitoki learned all about information analysis and utilization from Minamoto no Yoritomo, a living example

As I have mentioned in the past two articles, in the study of history, it is important to always ask the question, "Why did it happen?" When talking about the man Hojo Yoshitoki, this is the first question that comes to mind. current government Tokimasa The question is how Yoshitoki, who was only the second son of Minamoto no Yoritomo, was able to join his father as one of the Thirteen Influential Samurai who ran the Kamakura Shogunate through a council system after the death of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and how, after overthrowing his father, he was able to establish the Shogunate's ruling system as the second regent.
Needless to say, Tokimasa's eldest daughter, Hojo Masako, was Yoritomo's wife, and the Hojo clan were Yoritomo's maternal relatives. However, when Yoritomo raised an army to overthrow the Taira clan in 1180, the Hojo clan's military strength that accompanied him was only about 50 cavalry. What was it that allowed Yoshitoki, who came from such a small clan, to overcome the other powerful clans and become the head of the shogunate, achieving such a historic feat?

Indeed, when Yoritomo was defeated in the Battle of Ishibashiyama immediately after raising his flag and attempted to make a comeback, the powerful clan leader of Kazusa, Kazusasuke KazusanosukeHirotsune Hirotsune Compared to these, the Hojo clan is a tiny force that pales in comparison. How was Yoshitoki able to achieve such great feats?

To clarify this, we must first consider another major question that is the premise. That is, why was Yoritomo able to unite the warriors of the Kanto region, defeat the Taira clan, and establish the Kamakura Shogunate? Ieko My child It is believed that he achieved great success by closely observing and learning from his lord's politics, diplomacy, information gathering and utilization from a position similar to that of a secretary today, and by following his methods.

I see. First, could you explain how Yoritomo came to establish the shogunate?

Yes. As you know, Yoritomo Seiwa Peace Descendants of the Genji clan Kawachi Kawachi Genji, the leader of the Genji clan Yoshitomo Yoshitomo He was born as the third son of Yoshitomo and Yoshitomo Ito. Yoshitomo was defeated in the Heiji Rebellion in 1160 and killed while fleeing, while Yoritomo was captured and exiled to Izu. After that, Yoritomo spent 20 years as an exile, doing nothing politically until he raised an army. During that time, Yoritomo married Masako and had the backing of the Hojo clan, but he had almost no actual military power.

He was so powerless that he even tried to gain the support of the weak Hojo clan.

That's right. In 1180, Goshirakawa Goshirakawa He is the son of the Pope King Mochihito Mochihitoou However, the pursuit of the Taira clan command of a prince Ryoji When Emperor Goshirakawa issued the following message to the Genji clan in various provinces, the existence of Yoritomo, an exile with no real military force, was probably not even on the forefront of his mind. Seiwa Peace Genji Main line Chakryu Some people may say, "Isn't that the case?", but this is merely a propaganda ployed by Yoritomo to assert his own legitimacy. Kai shellfish Takeda of the Genji faith Nobuyoshi or Shinano Shinano The Source of Genji (Kiso tree So) Yoshinaka Yoshinaka There were many other warriors who were on the same level as Yoritomo as heads of military families, and who were far superior in terms of ability. On the other hand, when Yoritomo raised his army, he was only able to muster a few hundred soldiers, and was completely defeated in the first battle, the Battle of Ishibashiyama, and then just fled. Despite this, why did the samurai of the eastern provinces all flock to Yoritomo and support him?

I remember being taught at school that "The eastern warriors believed that Yoritomo, the leader of the Minamoto clan, would guarantee them their land once they defeated the Taira clan," but surely there were other leaders of the Minamoto clan who were more capable than Yoritomo. So why...?

To put it simply, I believe that Yoritomo deceived the samurai of the eastern provinces. Higashiyama Dad The edict was simply a call to the Minamoto clan in the three Hokuriku provinces to rise up and "defeat the Taira clan," and did not confer any status or role on any particular group or individual. However, Yoritomo probably lied to the eastern warriors, saying, "Emperor Goshirakawa has entrusted me with all matters concerning the eastern provinces. That's what the edict says." He then promised them, "If you follow me, I'll guarantee you your land. Furthermore, if you perform well in the subjugation of the Taira clan, I'll give you land equivalent to that." In other words, he tricked the eastern warriors by manipulating information.
A moment's thought would make it clear that Emperor Goshirakawa would never say such a thing to a criminal and exiled Yoritomo without also restoring his official rank. However, the samurai of the eastern provinces at the time were a group of unworldly country folk, so they were easily fooled. On the other hand, Yoritomo, who had tricked them, held an official position until the age of 13 and had spent his time in Kyoto, so he had some understanding of the ways of the Imperial Court, and during his 20 years as an exile in Izu, he had become all too familiar with what the samurai of the eastern provinces wanted.

The samurai wanted more than anything someone who could guarantee them land, and if that person had the endorsement of Emperor Goshirakawa, the samurai would surely flock to him.

That's right. What's amazing about Yoritomo is that he really understood how to analyze and utilize that kind of information. And that was exactly what Yoritomo was able to do and Taira no Kiyomori was unable to do. Kiyomori, his wife, Tokiko Tokiko 's younger sister Shigeko Shigeko She was married to Emperor Goshirakawa Norihito Norihito Prince (later Takakura Takakura She gave birth to the Emperor, and then gave birth to her own daughter, Tokiko Noriko and Emperor Takakura Kotonin Tokihito The prince Ando Antoku In other words, he followed the traditional style of cloistered rule as an aristocrat, not as a samurai, and completely failed to meet the samurai's expectations of "guaranteeing land." This was Kiyomori's biggest mistake, and the reason why the Taira government collapsed so quickly.

Regardless of his methods, Yoritomo was able to defeat the Taira clan and establish the Kamakura shogunate because he tried and succeeded in gaining the support of the samurai.

That's right. And Yoshitoki was the one who saw Yoritomo's actions from close by. Because he was the second son, he was not the head of the Hojo family when Yoritomo raised his army, but later became the head of a branch family. Ema Emma He inherited the family business. Shiro Shiro (Koshiro Koshiro) In other words, while he was close to Yoritomo, he had less responsibility than his father, Tokimasa, for better or worse, and was in a position to objectively analyze information. Also, he was still young, in his teens, and in a position to learn and absorb a wide range of things. Although it was all by chance, this was the greatest advantage Yoshitoki had.
After Yoritomo raised his army, Yoshitoki was sent to the Takeda clan of the Kai Genji clan together with Tokimasa as an emissary to request reinforcements. There, he must have witnessed the effectiveness of Yoritomo's deception and learned, "Ah, so this is how information is used." And indeed, looking at his subsequent actions, it is clear how much he absorbed from Yoritomo.

Yoshitoki continued to fight for the survival of the weak Hojo clan, using "learning" and "utilizing information" as his weapons.

Yoritomo and Yoshitoki had many things in common. One was their great love of the act of learning. Looking at Yoritomo's life, we notice that he displayed almost no originality or ingenuity, whether in politics or diplomacy, like the later figures of Oda Nobunaga and Saigo Takamori. Perhaps Yoritomo came to understand during his 20 years as an exile, far from the political center of Kyoto, where he devoted himself to reading and copying sutras, that there are limits to individual wisdom and ideas, and that, when necessary, it is best to select the best from the wisdom of the past.
While Yoritomo studied the classics as his teacher, Yoshitoki learned how to analyze and utilize information from Yoritomo as a living example. Like Yoritomo, Yoshitoki had little originality, but he had an outstanding ability to distance himself from things, analyze them objectively, and make his own judgments to choose and improve what was better. In his role as an advisor to Yoritomo and Tokimasa, Yoshitoki had to deal with the various problems before him, so he chose the most feasible method from among the various options and devoted all his energy to resolving and achieving the goal. In this way, Yoshitoki was ultimately trained by Yoritomo and Tokimasa to be a thorough practical man.

What other things did Yoritomo and Yoshitoki have in common?

Without any backing power, they had to constantly think about how to survive. Even after receiving the imperial edict from Emperor Mochihito, Yoritomo did not raise an army for a while, instead observing the situation. I think Yoritomo probably had no motivation to do so. Yoritomo was a calm and cautious person, and there was no way he would have thought of raising an army without having his own soldiers.
In the end, the reason why Yoritomo raised an army was because of his marriage to Masako and his father's death in Izu. Deputy Contents (Major) Kanetaka Yamaki Yamaki Kanetaka It is believed that the direct trigger was the wrath of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Fearing that Yoritomo and Masako's romantic relationship would incur the displeasure of the Taira clan, Tokimasa was arranging a marriage between Kanetaka and Masako, but Masako fled to Yoritomo. Yoritomo was forced into a situation where he could not avoid a confrontation with the enraged Kanetaka, and was forced to use Emperor Mochihito's imperial edict as an excuse to rise up. In short, Yoritomo was simply trying to escape the immediate crisis, and everything that followed was an afterthought.

A man named Yoshitoki was the same.

Yes. His life was one in which he had to desperately think about how a family like the Hojo clan, which had no military strength and was always in a critical situation, could survive. And when he thought hard about what he could use, the only thing around Yoshitoki was Yoritomo, the head of the Minamoto clan, and information.
corner rat cat Kyusoneko It is said that no matter how good the information you have, unless you are cornered and truly need it, you will not be able to use it effectively. The reason why the Taira clan lost was precisely because they were so powerful that they neglected information such as public opinion and the voices of their samurai, and became careless. By the time they realized this, it was already too late. The time to make use of information is before that stage.

The Jōkyū War of 1221 is said to have been the greatest crisis of Yoshitoki's life, but can the same be said?

Yes. Yoshitoki was the third shogun, Minamoto no Yoshitoki. Sanetomo Sanetomo After his death, the question of his successor Gotoba Gotoba He was in fierce conflict with the retired emperor. Finally, the retired emperor Gotoba raised an army to overthrow the shogunate and pursue Yoshitoki. Declaration Senji At least at that point, Yoshitoki had no intention of engaging in military conflict with the Imperial Court, and was determined to continue negotiating terms through negotiations.
However, Yoshitoki was a thorough practical man. Saionji Kintsune Saionjikintsune of head of house Keishi is Miyoshi Nagahira Miyoshinagahira Thanks to urgent reports from the government, they were quick to detect the movement of the retired emperor to raise an army. They then imposed martial law and captured the secret emissary carrying the imperial decree to pursue the rebels, successfully preventing the decree from being passed on to the samurai groups in the eastern provinces. They won the information war. If the shogunate forces had attacked the Imperial army without understanding the situation at all, they would have been defeated.
Yoshitoki probably didn't really think he could defeat the Imperial Court, and didn't want to do it. After all, no one had ever drawn a bow against the Imperial Court and won in the history of Japan up until that point. However, Yoshitoki decided that since things had come to this point, he had no choice, and as always, in order to deal with the immediate problem, he issued a mobilization order to the eastern samurai groups, preparing them to be fully prepared, and he appointed his eldest son, Hojo Yasutoki Yasutoki The Shogunate sent an army to Kyoto with him as its commander-in-chief. On the other hand, the Imperial Court was powerful and had no intention of losing, so just like the Taira clan during the Genpei War, they responded slowly in everything, from controlling information to defending Kyoto. The Shogunate forces defeated the Imperial Court forces in various places, took control of Kyoto, and achieved a complete victory just one month after the issuance of the imperial decree.

So, what do you think modern business people should learn from Yoshitoki, who analyzed and utilized information in this way to accomplish such great things?

When people are cornered, they become more sensitive to information. Therefore, there is no need to lament the fact that you are in a difficult situation. Rather, you can grow by taking advantage of the situation and thinking about how to use information to deal with the problem at hand. Yoshitoki teaches us that no matter when or how "death-prone" a person is, those with a high sense of crisis can use information effectively and turn the situation around.
Furthermore, Yoshitoki was not the type of person to take the initiative to become a leader in an organization, but rather was at the mercy of various circumstances before eventually becoming the head of the shogunate. His attitude of "I'm not the type to do this, but I was asked to do it, so I had no choice..." is the very image of a leader in the Reiwa era. In addition to information utilization, modern business people can probably learn a lot from Yoshitoki's life.

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