Tokimasa - Tokimasa's Life: Intrigues in The Shogunal Court of Minamoto No Yoriie (1199-1203)

Tokimasa's Life: Intrigues in The Shogunal Court of Minamoto No Yoriie (1199-1203)

In 1199, Minamoto no Yoritomo died. He was succeeded by his son and heir, Minamoto no Yoriie, who himself was considered a minor at the age of 18. Yoriie was closer with his father in law, Hiki Yoshikazu than he was with his own grandfather, Tokimasa. In fact, he despised his mother, his uncles, and the Hōjō family in general. He was thus independent and rash, unlike his father who depended on the Hōjō.

In that year, a regency council was created by Hōjō Tokimasa, Masako, and Yoshitoki. The most powerful person there (not counting the remaining Minamoto members there and the Hōjō) was Kajiwara Kagetoki, the governor of Sagami. Though he was very close with Yoritomo and trusted by Tokimasa, Yoriie disliked him, and he was executed in Suruga by the bakufu army in 1200. Though it is generally accepted that Yoriie was responsible for the order, it is believed that Tokimasa and the Hōjō might have also been behind it since the Hōjō clan did gain the province of Sagami. Tokimasa was made daimyo of Ōmi Province in the same year.

Tokimasa's calculations next turned on his grandson's father-in-law, Hiki Yoshikazu, who his grandson listened to more than he listened to his own regent, Tokimasa. Losing all hope of getting either Shogun Yoriie or Yoshikazu on his side, Tokimasa placed his bets with his other grandson, Yoriie's younger brother and Yoritomo's youngest son, Sanetomo.

In 1203, the 21-year-old Yoriie became extremely ill and weak, and Tokimasa produced a plan whereby Japan would be divided between Minamoto no Sanetomo and Minamoto no Ichiman, Yoriie's son, and very close to the Hōjō, who was planning to become the next shogun. Yoshikazu began to suspect something based on the attitude of Tokimasa, Masako, Ichiman, and Sanetomo, and hatched a plot to capture and assassinate Hōjō Tokimasa.

With the help of Ōe Hiromoto, a trusted ally, Tokimasa found out about the plan and invited Yoshikazu to his home in Kamakura for Buddhist services. After Hiki exited the services, bakufu troops executed him. Following that, Hōjō troops entered Hiki's residence and executed high-ranking members of the Hiki clan, including Minamoto no Ichiman, who, though close to Tokimasa, was also close to his maternal grandfather. Shogun Yoriie, bedridden, abdicated. He went to Shuzenji in Izu but was murdered in 1204. It is thought that this was plotted by Hōjō Tokimasa.