Nitta Yoshisada was a loyal soldier of Emperor Go-Daigo, who in the 1330s attempted to restore direct imperial rule in Japan. The Nitta family was related to the Ashikaga house and was older in lineage. However, they did not join Minamoto Yoritomo at the start of his war with the Taira, as the Ashikaga did, and therefore did not receive high positions in the Kamakura shogunate. This may have been one of the reasons why Yoshisada rose against the Hōjō clan in 1333.
Another possible reason was that Ashikaga Takauji, who stood lower than Yoshisada in the family hierarchy, had by then joined Go-Daigo’s side. As a result, the Nitta family again risked being left without posts and rewards. In any case, two weeks after Ashikaga Takauji’s army expelled the Hōjō soldiers from Kyoto, Nitta Yoshisada captured Kamakura, the Hōjō rulers’ residence. This happened on May 21, 1333. Regent Hōjō Tokitoki and a significant number of his supporters—according to various, mostly legendary sources, from several hundred to several thousand people—took their own lives, surrounded by the enemy in a palace engulfed in flames.
The Legend of the Capture of Kamakura
A famous legend is associated with the capture of Kamakura. During the assault, Nitta Yoshisada’s army found itself trapped on a narrow strip of land between the enemy fortress and the fleet. According to the legend, Yoshisada offered his sword to the sea god, asking him to make the sea retreat and allow his troops to pass.
The image of Yoshisada throwing his sword into the sea so that the waters would part became deeply rooted in Japanese culture—much like the image of Moses parting the Red Sea in European culture. However, it is most likely that Yoshisada simply took advantage of a low tide, led his army across the sandbar, and attacked the Hōjō residence from an unexpected direction.
The Reality Behind the Fall of Kamakura
Less known, but more credible, is the actual course of events. In 1956, in the area of Zaimokuza, near the former site of Kamakura, Japanese archaeologists discovered several hundred skeletons. They are believed to belong to the defenders and inhabitants of Kamakura who died when Nitta Yoshisada’s soldiers entered the city.
Among the male skeletons were many female and even child remains. The injuries included severed arm and leg bones, and skulls with traces of sword blows. Sword marks were found on 60% of male skeletons, 30% of female ones, and 10% of children’s. The nature of the injuries indicates that most victims wore no helmets or armor and were struck from behind or from the side.
It appears that after breaking through the Hōjō samurai defenses, Yoshisada’s horsemen rushed into the city, driving unarmed residents before them and cutting them down indiscriminately—regardless of gender or age. This contrasts sharply with the gallant, chivalrous image of samurai so admired in The Tale of the Heike. Clearly, life and death of that era were far more brutal and prosaic than depicted in that beautiful but idealized work.
Yoshisada’s Rise and the Beginning of the Conflict with the Ashikaga
For his achievements, Nitta Yoshisada was in the same year appointed governor of the Echigo Province and deputy governor of Kozuke and Harima. When Takauji rebelled against Go-Daigo, Yoshisada became the main commander of the loyalist forces.
Even the talented Kusunoki Masashige, who had done so much to restore imperial authority, had to obey him, though he considered Yoshisada an incompetent commander. Indeed, the capture of Kamakura was the only occasion on which Yoshisada acted quickly and independently. In all other battles, he proved indecisive and ineffective, and his victories were achieved only thanks to the abilities of his younger brother, Wakiya Yoshisuke, and other Nitta commanders.
Mistakes of a Commander
In the Battle of the Iruma River, Yoshisada was preparing to retreat and would have lost the battle if not for the ingenuity of his vassal Miura Yoshikatsu. Yoshikatsu rolled up the battle flags and calmly rode into the Hōjō supporters’ camp with his unit. Believing reinforcements had arrived, they realized their mistake only when they were already surrounded.
In another incident, while fleeing from Ashikaga Takauji’s pursuing forces, Yoshisada did not destroy the bridges behind him, despite his samurai’s pleas. He insisted that a superior enemy would surely be able to rebuild them anyway.
Finally, besieging a small fortress with the entire army out of momentary rage, as happened at Shirahata, was the height of recklessness. This was especially dangerous given the enemy’s numerical superiority, when the loyalist position could be saved only by initiative and careful strategy.
Yoshisada’s Character and His Death
Descriptions suggest that Yoshisada was prone to sudden mood swings—bouts of cruelty alternating with melancholy and self-reproach, which explains many of his actions.
Despite his incompetence as a commander, he was a brave lone warrior. He repeatedly covered his army’s retreat personally, charged into the most dangerous clashes, and wielded a sword with great mastery. Thanks to this skill, he several times fought off superior forces and even cut down arrows flying at him.
He died heroically, though to no effect. Before the decisive battle with Takauji, he personally led a hundred horsemen on a reconnaissance mission. When the detachment fell into an ambush, Yoshisada fought for a long time until he fell, struck by a stray arrow that hit him directly in the forehead.
See also
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Tachibana Dosetsu
Tachibana Dōsetsu is the name by which Hetsugi Akitsura is more widely known; the name of this lineage is also found read as Hekki or Bekki. For a long period, Akitsura served the Ōtomo clan, the daimyō of Bungo Province, and took part in wars against the Ōuchi family, the principal enemies of the Ōtomo in northwestern Kyushu. In the 1560s, Akitsura seized the castle of the Tachibana clan, which had rebelled against the Ōtomo, and thereafter adopted the surname Tachibana. Around the same time, he took Buddhist vows and assumed the name Dōsetsu, which means “Snowy Road.”
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Taira no Masakado
Taira no Masakado embodied the quintessential samurai of his era—self-assured, harsh, and unyielding. In his youth, he served in the palace guard and repeatedly proved his bravery while suppressing unrest. Thanks to these achievements, Masakado sought the post of chief of the capital’s military-police office (the kebiishi-chō), but he was rejected: by that time, nearly all court positions—now little more than privileged sinecures—were controlled by members of the powerful Fujiwara clan.
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Sakakibara Yasumasa
Yasumasa was the second son of Sakakibara Nagamasa and was born in Ueno in Mikawa Province. From a young age, he began serving Tokugawa Ieyasu and eventually rose to the position of one of his most trusted generals. His wife was the daughter of Osuga Yasutaka. Ieyasu first noticed the young Yasumasa during the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa in 1564. Thanks to his demonstrated abilities, Yasumasa was granted the privilege of using the character “yasu”—the second character of Ieyasu’s own name—in his own. Although he was the second child in his family, he became his father’s heir, though the exact reasons for this remain unknown.
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Sakai Tadatsugu
Tadatsugu was one of the most renowned generals serving Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Ieyasu broke ties with the Imagawa clan, Tadatsugu—an ardent supporter of this decision—was granted command of Yoshida Castle in 1565, which controlled the coastal road from Tōtomi to Mikawa. During the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, he held the right flank of the Tokugawa forces even when the troops sent by Oda fled under the assault of the Takeda army. In the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, he personally requested permission to carry out a night attack on the Takeda camp, which he executed brilliantly together with Kanamori Nagachika.
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Ryuzoji Takanobu
Takanobu was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Takaie and the great-grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane. His father was killed by a man named Baba Yoritiku in 1544. At a young age, Takanobu took Buddhist vows and received the monastic name Engetsu. However, around the age of eighteen, he returned to secular life, and in 1548, after the death of Ryūzōji Tanehide, he became the head of both branches of the Ryūzōji family.
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Ouchi Yoshihiro
Ōuchi Yoshihiro was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, who headed the Ōuchi clan in the western part of Honshu. In 1363, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu confirmed the Ōuchi family in the position of shugo of Suō and Nagato Provinces. In his youth, Yoshihiro assisted his father in strengthening the influence of the Northern Court on the island of Kyushu — they served under Imagawa Ryōsun, who had been tasked with subjugating the nine provinces of Kyushu.
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Ouchi Yoshioki
Ouchi Yoshioki, the ruler of the provinces of Suo, Nagato, and Iwami, was one of the most capable military commanders and politicians of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The son of Ouchi Masahiro, he governed from his residence in Yamaguchi in the province of Suo. In 1499, Yoshioki gave refuge to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane, who had been driven out of Kyoto by Hosokawa Masamoto. Shogun Yoshizumi, Masamoto’s protégé, ordered the lords of Kyushu to unite their forces against Yoshioki; however, they did not dare to do so, fearing the power of a man who by that time controlled six provinces. Having gathered a substantial army, Yoshioki marched from his native Suo toward Kyoto in order to restore Shogun Yoshitane to power.
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Otomo Sorin
Ōtomo Yoshishige came from a noble lineage, being the eldest son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki, the ruler of Funai Province. The roots of the Ōtomo family traced back to Fujiwara Hidesato, the adopted son of Nakahara Chikayoshi. Fujiwara served Minamoto Yoritomo during the Genpei War and took part in battles in Mutsu Province in 1189. In 1193, he was appointed shugo of Buzen and Bungo Provinces, after which he adopted a new surname—Ōtomo.
