Fujiwara no Yasusuke (藤原保輔)
FUJIWARA no Yasusuke (year of birth unknown -August 7, 988) was a government official (esp. one of low to medium rank) and also regarded as a ringleader of robbers in the mid-Heian period. He was from the Southern House of the Fujiwara clan. His grandfather was Dainagon (chief councilor of state) FUJIWARA no Motokata, and his father was FUJIWARA no Munetada of Jushiinoge (Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade). He had the official court rank of Shogoinoge (Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) and the office of Uhyoe no jo (third-ranked official of the Right Division of Middle Palace Guards).
According to the "Sonpi Bunmyaku" (Lineage Sects of Noble and Humble), he was 'a ringleader of robberies and the most excellent military strategist in Japan and an imperial decree of dispatching punitive force against him was issued 15 times.'
In 985 he inflicted bodily injury on FUJIWARA no Suetaka at the grand banquet held at the Tsuchimikado-dono Palace of MINAMOTO no Masanobu. In addition, he committed various other crimes such as shooting an arrow at kebiishi (a police and judicial chief) MINAMOTO no Tadayoshi who had once captured Yasusuke's older brother FUJIWARA no Tadaakira, and robbing the residences of FUJIWARA no Kagenari and Koreshige AKANE in June 988. The pursuit of Yasusuke was continued on charges of these crimes and the Imperial Court announced that the person who captured Yasusuke would be given a reward; furthermore, Yasusuke's father FUJIWARA no Munetada was arrested and placed in confinement by kebiishi. Yasusuke, driven by a sense of impending crisis under such circumstances, took the tonsure at the North Keon-ji Temple on August 4 in the same year, but was soon captured by his former subordinate ASHIHA no Tadanobu. It is said that he attempted to disembowel himself at the time of arrest and died of the wound the next day in jail ("Zoku kojidan"(Ancient Matters)).
The "Uji Shui Monogatari" (a collection of Tales from Uji) contained a story in which Yasusuke made a hole under the floor of the storehouse in his residence, called merchants there one after another, bought goods and killed them by pushing them down the hole.
In later times, he was regarded identical with Hakamadare, a robber described in the tales such as "Konjaku monogatari shu" (Tales of Times Now and Then collection) and became a legend Yasusuke HAKAMADARE.