Minamoto no Akikuni (源明国)
MINAMOTO no Akikuni (year of birth and death unknown) was a busho (Japanese military commander) in the late Heian period. His real name was Yukimitsu. He was the eldest son of MINAMOTO no Yoritsuna. His younger brothers included MINAMOTO no Nakamasa and MINAMOTO no Kuninao, and his sons included MINAMOTO no Yukikuni and MINAMOTO no Tsunemitsu, and he adopted MINAMOTO no Ariyori and MINAMOTO no Moritaka. He held the ranks of Jushiinoge (Junior Forth Rank, Lower Grade), Kurodo (Chamberlain), kebiishi (officials with judicial and police powers), Saemon no jo (third-ranked officer of the Left Division of Outer Palace Guards), and Shimotsuke no kuni no kami (the governor of Shimotsuke Province) (according to "Sonpi Bunmyaku" (a text compiled in the fourteenth century that records the lineages of the aristocracy)). Since he identified himself "Tada," he was also known as TADA no Akikuni.
He inherited the Tada-no-sho estate from his father, Yoritsuna, and served Sekkan-ke (the families which produced regents) after his grandfather. After serving Shirakawain as Kurodo and Emperor Horikawa as Rokui-Kurodo (kurodo with the Sixth Rank), he was appointed as kebiishi and Saemon no jo, and then was awarded the rank of jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) in November 1096, and in January 1098, he was appointed as Samurai-dokoro betto (the superior of the Board of Retainers (shikiji (another term for a royal secretary, kurodo, especially one who is concurrently posted as a controller)) for the family of FUJIWARA no Moromichi (according to "Gonijo Moromichi-ki" (The Diary of Fujiwara no Moromichi)). After that, he was detained in a bow range because he killed retainers in Kyoto in 1105 (according to "Denryaku" (diary of FUJIWARA no Tadazane)).
He was appointed as the Shimotsuke no kuni no kami at the New Year Jimoku (ceremony for appointing officials) in 1111; however, he was exiled to Sadoga-shima Island because of the following:
When he went down to shoen (manor in medieval Japan) in Mino Province by the order of the lord FUJIWARA no Tadazane in the same year, he blamed an insolent fellow on the way, which developed to strife arising from mutual personal grudges, ended up killing three retainers including TACHIBANA no Hirofusa, Shinano no kuni no kami (Governor of Shinano Province), and MINAMOTO no Tameyoshi.
Even after being exiled to Sado, he maintained the force of arms to interfere with kokushi (provincial governors), and in 1128, FUJIWARA no Chikakata, Sado no kuni no kami (Governor of Sado Province), petitioned the imperial court to transfer Akikuni to another province. Although Akikuni was summoned home in 1129, his movement thereafter kept unknown.