Minamoto no Yoshihiro (also known as SHIDA Saburo Senjo) (源義広 (志田三郎先生))
MINAMOTO no Yoshihiro, also called Yoshihiro SHIDA, was a military commander during the end of the Heian period.
He was the third son of MINAMOTO no Tameyoshi, the fifth generation of the Kawachi-Genji (Minamoto clan). He was called Shida Saburo Senjo. His given name was also Yoshinori (written as 義範 and 義憲 in Chinese characters). He was substantially the ancestor of the Shida clan.
Biography
He is commonly known as Shida (志田 in Chinese characters, also written as 志太 and 信太) Saburo Senjo because he had served as Tachiwaki Senjo (the head of the Imperial Prince's bodyguard) in the capital in his youth, and later moved down to Kanto, developed Shida no sho (manor) in Hitachi Province (the present-day Inashiki City, Ibaraki Prefecture), and made it his base. His father Tameyoshi was blessed with many children and he is said to have had fifty children or more. Starting with MINAMOTO no Yoshitomo, the eldest brother who became the head of the Minamoto clan, people including MINAMOTO no Yoshikata, MINAMOTO no Yorikata, MINAMOTO no Tametomo and MINAMOTO no Yukiie (Yoshimori) were all brothers of Yoshihiro.
Yoshihiro had originally been on good terms with the second brother Yoshikata, and he and Yoshikata went to Kanto at about the same time, threatening their eldest brother Yoshitomo's sphere of influence with their cooperation. However, after Yoshikata was killed in 1155 by MINAMOTO no Yoshihira (Yoshitomo's eldest son) for the above reason, he spent all his time in Shida no sho and put his energies into developing the land. Thereafter, he put an end to any noticeable military activities. It might be due such circumstances that he did not take part in the actual battles during the Hogen Disturbance in 1156, even though at first he went up to Kyoto and was under the command of his father Tameyoshi. There is also a theory holding that he also went to Kyoto temporarily during the Heiji Disturbance that came after that, but what he actually did there is unclear. After that, even though he took a side glance at the government of Taira clan headed by TAIRA no Kiyomori at the height of its prosperity, he gave no particular sign of opposing it. And he did not move out from Shida no sho for more than twenty years.
"Heike Monogatari" (The tale of the Heike) says that at the time of Prince Mochihito's rebellion in May 1180, the youngest brother MINAMOTO no Yukiie went to Yoshihiro after delivering Prince Mochihito's call to arms to his nephew MINAMOTO no Yoritomo. According to the "Azuma Kagami" (The Mirror of the East), it is said that after Yoritomo raised his army in August of the same year, Yoshihiro and Yukiie together met Yoritomo after the battle of Kinsa-jo Castle in November. But he never joined Yoritomo's army, and maintained his independent power with the south of Hitachi as its center.
The more Yoritomo came to control eastern provinces, the more serious the conflict between Yoritomo and Yoshihiro became. On March 22, 1183, Yoshihiro, Toshitsuna ASHIKAGA in Shimotsuke Province, and his son Tadatsuna ASHIKAGA worked together, gathered a force of 20,000, raised it to defeat Yoritomo and marched from Hitachi Province to Shimotsuke Province. It was Yoshihiro's resentment at Yoritomo, who remonstrated with him about the dispossession of a fief belonging to Kashima-jingu Shrine, that made him take military action. Because their plan of attacking Kamakura was revealed before it happened, it ended up with a battle between Yoshihiro's army and Yoritomo's forces in Shimotsuke.
Tomomasa OYAMA, the head of a powerful family in Shimotsuke, at first pretended that he had agreed with Yoshihiro and remained in Nogimiya in Shimotsuke Province (the present-day Nogi-machi, Tochigi Prefecture). However, on the 23th, he suddenly attacked Yoshihiro's army when they neared Nogimiya with their attention relaxed, and there occurred a fierce battle. Yoshihiro's army was defeated by Tomomasa, who was supported by the forces of MINAMOTO no Noriyori, Tomomitsu YUKI, Munemasa NAGANUMA, and Mototsuna SANO, and he lost his stronghold (the Battle of Nogimiya).
Afterwards, he joined the army of MINAMOTO no Yoshinaka, who was also his nephew and the son of his elder brother Yoshikata. It seems that his advance from Hitachi to Shimotsuke was also headed for Yoshinaka's area of influence. The presence of Yoshinaka was in the background of Yoshihiro's attack on Yoritomo in Kamakura. That sparked a conflict between Yoshinaka and Yoritomo, but Yoshinaka treated Yoshihiro in a suitable manner as his uncle and never betrayed him throughout his life. After this, Yoshihiro advanced on the Hokurikudo with Yoshinaka, entered Kyoto as one of the two commanders, and was appointed as the governor of Shinano Province after entering Kyoto.
At the battle of Uji-gawa River in February 1184, he took part in a defensive battle against the forces of MINAMOTO no Yoshitsune, who had been dispatched by Yoritomo. However, Yoshinaka died in the battle of Awazu, and Yoshihiro, who had been put to rout, also became a rebel to be hunted down. On June 20, 1184, he tried to resist his enemies at Mt. Hatori in Ise Province (the present-day Ueno City, Mie Prefecture) but ended up being beheaded after a battle against the retainers of Morimichi HATANO, Saneharu OI, Tsunetoshi YAMANOUCHISUDO and Koreyoshi OUCHI ("Azuma Kagami").
Some families such as the Umeda clan, the Shida clan, the Narasaki clan, and the Hishijima clan call themselves the descendants of Yoshihiro.