Jimyoin Motoie (持明院基家)

Motoie JIMYOIN (1132-April 7, 1214) was a Court noble from the late Heian period until the early Kamakura period. He was the third son of FUJIWARA no Michimoto, Okura-kyo (Minister of the Treasury). His mother was a daughter of Okura-kyo MINAMOTO no Morotaka. He was Shonii (Senior Second Rank) and Chunagon (vice-councilor of state). His children included Motomune JIMYOIN, Yasuie JIMYOIN, Motouji SONO (founder of the SONO family), Nobuko JIMYOIN (Kitashirakawain), a wife of FUJIWARA no Sanemune, and a wife of TAIRA no Sukemori.

He succeeded to jibutsu-do hall (the nobility's private Buddha statue hall) of Jimyo-in Temple (founded by his grandfather, FUJIWARA no Motoyori) from his father, Michimoto. In December 1145, he was raised to the peerage. After he held various posts in Noto Province, Mimasaka Province, Konoefu (the Headquarters of the Inner Palace Guards) and so on, he was promoted to Jusanmi (Junior Third Rank) in February 1172. Further, he was appointed Kyoshiki (the Capital Bureau) after the Coup of the Third Year of Jisho and appointed Sangi (councilor) in November 1182. He married a daughter of TAIRA no Yorimori and nurtured Imperial Prince Morisada as a member of the nursing mother's family, but when Imperial Prince Morisada fled from Kyoto accompanied by the Ise-Heishi (Taira clan) family, he remained in Kyoto instead of accompanying him. In order to escape the political upheaval arising from MINAMOTO no Yoshinaka's entrance into Kyoto, he soon left Kyoto in exile to the Kanto region following Yorimori, his father-in-law and Yoshiyasu ICHIJYO, his nephew.

After the fall of Yoshinaka and the Heike family, he came back to Kyoto and served Imperial Prince Morisada who returned from the Saikai (provinces on the western seacoast) with his wife. He gave Jimyo-in Temple to Imperial Prince Morisada for his residence and made his daughter Nobuko Princess. He was eventually promoted to as high as Shonii (Senior Second Rank) and retired in 1201, becoming a priest (His homyo (a name given to a person who enters the Buddhist priesthood) was Shinchi). He died on April 14, 1214 at the age of 83.

In 1221, after the Jokyu War, Emperor Chukyo was dethroned and Imperial Prince Yutahito, whom Nobuko gave birth to, ascended the throne as Emperor Gohorikawa. Motoie's descendants were expanded as the Jimyoin family of the Urin family.

[Original Japanese]