Utsunomiya Sadayasu (宇都宮貞泰)
Sadayasu UTSUNOMIYA was a busho (Japanese military commander) during the Kamakura and Muromachi Periods.
Governor of Mikawa Province
He was first called Kageyasu, and then his name was changed to Sadayasu. He was a member of the Fujiwara clan.
Family background
Sadayasu was the son of Yasumune UTSUNOMIYA, the younger brother of Sadatsuna UTSUNOMIYA, and the sixth head of the Shimotsuke-Utsunomiya clan (the eighth counting from FUJIWARA no Soen), and went to Chikugo Province in Kyushu.
According to the Mumo family records, 'Kageyasu UTSUNOMIYA (later Sadayasu) lived at Karasuma, Kyoto. His son, Muneyasu UTSUNOMIYA was the Governor of Mikawa Province and lived in Iyo.'
The Iyo-Utsunomiya family record states that 'Sadayasu, who was called Rokuro and initially named Kageyasu, assumed the positions of the Governor of Mino Province and Governor of Totomi Province. He lived at Utsunomiya, Yasu and later moved to Kyoto. His Buddhist name was Renchi.'
Iyo Province Jito (medieval land steward in Japan)
In 1330, he became jito (manager and lord of manor) of Kita-gun, Iyo Province, moved from Kyoto to Kita, Iyo Province, Kyoto, and lived at Negoroyama-jo Castle in Ozu. During the period of the Northern and Southern Courts, he was of the Northern Court and fought against Michimune TOKUNO, Shigekiyo KUTSUNA, and Michimasu DOI of the Southern Court in Shikoku.
Southern Court
Emperor Godaigo's 11th son, Imperial Prince Kagenaga, was appointed seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") and he left Yoshino for Kyushu. He received support from the Kumano Suigun Navy, a group of pirates in the Seto Inland Sea, and after traveling to Katsuna-jima Island in Iyo Province (Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, formerly Hojo City), he stayed at the residence of Sadayasu UTSUNOMIYA for a while. This means that Sadayasu, who was initially on the side of the Bakufu (the Northern Court), was on the side of the Imperial Court (the Southern Court) by this time.
Sadayasu moved from Kita of Iyo Province in Shikoku to join the Kii clan in Nakatsu, Buzen Province together with Imperial Prince Kagenaga.
The Utsunomiya family records
Regarding Sadayasu's children, there are different notations in the Sonpi Bunmyaku (a text compiled in the fourteenth century that records the lineages of the aristocracy), the Mumo family records, the Iyo-Utsunomiya family records, the Chikugo-Utsunomiya family records, and the Shimotsuke-Utsunomiya family records. Summarizing these family records, Sadayasu had five sons, Sadamune, Yoshitsuna, Sadahisa, Sadakuni, and Muneyasu, and the Iyo-Utsunomiya family records state that Sadamune, who as his eldest became the Governor of Iyo Province, whereas the Shimotsuke-Utsunomiya family records and others state that Yoshituna, who was adopted by the Buzen-Utsumoniya clan, was his eldest. This reflects the circumstances of Sadayasu while he was in kita, Iyo and after moving to Nakatsu, Bizen.
Branches of the Utsunomiya family
Sadamune UTSUNOMIYA, noted as the eldest in the Iyo-Utsunomiya family records, became the Governor of Iyo Province. Sadamune did not have any children and so he adopted Toyofusa UTSUNOMIYA (the third son of Yorifusa UTSUNOMIYA of the Bizen-Utsunomiya clan), patriarch to the Iyo-Utsunomiya clan.
Mototsuna UTSUNOMIYA, the son of Yoshitsuna UTSUNOMIYA, who was noted as Sadayasu's eldest son in the Shimotsuke-Utsunomiya family records, joined the Kii clan of the Northern Court.
Kanehisa UTSUNOMIYA, the son of Sadahisa UTSUNOMIYA, Sadayasu's second son, of the Southern Court, became the patriarch of the Kamachi clan of Chikugo-Utsunomiya clan descendants.
The third son, Sadakuni UTSUNOMIYA, joined the Southern Court of Imperial Prince Kagenaga in Kyushu, joining his elder brother Sadahisa, and died fighting in the Battle of the Chikugo-gawa River with his nephew, Kanehisa UTSUNOMIYA.
His fourth son, Muneyasu UTSUNOMIYA, was adopted by his oldest brother's adopted son, Toyofusa UTSUNOMIYA (younger brother of Fuyutsuna UTSUNOMIYA) and became the head of the Iyo-Utsunomiya clan.