Taira no Tadafusa (平忠房)
TAIRA no Tadafusa (year of birth unknown - January 15, 1186) was a busho (Japanese military commander) who lived during the end of the Heian period. He was the 6th son of TAIRA no Shigemori (there is an opinion that he could have been the 5th son). His mother was FUJIWARA no Keishi (the 4th daughter of FUJIWARA no Ienari). His legal wife was a daughter of FUJIWARA no Naganori - the fifth son of FUJIWARA no Shinzei, and she married Tadafusa in January 1179. His official rank was Jugoi Jiju (Junior Fifth Rank Chamberlain) and Governor of Tango Province. Thus he was called "Tango-jiju." According to Heike-kindachi Soshi (a book on Taira clan nobles), his name was shown among participants with his 4 elder brothers at the 50th birthday celebration of the Cloistered Emperor Goshirakawa, 'Angen no ga (Celebration of Angen Year)' in March (lunar calendar) 1176.
(The post he held at the time was Hyoe no suke (assistant captain of the Headquarters of the Middle Palace Guard).)
According to 'Rokudai Kirare' in "Heike Monogatari" (The tale of the Heike), Tadafusa escaped in secrecy from the camp of the Taira clan after being defeated at the Battle of Yashima, and he hid under the protection of the powerful Muneshige YUASA in Kii Province. After the downfall of the Taira clan at the Battle of Dannoura, Tadafusa was pursued by MINAMOTO no Yoritomo but the remnants of the Taira clan including Muneshige and TAIRA no Kagekiyo banded around Tadafusa and mounted a do-or-die resistance in which it is said that they hold the castle for three months. However, Tadafusa believed Yoritomo's lie that 'he owed Shigemori an old favor and would spare his son's life,' so surrendered and turned himself in at Kamakura. After Tadafusa met Yoritomo, he was sent back to the capital but he was killed on the way by Motokiyo GOTO who was acting under the orders of Yoritomo.
The January 7, 1186 entry in Kikki (a diary of Tsunefusa YOSHIDA) reads 'On this day, Tadafusa, the son of Komatsu-naifu (the title of his father) was summoned to the Kanto region' and on the entry for the 16th state that 'Tadafusa was beheaded.'
Namida ga iso (rocky shore of tears)
According to Tango Province legend, stories remain that Tadafusa had a child with a prostitute named Hanamatsu who hid in Tango upon hearing about the downfall of the Taira family, but she feared that she would be discovered by the Minamoto clan so threw herself from a rock, making it appear as if she had taken her child with her with her.