Honjo Tokiie (本庄時家)
Tokiie HONJO (year of birth and death unknown) was a busho (Japanese military commander) of Kodama Party, Musashi Province in the early Kamakura period (he practically succeeded to the head family of Kodama Party). He was the fourth son of Ienaga SHO, the fifth generation of the head family of Kodama Party. His common name was Shiro. His official rank was Saemon no jo (third-ranked officer of the Left Division of Outer Palace Guards), but he was dismissed later. He had his residence (called Honden-yakata) in Kitahori and called himself Tokiie of Kitahori Tanba no kami (Governor of Kitahori Tanba Province). He was considered to be the first person to use the name of the Honjo clan out of the Sho clan of Kodama Party.
Background to use the name of the Honjo clan from the Sho clan
Since he succeeded to the head family of Kodama Party and Yoriie SHO, the sixth head, was killed at a young age on the Battle of Ichinotani, Ienaga had Yoriie family adopt his third son Ietsugu SHO (Yoriie's younger brother) as the heir and had Ietsugu succeed to the head family of Kodama Party. However, Ietsugu was appointed to jito (manager and lord of manor) of Bicchu Province and transferred there. He resided there permanently, and the family became the Bicchu Sho clan. Since the head family of the Sho clan left Kurisakikan which was the home ground of Kodama Party, the fourth son, Shiro (the forth son) Saemon no jo Tokiie, needed to save the place which was handed down to him from his grandfather (Iehiro SHO, the forth head family of Kodama Party), so he began to use the name of the Honjo clan.
It did not mean 'the Sho clan of the head family,' but it was considered that he used the name of Honjo that had a meaning of 'the Sho clan remained in the home ground (本 pronounce hon, meaning local).'
He had his residence in Azahonda of Oazakitahori (present Kitahori, Honjo City, Saitama Prefecture).
The time when he used the name of the Honjo clan and the meaning of the name.
The first appearance of the name in literature was on "Azuma kagami" as Honjo Shiro Saemon no jo at the time of New Year Ceremony on February 5, 1229. His name was also stated as Honjo Saemon no jo at the time of New Year Ceremony on February 20, 1233. Also on March 11, 1238, when FUJIWARA no Yoritsune, the fourth Shogun of Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) entered into Kyoto, the names of Honjo Shiro Saemon no jo Tokiie as the 22 of the vanguard Gosho zuihyo (an accompanied soldier of Imperial palace) among 192, Asatsugu HONJO as 25, and other Samurai of Kodama Party, such as the family of the Yomoda clan were seen. With these reasons, it could tell that he used the name of the Honjo clan from the end to the mid 13th century (the word 'Honjo' only could be seen in the Article of August 14, 1188 in the late 12nd century).
Even though the head family of the Sho clan was settled far away, if a branch used the name of the head family without asking, it could result in conflictions between the Sho clan brothers. It's hardly possible that Tokiie used the name of 'the Sho clan (Honjo) of the head family' under the situation where nobody knew when the head family were coming back. What Tokiie succeeded was the ritual position as the head family of Kodama Party, so it was not the family head position. The significance of the name Honjo valued higher on 'saving the home ground (本 in kanji) of the Sho clan,' and it was the name that alleged the origin of the Sho clan (it was raised while the Sho clan was expanding in various places).
Asatsugu, the descendent of Ietsugu, did not succeed to Kurisaki of Kodama Party, so it could be possible to see Tokiie, who was guarding the place, as the eighth head family of Kodama Party.
As Uma nusubito (The Horse Thief)
According to "Azuma kagami"(The Mirror of the East), the Article of June 23, 1241, 'he established reputation of acting. The ceremony, which was to have been held on the previous day, was postponed due to the ritual at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine. By having Toshihira, Geki (Secretary of the Grand Council of State) and Saemon no jo (third-ranked officer of the Left Division of Outer Palace Guards), as a bugyo (magistrate), Honjo Shiro Saemon no jo Tokiie house was taken away. When the wife of Futoshi TOHEI, the retainer of Kojiro Tokikage KOBAYASHI was passing by, Tokiie took two of her horses, the kuchitori (a person who hold a rope on a horse's mouth) Kojiro caught the man,' 'Tokikage pleaded his act was violent.
So his shoryo (territory) was confiscated due to his violence.'
As summarized, when the wife of Futoshi TOHEI, the retainer of Tokikage KOBAYASHI was riding a horse and had the other horse carry her baggage, Tokiie wrested those two horses from her. Therefore, he was called to Kamakura and dismissed, and his shoryo was confiscated.
This matter was described in "Kitamusashi Meisekishi topography" and introduced as 'Uma nusubito of Joshu Province.'
However, only dictation of the pleaded side was stated, and there was no description of why Tokiie needed to wrest the horses, so it was impossible to consider objectively as the sentences were too short. His job was to save the demesne of the head family of the party in the first place, so it was mystery why he committed this crime. In addition, he was described as 'Uma nusubito of Joshu Province,' but Honjo meant Bushu (Musashi Province) obviously.
The last statement on Azuma Kagami
The statement that could see Tokiie's name for the last time in "Azuma kagami" was on the Article of April 11, 1250, about zassho (a person in charge of miscellaneous tasks) of Zokaninden, his name was stated as 1 tree from Honjo Shiro Saemon no jo on the section of Nijomen Nishinotoin Higashi 20 (20 trees on the side of Nijo street in the east of Nishinotoin) (it could tell that he went off to Kyoto). In this section, the name of his older brother Saburouemon Ietsugu was seen for the first time as 'Honjo Saburozaemon,' but it should originally be 'Shozaburouemon' by considering many misnomer and confusion in "Azuma Kagami." It was estimated that he died around the mid 13 century by his older brother Yoriie's age at death.
Mysteries of his family lineage afterward
By the battle in 1337, Yuso-ji Temple (later rebuilt as Yusho-ji Temple) associated with the Sho clan was burned down, so the family lineage (especially from Tokiie to Nobuaki) of the Honjo can is still not clear. However, Kunifusa HONJO's name was confirmed as the great-grandchild of Tokiie. According to a old literature, he had a conflict with Yorihisa YURI about Honjo's Seishi (Irako) residence and the fields in Tateno forest in 1314 (the early 14th century), the late Kamakura period. By the decision of Kamakura bakufu, Yorihisa's enfeoffment received recognition.
Also, on one of many family trees, he was described as 'the child (the third son) of Ienaga, Honjo Sanzaemon Tokiie.'
According to this family tree, this child's name was Nanazaemon Iefusa, the child's name of Iefusa was Tazaemon Yasufusa, and the child's name of Yasufusa was Taro Kunifusa. The reliability of this family tree as data is not certain, so it is difficult to judge, but it is Tokiie HONJO=>Iefusa HONJO=>Yasufusa HONJO=>Kunifusa HONJO based on the family tree.
It was certain that the Honjo clan who became the head family of the party seemed to partner-up with the Southern Court as the Kodama Party was on the side of the Southern Court in the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (Japan)(from the mid to the late 14th century). After that, the Kodama Party was on the side of the Inukake Uesugi family at the time of the early 15th century and became the vassal (retainer) of the Yamanouchi Uesugi family in the mid 15th century and served for generations.
On the family tree, the name of Nagahide HONJO, the vassal of the Narita clan, the lord of Oshi-jo Castle, was stated as the other descendant of Tokiie. Many family trees exist, so it is difficult to judge the course of the genealogy from Tokiie to Nagahide.