Makuwari Yasutane (馬加康胤)
Yasutane MAKUWARI (c.1398 - November 28, 1456) was a warlord during the Muromachi period. His real surname was "Heishi" (the Taira clan). As a son of Mitsutane CHIBA, Chiba no suke (assistant governor of Chiba Province), he was also called Yasutane CHIBA. Taking advantage of the Kyotoku War (series of battles between the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) and the Kanto kanrei (shogun's deputy for the Kanto area), he attacked and destroyed the head family of the Chiba clan, and became the 19th head of the clan.
Because he took up his residence in Makuwari-mura village, Chiba-gun, Shimosa Province (present-day Makuhari, Hanamigawa-ku Ward, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture), he called himself 'Makuwari.'
In the Kyotoku War, the Kamakura kubo (governor-general of the Kanto region) Shigeuji ASHIKAGA feuded with Kanto kanrei, the Uesugi clan. As a result, Shigeuji was hunted down by the Muromachi bakufu in Kyoto, which supported the Uesugi clan.
Shigeuji fled Kamakura for Koga-jo Castle in Shimosa Province (present-day Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture) where he called himself 'Koga kubo.'
Under such circumstances, both bakufu and Shigeuji called on military reinforcements from the Chiba clan, the shugo (military governor) of Shimosa Province. Tanenao CHIBA, the head of the Chiba clan, set out to defeat Shigeuji to comply with the bakufu's request, but Tanenao's uncle Yasutane opposed it, insisting that they should send military reinforcements to Shigeuji. This confrontation was exacerbated by a power struggle between the Hara clan and the Enjoji clan over the position of the chief retainer. Accordingly, the retainers of the Chiba clan split into two camps.
In 1455, Yasutane, together with Tanefusa HARA, attacked Tanenao CHIBA and Tanenao's son Tanenobu CHIBA at Inohana (Inohana-jo Castle) (present-day Inohana, Chuo-ku Ward, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture), and drove them into Chida no sho Manor (present-day the area in and around Tako-machi Town, Katori-gun County, Chiba Prefecture). Yasutane eventually destroyed Tanenao, Tanenao's son Tanenobu, and Hisato ENJOJI, who had entrenched themselves in Tako-jo Castle and Shima-jo Castle in Chida no sho Manor. Although he had become a priest, that is to say he had renounced the world, he still titled himself the 19th head of the Chiba clan Yasutane CHIBA (but he never failed to pay respect to the former head of the clan for the rest of his life).
To cope with the situation, Seii Taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") of the Muromachi bakufu Yoshimasa ASHIKAGA dispatched Tsuneyori TO, the lord of Shinowaki-jo Castle in Gujo-gun, Mino Province, who was a poet and also a member of the Chiba clan, to quell the disturbances. According to legend, Yasutane was killed by Tsuneyori in the Murata-gawa River in Yawata in Kazusa Province (present-day Yawata-cho Town, Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture), although this remained unproven.