Nikaido Yukimitsu (二階堂行光)
Yukimitsu NIKAIDO (1164 - September 1219) was a governmental official responsible for practical works at the beginning of the Kamakura period. He was a child of Yukimasa NIKAIDO and served as Mandokoro Shitsuji (chief of Mandokoro, the Administrative Board). He was a brother of Yukimura NIKAIDO.
MINAMOTO no Sanetomo became a minister of the right in 1218, as a related article to which the beginning of Mandokoro was written in the article dated December 20 of "Azuma Kagami" (The Mirror of the East). He was introduced as having the next position to Yoshitoki HOJO and the top of the governmental official responsible for practical works of Mandokoro; 'ukeicho (the provisional master of right) as well as Yukimitsu, the steward of a governor of Shinano Province, and MINAMOTO no Nakaakira Ason (second highest of the eight hereditary titles) who held the concurrent post of household superintendent and professor of literature...' (ukeicho was a Tang name of Ukyo Gon no daibu [Provisional Master of the Western Capital Offices]).
This age was the age of MINAMOTO no Sanetomo, but his mother Masako HOJO held real power, and this resembles the relationship between the emperor and Insei (rule by the retired Emperor) in the imperial court. Yukimitsu NIKAIDO appeared in various scenes as a close adviser of the ama shogun (nun shogun), and there is an important description in the article dated February 13, 1219 in "Azuma Kagami". The article describes that 'Yukimitsu, the former official of Shinano Province, left for the capital (Kyoto) at Tora no koku (from 3am to 5am), on a mission to convey the message of Zenjo Nii ke who requested that Rokujo no Miya and Reizei no Miya go to Kamakura as Kanto Shogun', which indicates that he was sent to the imperial court as an envoy of Masako and negotiated with them. The activity of Yukimitsu at that time was also mentioned in "Gukansho" (Jottings of a Fool) by Jien.
This negotiation was carried out to invite a child of the retired Emperor Gotoba as a Kamakura Shogun, but was rejected by Gotoba because he considered to overthrow the Hojo clan. However, the practical works of public administration of the Kamakura Government and diplomacy with the imperial court were mainly managed by Yukimitsu NIKAIDO, and most of the records of "Azuma Kagami" were based on the records written or owned by Yukimitsu.
Mitsumune IGA, a nephew of Yukimitsu, became Mandokoro Shitsuji (chief of Mandokoro, the Administrative Board) after Yukimitsu, but after Mitsumune was exiled in the incident of the Iga clan in 1224, Yukimori NIKAIDO, a child of Yukimitsu, was assigned to Mandokoro Shitsuji, and this family succeeded this post.
Yukimitu in the late Kamakura period
Yukimitu NIKAIDO was a child of Yukimitsu NIKAIDO. He was the sixth generation of Yukimitu described above.