Nanbu's Hometown -OCT,2024-

The Kamanashi River, which flows in from the northwest and originates from Mt. Nokogiri at the northern end of the Southern Alps, and the Fuefuki River, which flows in from the northeast and originates from Mt. Kobushigatake, join in the southeast of the Kofu Basin to become the Fuji River, which flows into Suruga Bay. The homeland of the Nanbu family, lords of Morioka Domain, corresponds to this Fuji River region in Yamanashi Prefecture (present-day Minobu Town and Nanbu Town). The founder of the family, Nanbu Mitsuyuki, was a member of the Takeda clan of Kai and contributed to Yoritomo's conquest of Oshu, but was granted the five counties of Nukabe (present-day Shimokita Peninsula to the upper half of Iwate Prefecture) for his contributions in the conquest of Oshu. The Nanbu family traveled back and forth between this area and the Oshu territory throughout the Kamakura period, but gradually shifted to Oshu, and moved their base to Oshu after the fall of the Kamakura shogunate.

The Kai Genji clan was not originally assigned to Kai. Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, who played an active role in the Battle of Zenkunen, had three sons with his legal wife, and each had an alias named after the shrine where they had their coming-of-age ceremony. They were called Hachiman Taro Yoshiie (Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine), Kamo Jiro Yoshitsuna (Kamigamo Shrine), and Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu (Onjoji Shinra Myojin Shrine) (I mentioned the anecdote at Ashigara Pass of Yoshimitsu, who went to reinforce his brother Yoshiie during the Battle of Gosannen in another article).

Yoshimitsu accumulated power in Hitachi, and his eldest son Yoshinari established his residence in Satake-go, Kuji County, and became the ancestor of the Satake clan, while his second son Yoshikiyo and his grandson Kiyomitsu established their base in Takeda-go, Naka County, and became the ancestors of the Takeda clan, but were punished by imperial pardon and exiled to Kai, where they continued to use the surname Takeda. Nanbu Mitsuyuki was Kiyomitsu's grandson, and from then on, although the Kai Genji continued to have the Takeda clan as their head clan, they branched out and became entrenched in Kai Province. Under the Edo shogunate and feudal domain system, it was coincidence that the Satake clan was located next to the Nanbu clan in Akita (Kubota Castle) and the Nanbu clan in Morioka, but it felt like fate.

This area had been the location of ranches that presented horses to the Imperial Court since ancient times, and the Nukabe district under Oshu's control also has many horse-related place names such as Sannohe and Hachinohe, but it is interesting to know how the Nanbu family was involved in the breeding and supply of the indigenous Nanbu horses of Japan. The Nihon Shoki contains an entry about the "Kai no Kurokoma" (black horses) and horse teeth have been found in burial mounds from the 4th century, proving that the history of Kai horses is quite long. When it comes to horses in Kai, the first thing that comes to mind is the Takeda cavalry corps.

With horse ranches, the expansion of the manors where the Nanbu family was located, and water transportation on the Fuji River, it is thought that this area had been open since ancient times. At the end of the Heian period, Utsufune Hachiman Shrine, which was a branch of Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine, was established here, and Nanbu Mitsuyuki established Sinra Shrine next to his residence, which enshrines Yoshimitsu, four generations earlier. Hachiman is Emperor Ojin, the god of war, and along with Yoshimitsu, ancestor of the Kai Genji clan, this shrine was probably an important one for the Nanbu family.

Mitsuyuki's third son, Sanenaga, was given the Hakii district by his father and became the local lord. While the main Nanbu family moved its base to Oshu, his descendants took the name of Hakii and divided the territory. He converted to Nichiren Buddhism and invited Kuon-ji Temple to Mount Minobu, and his family temple, Myojo-ji Temple, also converted to Nichiren Buddhism. The temple's crest is the same as the Nanbu family's, a crane facing the sky, which can be confirmed by the offering box. Incidentally, the crane facing the sky is said to have originated from when Mitsuyuki, the founder of the family, went hunting with Yoritomo and shot down two cranes instead of killing them.

Jokoji Temple, a Rinzai sect temple located a five minute walk from Myojoji Temple, is an uninhabited temple, but graves believed to belong to the Nanbu clan are neatly placed here along with a memorial tower. It is said that the graves, which were located on the mountain behind the main hall, collapsed due to a typhoon and were placed here. The gravestones are estimated to date from the Kamakura to Nanboku-cho period, but perhaps they were forgotten when the main Nanbu family left for Oshu and the Hakii clan moved their base north and then fell into extinction. During the Edo period, Kai came under direct control of the shogunate, and there was no one to protect the relics of the past, so perhaps these afterglows of the Middle Ages are still buried.

The headquarters of the Hakii clan was in Minobu Town, but if you turn off the main road (Minobu Road) and go up, you will find a monument commemorating the castle site at the end. During the Taiei era (1521-1528), Shingen's father, Nobutora, who aimed to unify Kai, destroyed Hakii Yoshizane, who had connections with the Imagawa clan, and the Nanbu clan's footprint in Kai came to an end.

Both the Mori and Shimazu clans in Sagami were transferred or relocated as vassals of the Kamakura Shogunate and welcomed the Meiji Restoration, but the Nanbu clan also survived robustly. All that remains of the Nanbu residence is the remains of a well, but the Fuji River flowing in front of it is beautiful and leisurely, and in spring the contrast with the rows of cherry trees planted on the banks must be wonderful.