Minamoto no Tametomo

• Born: 1139
• Died: 1170
• Other Names: 鎮西八郎 (Chinzei Hachirou)
• Japanese: 源為朝 (Minamoto no Tametomo)

Minamoto no Tametomo was a warrior of the Minamoto clan, exiled to Izu Ôshima in 1165, in the aftermath of the Hôgen Rebellion. He is the subject of a number of myths and legends, which have him making his way to Okinawa from Ôshima, and fathering Shunten, the first king of Okinawa.

Tametomo was the son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi, brother to Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and thus a direct uncle to Minamoto no Yoritomo, first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate. He lived for a time in Kyushu during his younger days, and is thus associated with the island, and with the term "Chinzei," an alternate name for Kyushu. During his time there, it is said he married a woman named Shiranui, the daughter of Taira no Tadakuni.

Tametomo fought alongside his father in the Hôgen Rebellion of 1156, siding with Emperor Sutoku against Emperor Go-Shirakawa (who, incidentally, had Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Tametomo's brother, on his side). After Go-Shirakawa's victory, Yoshitomo was forced to behead his father, Tameyoshi, and several of his brothers and other close relatives who had opposed Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Tametomo, renowned for his skill with a bow, had the ligaments or tendons of his bow arm cut, rendering it useless, before he was exiled to Izu Ôshima.

From this point onwards, history and myth are difficult to tell apart. According to the tales in which he traveled to Ryûkyû, he regained use of his arm before long. On Ôshima, he is said to have taken a young woman named Sasarae, the daughter of the island magistrate Tadashige, as his wife, giving her two sons, Tamemaru and Tomokawa, and a daughter named Shimagimi. He is said to have taken over the island, and several others nearby, before leaving for Ryûkyû, where he is said to have married the chieftain's daughter Nei, and sired the son Shunten.

The legend of his involvement in Ryûkyû is related in numerous Edo period texts; the precise origin of the myth is unclear, but it appears as early as 1650, in the Chûzan Seikan compiled by Ryukyuan royal advisor Shô Shôken. The story is repeated, or elaborated upon, in Arai Hakuseki's 1719 book Nantôshi, Morishima Chûryô's 1790 publication Ryûkyû-banashi, and Takizawa Bakin's novel Chinsetsu yumihari tsuki, which expands the story out to a full novel.

This story is generally regarded today as pure fiction, and as an idea invented and perpetuated in order to justify Japanese dominion over the Ryûkyû Kingdom. The vast distance between Izu Ôshima and Ryûkyû is but one of many elements which make the story seem rather unlikely; had he been exiled to an island off of Kyushu, in the Amami Islands chain, such as Kikaigashima, where the monk Shunkan was exiled a few years later (1177), it might be easier to believe. Yet, as recently as the 1950s, historian George Kerr devoted several pages to the Tametomo tale, and wrote that while it "cannot be verified at this time; neither can it be dismissed as pure fiction."

The various versions of Tametomo's legend relate his death in different ways. Some sources have him dying in Okinawa, while others have him returning to Izu Ôshima and fighting off naval attackers sent by the emperor, only to kill himself in the end; still other versions of Tametomo's story have him escaping these Imperial assaults and traveling to Hachijô-jima, where he again fights off imperial forces and then commits suicide.

References

• Sato, Hiroaki. "A Wonder Tale: The Moonbow." in My Friend Hitler and Other Plays of Yukio Mishima. Columbia University Press, 2002. pp241-245.