Kitabatake Chikafusa
- Died: 1334
Kitabatake Chikafusa wrote the "Jinno Shotoki", between 1339-1343. His family was of Murakami Genji stock. He disliked and opposed Ashikaga Takauji and the Bakufu - he felt that Takauji was a "greedy soldier of no great merit and not of a really good family." He supported the Southern Court in Yoshino, and over the span of his career served five emperors - Go-Fushimi, Go-Nijo, Hanazono, Go-Daigo, and Go-Murakami. He was sent by Go-Daigo to Mutsu Province as governor and worked to drum up support there for the Southern cause. He was hard-pressed by Ishidô Yoshifusa, whom Takauji had dispatched in 1335 as a counter to Chikafusa and captured Taga, which was the Loyalist's seat in Mutsu. In addition, Chikafusa was unable to convince the powerful Hitachi landholder Yûki Chikatomo to throw in with the Loyalists, and when the latter sided with the Ashikaga, Chikafusa was forced to flee to Yoshino. He died in 1354. Chikafusa was the father of Kitabatake Akiyoshi and Akiie. Akiie was killed in battle in the summer of 1338. Chikafusa was assisted in his endeavors by a younger brother, Akinobu.
Sources
Jansen, Marius. Warrior Rule in Japan Cambridge University Press, 1995
