Wada Conflict

• Date: 1213
• Japanese: 和田合戦 (Wada gassen)

The Wada Conflict was a series of battles or skirmishes which took place in Kamakura in 1213, fought between forces of shogunal retainer Wada Yoshimori and those of shogunal regent Hôjô Yoshitoki.

In the early months of that year, Hôjô Yoshitoki and his sister Hôjô Masako (mother of Shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo), seeing shogunal retainer Wada Yoshimori as a potential threat to the shogunate, arrested two of Yoshimori's sons and his nephew Tanenaga on charges of conspiring against the shogunate. The two sons were released shortly afterwards, but Tanenaga was paraded through the streets as a common criminal might have been, and a month later, the Hôjô confiscated a portion of Wada's lands.

After spending roughly a month gathering his forces and his allies, Yoshimori organized a series of attacks on shogunal targets to take place on 1213/5/2. The Wada residence was located just across Wakamiya-ôji (the main avenue of the shogunal capital of Kamakura) from that of Hôjô Yoshitoki; though Yoshimori made efforts to hide his military build-up, it was obvious to Yoshitoki, who, anticipating the attack, snuck out of his own home and fled to the shogunal residence, a block and a half to the northeast, while the shogun himself, and his mother Hôjô Masako, sought refuge at the residence of the head of the city's main shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachimangû.

The attack began at the beginning of the Hour of the Monkey (around 3pm), under cloudy skies. Yoshimori split his forces in three, attacking the residence of Shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo, that of Hôjô Yoshitoki, and that of top-ranking Hôjô retainer Ôe Hiromoto. Each group consisted of several hundred warriors. The second group took Yoshitoki's home after sustaining some losses; Yoshimori led the third group, taking Hiromoto's home with ease, finding Hiromoto's men engaged in a drinking party. Hiromoto himself had fled previously, however, taking up shelter at the shogunal residence alongside Yoshitoki.

Moving onwards from Hiromoto's residence, Yoshimori and his men encountered a number of the shogunate's mounted warriors in the sidestreets just south of the shogunal residence. These men were led by Hitano Tadatsuna and Miura Yoshimura; Miura was a relative of Yoshimori, and had been party to plotting the attacks, but betrayed Yoshimori in the end, revealing his plans to the Hôjô. The two forces fought in the streets for roughly two hours, until, at the Hour of the Rooster (around 5-7pm), a group of Wada's men, led by Asahina Yoshihide managed to get through the southern gate of the shogunal compound, and to set the compound on fire. Hôjô Yoshitoki, Ôe Hiromoto, and their men who had been hiding out at the compound then joined in the battle.

Eventually, as dusk approached, Wada Yoshimori ordered his men to withdraw. They made their way down Wakamiya-ôji, towards the beach, pursued by Hôjô Yasutoki (the son of Yoshitoki), as Ôe Hiromoto and his men remained at the shogunate compound. The Wada and Hôjô forces continued to clash, in fits and starts, here and there, throughout the night, even as rain began to fall around midnight. By the early hours of the morning, the Wada forces found themselves trapped on the beach, with Hôjô forces controlling all the major roads. Shortly before dawn, however (the Hour of the Tiger, 3-5am), Wada's ally Yokoyama Tokikane appeared with reinforcements. Wada's men now numbered roughly 3,000. Yoshimori, however, held his position, possibly in order to allow his men some respite.

At the Hour of the Snake (9-11am), Hôjô Yoshitoki and Ôe Hiromoto composed, signed, and sealed a document declaring Wada and Yokoyama to be enemies of the state. What had up to this point been a "private" conflict between two warrior houses was now a rebellion against the shogunate. Copies of the document were dispatched to forces in neighboring provinces loyal to the shogunate, and it was also read out loud there on the beach. A very significant portion of Wada & Yokoyama's men defected immediately, declaring themselves for the shogunate.

References

• Karl Friday, Samurai Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Routledge (2004), 1-5.