The Rebellion of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu — The Dazaifu Uprising Against Genbō and Kibi no Makibi

The Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion, which took place from the 8th month to the 11th month of Tenpyō 12 (740), was one of the large-scale civil wars of the Nara period and an incident that had a major impact on the reign of Emperor Shōmu.

Hirotsugu's Demotion

Fujiwara no Hirotsugu was the eldest son of Fujiwara no Umakai of the Shikike (Ceremonial House) of the Fujiwara. In the 9th month of Tenpyō 9 (737), he was promoted by three steps from Junior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade, to Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. After serving as Junior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial (Shikibu no shō), he also concurrently held the post of Governor of Yamato in the 4th month of Tenpyō 10 (738). However, in the 12th month of that year, while still at Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, he was appointed Dazai no Shōni (junior assistant governor-general of Dazaifu), the deputy official of Dazaifu. This was taken as a demotion from the capital to Kyushu, and it deepened Hirotsugu's resentment toward the court.

The Memorial and the Uprising

After taking up his post at Dazaifu, Hirotsugu submitted a memorial (jōhyōbun) to the court in the 8th month of Tenpyō 12 (740). Its content was that the calamities of the time, including the succession of natural disasters and epidemics (the great outbreak of smallpox), were caused by two close advisers who were disordering the government: the monk Genbō and the scholar Kibi no Makibi, both of whom had experience on missions to Tang. He argued that the two should be expelled. Genbō and Kibi no Makibi had rapidly risen to prominence under the administration of Tachibana no Moroe, in whom Emperor Shōmu placed deep trust, and it is thought that their influence also lay behind Hirotsugu's demotion. Without waiting for a reply from the court, Hirotsugu took the step of raising an army around the end of the 8th month.

The Battle of the Itabitsu River and the Retreat

Hirotsugu levied troops from the provinces of Kyushu, and his army is said to have reached more than 10,000. In response, the court appointed Ōno no Azumabito as commander-in-chief (ōshōgun) and dispatched a punitive force, said to number more than 17,000, raised from the five circuits (Tōkaidō, Tōsandō, San'indō, San'yōdō, and Nankaidō). The two armies faced each other across the Itabitsu River in Buzen Province (near present-day Kitakyushu) and engaged in battle. Surrenders by Hayato and others from Hirotsugu's army followed one after another, and Hirotsugu's forces were routed.

Hirotsugu's Final Days

The defeated Hirotsugu attempted to flee by ship to Silla. However, he was blown back by the wind to Chika Island in Matsura District, Hizen Province (generally thought to correspond to the present-day Gotō Islands area), and was captured on the 23rd day of the 10th month of Tenpyō 12 (740). On the 1st day of the 11th month of Tenpyō 12 (740), Hirotsugu and his brother Fujiwara no Tsunate were executed in Matsura District, Hizen Province (near present-day Karatsu, Saga Prefecture), and the rebellion came to an end.

Aftermath of the Rebellion: Emperor Shōmu's "Five Years of Wandering"

Before news of the suppression of the rebellion reached the capital, Emperor Shōmu suddenly left Heijō-kyō. He toured Ise, Mino, and Ōmi, and then moved the capital to Kuni-kyō in Sagara District, Yamashiro Province. Thereafter, over several years, he entered an unstable reign marked by repeated capital relocations among Kuni-kyō, Naniwa-no-miya, and Shigaraki-no-miya. This period was later called the "five years of wandering." Such imperial progresses were once understood as having been made out of fear of the rebellion, but subsequent research has come to hold that the progresses had been planned before the rebellion broke out. Also, from 742 to 745, after the rebellion, Dazaifu was temporarily suspended. In its place the Chinzeifu, which had a strongly military character, was established, strengthening the defensive posture in Kyushu. During this period of turmoil, Emperor Shōmu strengthened his commitment to the ideology of protecting the state (chingo kokka). This led on to the edict on the construction of the Great Buddha at Tōdai-ji (743).

Position in the History of Swords

In battles of the Nara period, it is thought that soldiers levied from the provinces under the military unit system of the ritsuryō state were mobilized with straight, unbent chokutō swords and bows and arrows as their main weapons, which were the predominant arms of the time. The Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion is a valuable case illustrating the reality of the ritsuryō military system in the Nara period, in that records survive of more than 10,000 troops being levied from across Kyushu. It is therefore positioned as an important battle for considering what kinds of arms local clan leaders and soldiers were mobilized with.