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Shōji 1, 10th month (1199) to Shōji 2, 1st month (1200)
Kamakura; Ichinomiya in Sagami Province (present-day Odawara, Kanagawa); near Kiyomi Barrier in Suruga Province (present-day Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka); Kitsunegasaki
Forces
The Kajiwara family
Local warriors who were present at Kiyomi Barrier
About 4 min read
The Kajiwara Kagetoki Incident took place in the early Kamakura shogunate, after the death of Yoritomo. Kagetoki had been favored by the second shogun, Yoriie, but he was driven out by a group of vassals and, in the first month of 1200 (Shōji 2), he and his family were killed in Suruga Province.
Yoritomo died in 1199 (Shōji 1). Kagetoki was favored by Yoriie and in the 4th month of that year became a member of the council of thirteen.
Yūki Tomomitsu made a remark to the effect that "a loyal retainer does not serve two lords." Kagetoki is said to have treated this as slander of Yoriie and demanded that Tomomitsu be condemned. In response, 66 vassals, including Miura Yoshimura and Wada Yoshimori, drew up a signed petition calling for Kagetoki's removal, and it was presented to Yoriie. Kagetoki offered no defense and withdrew with his family to his residence at Ichinomiya in Sagami Province.
In the first month of 1200 (Shōji 2), Kagetoki set out from Ichinomiya with his family to go up to Kyoto. At Kiyomi Barrier in Suruga Province he fought with local warriors who happened to be there, including Kikkawa Tomokane. At Kitsunegasaki in Suruga, his heir Kagesue, his second son Kagetaka and his third son Kageshige were killed. Kagetoki took his own life on a mountain at Nishina, aged 61. Thirty-three members of the family are said to have died in battle. There are several views on where Kitsunegasaki was.
The Azuma Kagami records that Kagetoki planned to go up to Kyoto, gather soldiers from Kyushu and install Takeda Ariyoshi as shogun. The Gyokuyō, on the other hand, records that Kagetoki accused others before Yoriie of plotting to make Yoriie's younger brother Sanetomo shogun, but that the slander was exposed and he was banished together with his family; it portrays the incident differently from the Azuma Kagami.
The Aoe tachi used by Kikkawa Tomokane was later handed down as the National Treasure "Kitsunegasaki."