Satō Tsugunobu
佐藤継信
The Loyal Retainer from Ōshū Who Died Shielding Minamoto no Yoshitsune — One of the "Four Guardians of Yoshitsune" at the Battle of Yashima
Description
Life
Satō Tsugunobu is said to have been born as the son of Satō Motoharu, a senior retainer of the Ōshū Fujiwara clan. His exact birth year is unknown, but is estimated to be sometime in the 1150s. He had a younger brother, Satō Tadanobu.
Service to Minamoto no Yoshitsune
In 1180, when Minamoto no Yoshitsune departed Ōshū to join his brother Yoritomo's uprising, Tsugunobu and his brother Tadanobu are said to have been ordered by Fujiwara no Hidehira to accompany him. He subsequently joined the campaign against the Taira clan, and is counted, together with Kamei Rokurō, Kataoka Hachirō, and Ise Saburō, among the "Four Guardians of Yoshitsune" in the Genpei Seisuiki.
Death at the Battle of Yashima
In the second month of 1185, at the Battle of Yashima, the formidable Taira general Taira no Noritsune fired an arrow aimed at Yoshitsune. Tsugunobu rode his horse into its path and was struck down in his lord's place. According to the entry for the 19th day of the second month of that year in the Azuma Kagami, Yoshitsune grieved deeply over Tsugunobu's death, had a monk conduct a solemn burial, and presented his own prized warhorse, Tayūguro, as a memorial offering.
Anecdote
At Iōji Temple in Shinobu District of Mutsu Province (present-day Fukushima City), traditionally said to be Tsugunobu's homeland, legends and relics associated with the brothers Tsugunobu and Tadanobu are preserved, including a saddle said to have been used by Tsugunobu, designated an Important Cultural Property of the city.
Later Reputation
Tsugunobu's loyalty in dying in his lord's place has been passed down through the Tale of the Heike and the Genpei Seisuiki, and he continues to be honored alongside his brother Tadanobu as a symbol of samurai devotion.
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