Soga Sukenari (Soga Jūrō)
曽我祐成（曽我十郎）
Elder of the Soga Brothers Who Avenged Their Father, Central Figure in One of Japan's Three Great Vendettas
Description
Life
Born in 1172 as the son of Kawazu Suketai, a warrior of Izu Province. His childhood name was Ichimanmaru. In 1176, when Sukenari was five, his father Suketai was assassinated on his way home from a hunt by an assassin sent by his kinsman Kudō Suketsune, following a dispute over inherited land. His mother, Mankō Gozen, subsequently remarried Soga Suke-nobu, lord of Soga estate in Sagami Province, taking Sukenari and his younger brother Hakuō (later Tokimune) with her; the two brothers thereafter took the Soga surname.
The Path to Vendetta
Raised with the memory of his father's unjust death, Sukenari, together with his brother, continually sought an opportunity to kill Kudō Suketsune, their father's enemy. Suketsune, however, was a close retainer of Minamoto no Yoritomo and not easily approached. The brothers spent eighteen years biding their time, steadily watching for their chance.
The Fuji Hunt and the Fulfillment of Their Vow
On the night of the 28th day of the 5th month of Kenkyū 4 (June 28, 1193), during a large-scale hunting expedition held by Minamoto no Yoritomo at Fujino, the Soga brothers carried out their long-planned revenge. Under cover of darkness they broke into Kudō Suketsune's lodging and finally achieved their goal, but Sukenari was cut down on the spot by the gokenin Nitta Tadatsune, ending his life at the age of twenty-two. His brother Tokimune was captured and executed the following day.
Connection to Swords
Various texts of the Soga Monogatari record details of the brothers' attire and arms as they went to carry out the vendetta, including mention of the sword worn by Sukenari. The blade used in the night raid was later depicted as a symbol of the vendetta in numerous performing arts — Noh, kōwakamai, jōruri, and kabuki — giving rise to an entire genre of works known as "Soga-mono."
Later Reputation
The Soga brothers' vendetta is counted among Japan's three great acts of revenge, alongside the raid of the Akō rōnin and the Kagiya-no-Tsuji duel, and has long been passed down as a symbol of loyalty and filial devotion. Sukenari's life is also recorded in the Azuma Kagami, and as a representative vendetta tale of the Kamakura period, it helped shape the later ideal of "righteousness" (gi) within samurai society.
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