Soga Tokimune (Soga Gorō)
曽我時致（曽我五郎）
Younger of the Soga Brothers Who Carried Out One of Kamakura Japan's Most Famous Acts of Vendetta
Description
Life
Born as the son of Kawazu Suketai, a warrior of Izu Province, with the childhood name Hakuō. At age five, his father Suketai was killed by an assassin sent by his kinsman Kudō Suketsune, and Hakuō, together with his elder brother Sukenari, was raised under the care of Soga Suke-nobu of Soga estate in Sagami Province after their mother remarried. Hakuō was for a time placed as a temple page at Hakone Gongen, but he refused to take Buddhist vows and instead returned to lay life to pursue the path of a warrior.
Coming of Age and Years of Waiting
Tokimune underwent his coming-of-age ceremony with Hōjō Tokimasa serving as his ceremonial sponsor, and is said to have received one character of his name from Tokimasa, becoming "Tokimune." Together with his brother Sukenari, he spent eighteen years watching for the chance to kill Kudō Suketsune, their father's enemy, waiting for the moment to fulfill their vow.
Fulfillment of the Vendetta and Death at the Fuji Hunt
On the night of the 28th day of the 5th month of Kenkyū 4 (June 28, 1193), during Minamoto no Yoritomo's hunting expedition at Fujino, the brothers broke into Kudō Suketsune's lodging and finally accomplished their revenge. Sukenari was killed on the spot, while Tokimune was captured by Goshogoromaru and, the next day, personally interrogated by Yoritomo. Yoritomo is said to have been impressed by Tokimune's composed answers, but on the advice of the gokenin Kajiwara Kagetoki, he was executed that same day.
Connection to Swords
The Shinmyō-bon text of the Soga Monogatari records that Tokimune, as he went to carry out the raid, wore a hitatare decorated with butterflies, a sword mounted with hyōgo-gusari chain fittings, and a short sword with a red-wood hilt. The image of the brothers arrayed in arms and swords became a recurring iconographic motif in later paintings, ukiyo-e, and performing arts.
Later Reputation
The Soga brothers' vendetta is counted among Japan's three great acts of revenge, and Tokimune has long been remembered as a young man who upheld loyalty and filial piety to the end. The Soga Monogatari was compiled as a war tale and later adapted into kōwakamai, Noh, and kabuki, forming an entire genre known as "Soga-mono," which by the Edo period had become a beloved New Year's theatrical staple among the common people.
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