* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Takezaki Suenaga
竹崎季長
Higo Gokenin Who Petitioned Kamakura for His Reward and Left the Mongol Invasion Scrolls
Description
Takezaki Suenaga was a gokenin (shogunal retainer) active in Higo Province in the middle to late Kamakura period. Born in 1246 (Kangen 4), he is presumed to have lived until at least 1324, though his death date is uncertain. He came from Takezaki village (now Matsubase, Uki, Kumamoto) and is said to have belonged to the Kikuchi kin, although his genealogy is unclear. Known as Goro, with the court rank of Hyoe-no-jo and the Buddhist name Hoki, he is remembered as the man behind the Moko Shurai Ekotoba, the illustrated scrolls of the Mongol invasions.
Life
He held lands in Higo as a gokenin under the shoguns Prince Koreyasu and Prince Hisaaki. Around 1293 he founded Tofuku-ji, took Buddhist vows, and issued regulations for the village shrine on his estate, which he expanded to eighteen articles in 1314.
The first invasion
In the 1274 Bun'ei campaign he joined the camp of the commander Shoni Kagesuke with only five mounted men. With Kagesuke's permission he charged ahead at the Battle of Torikaigata and was wounded, but the Mongol force was driven back when Shiraishi Michiyasu, Fukuda Kaneshige and others arrived.
Petition for reward
His deeds went unrewarded. Selling his horse to pay for the journey, he travelled to Kamakura in 1275 and appealed directly to the shogunate. He met Adachi Yasumori, the official in charge of rewards, and was appointed jito of Kaito-go in Higo.
The second invasion
In the 1281 Koan campaign he served under Adachi Morimune, took part in the fighting at Shikanoshima and the naval battle at Mikuriya, and distinguished himself by boarding enemy ships.
The scrolls
Around 1293 he had his exploits and his petition recorded in pictures and dedicated them to the Kosa Daimyojin shrine. The work shows his appeal at Yasumori's Amanawa residence. Some scholars see it as a memorial to Yasumori and his allies, since Suenaga did not fight on Yasumori's side in the Shimotsuki Incident.
Legacy
He was posthumously raised to Junior Third Rank in 1914. Takezaki castle ruins and graves attributed to him survive, and he appears in works such as the 1920 film Kokunan and the 2001 NHK taiga drama Hojo Tokimune.