Kō no Moroyasu

Who was Kō no Moroyasu?

Kō no Moroyasu, along with his brother Moronao and his cousin Morofuyu, was one of the leading generals of Shogun Ashikaga Takauji during the Nanbokucho War.

In 1335 he was sent west from Kamakura, the capital, at the head of a large army. The goal was to secure the shogun's control over the region, and prepare for an attack to the west, expanding the Shogun's power. However, the Imperial Court sent its army, bolstered by warriors from across the country, against the shogunate and against Moroyasu and Moronao in particular. This army, led by Nitta Yoshisada, met Moroyasu's force on December 10, and they fought again ten days later.

After a number of skirmishes, Moroyasu's army, despite being reinforced by men under Ashikaga Tadayoshi, was defeated, and withdrew into the Hakone Mountains. Here, another set of skirmishes took place, eventually resulting in the destruction of Nitta's Imperial force when the shogun arrived with further reinforcements.

The Taiheiki, an epic dedicated to the events of this period, describes the Kō brothers as avid villains. That description is very probably accurate. Both brothers during their careers were extremely useful to Takauji, but because of their violent characters they also made him many powerful enemies. Most importantly, Moronao was bitterly opposed to Takauji's younger brother Tadayoshi and his policies. This enmity would be the main trigger of the Kannō Disturbance, an extremely divisive and damaging civil war between Takauji and Tadayoshi with very serious repercussions for the whole country.