Hatakeyama Shigeyasu

Who was Hatakeyama Shigeyasu?

Hatakeyama Rokurō Shigeyasu was a Kamakura period warrior who fell victim of political intrigue in 1205. The grave under a tabu no ki tree near the Yuigahama end of Wakamiya Ōji Avenue in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan and next to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's first torii is traditionally supposed to be his. The relationship between the grave and Hatakeyama Shigeyasu is, the traditional attribution notwithstanding, unclear. The reasons for the attribution are probably that it lies within the former Hatakeyama estate, and that Shigeyasu is known to have been killed in battle by Hōjō soldiery in Yuigahama.

Next to the hōkyōintō stands a black stele erected in 1920 which explains the circumstances of his death. Its text reads:

Hatakeyama Shigeyasu's residence

Hatakeyama Shigeyasu was Hatakeyama Shigetada's eldest son. He had had a quarrel with Hiraga Tomomasa, who was Hōjō Tokimasa's son-in-law. Tomomasa hadn't forgotten the fact and so spoke to Tokimasa against both the Hatakeyama. Tokimasa himself hadn't forgotten how Shigetada had, following Minamoto no Yoritomo's will, tried to protect the shogun's son and heir Yoriie, and was looking for an excuse to kill them.