One of the most tragic elements in my story is the assassination of Sanetomo by Kogyo, the son of Yoriie. It is said that Kogyo believed that Sanetomo was behind the killing of his father and attacked Sanetomo to avenge his father.

But when Yoriie was ousted from the Kamakura government, Sanetomo was only twelve years old, and it is unlikely that Sanetomo was behind the move to kill Yoriie. This means that it may not be the case that Kogyo believed that Sanetomo was behind the killing of his father Yoriie.

The behavior of Kogyo after the assassination was strange. He did not run away, and he contacted Yoshimura Miura to send a group of samurai to pick him up. It appears that he was truly believing that he would be the next shogun and did not think that the Kamakura government would punish him.

Due to these facts, some people suggest that someone was behind the assassination of Sanetomo, promising him that he could be the next shogun after the assassination. Some people suspect that it was Yoshitoki who secretly inspired Kogyo to kill Sanetomo. There is one important fact related to this conspiracy theory: when Sanetomo visited Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Yoshitoki was supposed to accompany him as the sword-holder, but on the day, he told Sanetomo that he suddenly got sick and asked someone else to replace him. This sword-holder was killed by Kogyo together with Sanetomo. Was it a pure coincidence? Or He pretended to be sick because he knew about the assassination plot? No one knows the truth.

In the story, Masako was taking care of Zenzai (Kogyo’s childhood name before he went into priesthood) in order to cope with the resentment that might have been held by Zenzai, and she asked Sanetomo and Nobuko to be his stepparents. A careful reader may have wondered what happened to his mother.

Actually, we do not know for sure who his mother was: historical materials contradict with each other on this. One important historical material for this period, titled Azuma-no-kagami, states that his mother was the daughter of a mononofu who fought with Yoritomo, Shigenaga Asuke. Another important historical material for the genealogical relations of the people in this era, called Sonpi-bunmyaku, states that Kogyo was born from the same mother as Ichiman, who was the daughter of Yoshikazu Hiki. Yet another historical material on the genealogical relations of the Minamoto clan, called Genji-keizu, states that Kogyo’s mother was the daughter of Yoshizumi Miura. You may find it strange to see that the mother is unknown for a person belonging to such an important family. One thing we might have to bear in mind is that these materials were made around the year 1300 or 1400, around a hundred or two hundred years after the birth of Kogyo.

If Kogyo was born from the same mother as Ichiman, this means that Kogyo lost his mother in the conflict between Tokimasa Hojo and the Hiki family. So, the fact that Masako asked Sanetomo and Nobuko to be his step-parents makes sense. But then, one cannot easily explain why only Kogyo survived while Ichiman and his mother as well as most mononofu from the Hiki family all got killed in the conflict. Personally, I feel that this version sounds unconvincing. If Kogyo was born from other ladies, they may have been alive when Masako asked Sanetomo and Nobuko to adopt Kogyo, but we do not know anything about these ladies. This is why I did not write anything about his mother in my story.

I personally feel that Kogyo’s mother may have been the daughter of Yoshizumi Miura. Yoshizumi Miura was one of the most powerful samurai in the Kamakura government, so he must have been powerful enough to protect his daughter and her son when the conflict between Tokimasa and the Hiki family took place. At the same time, if he kept Kogyo under his protection, Tokimasa may become suspicious about Yoshizumi Miura’s loyalty to Sanetomo and the Kamakura government, so Yoshizumi Miura must have been happy to give Kogyo away to protect the position of his family in the Kamakura government. Of course, no one knows the truth. The history is full of unanswered questions…