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Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (坂上田村麻呂, 758 – June 17, 811) was a court noble, general and shōgun of the early Heian period of Japan. He served as Dainagon, Minister of War and Ukon'e no Taisho (Major Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards). He held the kabane of Ōsukune and the court rank of Junior Second Rank and was awarded the Order of Second Class.

He was the son of Sakanoue no Karitamaro. He was considered an avatar of Bishamonten in legend.^[1]

Military career

Serving Emperor Kanmu, Tamuramaro was appointed shōgun and given the task of conquering the Emishi (蝦夷征伐 Emishi Seibatsu), a people native to the north of Honshū, which he subjugated. Recent evidence^{[citation needed]} suggests that a migration of Emishi from northern Honshū to Hokkaidō took place sometime between the seventh and eighth centuries, perhaps as a direct result of this policy that pre-dated Tamuramaro's appointment. However, many Emishi remained in the Tōhoku region as subjects of the expanding Japanese Empire and later established independent Fushu domains. After Emperor Kanmu's death, the general continued to serve Emperor Heizei and Emperor Saga as Major Counselor (大納言, dainagon) and Minister of War (兵部卿, Hyōbu-kyō).^[2] He was the second person to be given the title of Sei-i Taishōgun (征夷大将軍). The first to receive this title was Ōtomo no Otomaro.^{[citation needed]}

It is said that the famous Tanabata festivals and parades of Aomori Prefecture (also celebrated in the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture), which draw over 3 million people to the prefecture a year, were popularised in remembrance of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro's campaign to subdue the tribal societies then living in Tōhoku. These annual matsuri are called the Nebuta festival in Aomori City and Neputa Festival (ねぷた祭り) in Hirosaki City. They feature a number of gigantic, specially-constructed, illuminated paper floats. These huge festival structures are colourfully painted with mythical figures, and teams of men carry them through the streets as crowds shout encouragement. Aomori's great nebuta lanterns are said to hark back to Tamuramaro's innovative strategy in that early ninth century campaign. According to legend, the taishogun is remembered for having ordered huge illuminated lanterns to be placed at the top of hills; and when the curious Emishi approached these bright lights to investigate, they were captured and subdued.^[3] Until the mid-1990s the prize awarded for the best float of the parades was called the Tamuramaro Prize. However, there is no historical record that Tamuramaro went farther north than Iwate Prefecture.^{[citation needed]}

Tamuramaro's name is linked with payments for construction projects at Kiyomizu Temple (Kiyomizu-dera) in the late 8th century.^[4]

The Azuma Kagami tells a story of when Fujiwara no Toshihito had fought together with Sakanoue no Tamuramaro to subdue a gang of Emishi bandits that had stood in their way when the duo were passing through the Taya Caves on their way back to Kamakura.

Death, memorial and legends

In the year 811 (Kōnin 2, 3rd month), Tamuramaro died at age 54, to the great regret of Emperor Saga, who expressed his sense of loss by distributing large quantities of silk cloth, cotton cloth and rice in honour of his dead counsellor. His bow, arrows, quiver and sword were placed in his coffin by order of the Emperor.^[5]

The Tomb of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro is located in Kanshuji Higashikurisunocho, Yamashina Ward, Kyoto, Japan. He is not the samurai buried at Shōgun-zuka as that was a ceremonial statue of a warrior buried by Emperor Kanmu when he decided to move the capital to Heian-kyo, present day Kyoto.^{[citation needed]} His descendant Urabe no Suetake inherited his bow.

After his death, Tamuramaro became a legendary figure featured in many stories. In these legends, Tamuramaro is not always a warrior who wages war against barbarians, but a hero who exterminates oni and bandits in various areas. According to legend, Ootakemaru, one of the Great Three Evil Yokai of Japan, was slain by Tamuramaro. Other stories connect him to Suzuka Gozen, whom he marries and/or slays.^{[citation needed]} He had a daughter with her named Shourin. According to the Otogi-zoshi, Shourin is said to have become the guardian deity of the Suzuka Mountains, while in the Okujoruri, it is said she ascended to the level of the Jizō Bodhisattva after her death.

Ancestry

According to the Shoku Nihongi, an official historical record, the Sakanoue clan is descended from Emperor Ling of the Chinese Han dynasty.^[6]^[7] The Sakanoue clan's family tree shows that Tamuramaro is a 14th-generation descendant of Emperor Ling.^[8] Other research traces the origins of the Sakanoue clan from the Asian mainland, possibly through Baekje.^[9]

Honours

Senior second rank (May 27, 811; posthumous)^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ Iwao, Seiichi. (2002). Dictionnaire historique du Japon, p. 2329.
^ Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 272.
^ Boroff, Nicholas. National Geographic Traveler Japan, p. 156.
^ Kyoto University of Foreign Studies: Japan 101
^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 99.
^ Shoku Nihongi　延暦四年六月の条:右衛士督従三位兼下総守坂上大忌寸苅田麿ら表を上りて言さく、「臣らは、本是れ後漢霊帝の曾孫阿智王の後なり。漢の祚、魏に遷れるとき、阿智王、神牛の教に因りて、出でて帯方に行きて忽ち宝帯の瑞を得たり。
^ "Sakanoue no Karitamaro Drawing His Bow". Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
^ 塙保己一 [Hanawa hokii] 続群書類従 [Zoku Gunsho Ruiju Series] 従十八巻坂上系図 [Volume 18 Sakagami Clan's family tree]
^ "Yosha Research". Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2011.

References

Bornoff, Nicholas. (2005). National Geographic Traveler Japan. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-7922-3894-X
Iwao, Seiichi. (2002). Dictionnaire historique du Japon (with Teizō Iyanaga, Susumu Ishii, Shōichirō Yoshida et al.). Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose. ISBN 978-2-7068-1632-1; OCLC 51096469
Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652)], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
Varley, H. Paul, ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa (1359)], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4
Kameda Takashi 亀田隆之 (1967). Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. Tokyo: Jinbutsu Oraisha 人物往来社.