Hojo Yasuie (北条泰家)

Yasuie HOJO (? - 1335) was from the Hojo family which existed in the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (Japan). His father was Sadatoki HOJO, the 9th shogunal regent of the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). His mother was a daughter of Yasumune ADACHI (or Tokiaki ADACHI). He was the brother of Takatoki HOJO, the fourteenth shogunal regent.
His official rank was Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
He was Sakon'no-jyo, a captain of the Imperial Guard of the Left.

He called himself Sagami-Shiro Tokitoshi. In 1326, he was going to take over the position of shogunal regent when his elder brother Takatoki resigned the post, but was unable to take office due to opposition from Takasuke NAGASAKI. Incidentally, Sadaaki HOJO, who took over the position of shogunal regent after his elder brother, resigned after just 10 days because Yasuie put pressure on Sadaaki. He led the army of the shogunate against Yoshisada NITTA who invaded Kamakura with his army in 1333 and won a short term victory, but the army of the bakufu became careless after their victory and were subsequently heavily defeated by Nitta's army. Yasuie did not join his elder brother, Takatoki, at the fall of the bakufu, and after releasing Tokiyuki HOJO, his elder brother's son, withdrew to Mutsu Province.

He went to Kyoto and hid in the residence of Kimmune SAIONJI who was an old ally, and they plotted to assassinate the Emperor Godaigo and take up arms to reinstate the shogunate with the remnants of the Hojo clan in June 1335, but the plot was exposed before they could act and Kimmune was killed. Yasuie, however, managed to escaped the clutches of those who pursued him. It was said that he subsequently took up arms with Tokiyuki, his nephew, in Shinano Province, but he was never heard of again. Another view is that he was killed by robbers at the end of 1335, and it is likely that he died around that time because after 1335 he is not mentioned in "Taihei-ki", Chronicle of the Great Peace.

[Original Japanese]