Chigusa Tadaaki (千種忠顕)
Tadaaki CHIGUSA (Date of birth unknown - July 21, 1336) was a kuge (court noble) and busho (Japanese military commander) during the Kamakura period and the period of the Northern and Southern Courts. His father was Aritada ROKUJO. He had a son, Akitsune CHIGUSA.
Career
Tadaaki preferred the military arts to the skills of a court noble, which led his father, Aritada, to disown him. Later, Tadaaki became a trusted vassal to Emperor Godaigo, which positioned him as an adversary to his father, who was scheming for the early investiture of Crown Prince Kuniyoshi. In 1332, Tadaaki joined Emperor Godaigo in his exile to Oki no shima Island as punishment for the Genko Incident of 1331. The following year, they escaped from Oki with help from Nagatoshi NAWA, and then joined Takauji ASHIKAGA and Norimura AKAMATSU (Enshin) for the attack of Rokuhara Tandai (an administrative and judicial agency in Rokuhara, Kyoto). In the Kenmu Restoration established after the downfall of the Kamakura Bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), Tadaaki was appointed an official of Zasso-Ketsudansho (agency of Kenmu government to file lawsuits); however, he was held responsible for problems in the new regime and was forced to enter the priesthood along with Nobufusa MADENOKOJI. When Takauji ASHIKAGA defected from the new regime, Tadaaki, Yoshisada NITTA, and Akiie KITABATAKE drove him out of Kyoto. Tadaaki fought with Takauji, who had returned to Kyoto with an army he had formed in Kyushu, but was defeated and killed by Tadayoshi ASHIKAGA's forces in Nishi Sakamoto, Omi Province (Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture).
In the Kenmu Restoration, Tadaaki, Chikamitsu YUKI, Masashige KUSUNOKI, and Nagatoshi NAWA were called ' Samboku-Isso' (four meritorious retainers).