The Ancient Japanese Good-Family Clans and Piracy (1-4) ——Otenmon Conspiracy (4)——

Whether you believe in Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, which is usually regarded to be more reliable than other documents, or in Riho Oki and Okagami Uragaki, or even if we can’t tell who conspired with whom against who in the incidents, we can clearly see the outcomes. Who was the biggest winner after all the conspiratorial incidents? Fujiwara Mototsune was. He successfully became the premier after Yoshifusa’s death, going over Yoshimi’s head, who had actually died before Yoshifusa’s death, though. Yoshifusa and Mototsune opened a Fujiwara regency regime. Who was the biggest loser then? Tomo Clan were. They were almost exterminated. Who was the second biggest loser? Ki Clan were. They were diminished. Tomo Clan used to guard the imperial palace’s gates in farther ancient times. Ki Clan became powerful, involved in sending soldiers to Korea Peninsula also in farther ancient times. Both clans used to have their footing on Shikoku Island areas along the Seto Inland Sea, and used to enjoy sea traffic authority in the Seto Inland Sea. As a result, some of the fishermen who had been closed out from seashores enclosed by good-family clans and big temples were organized under the both clans as salters or rowers. It is interesting that Otenmon Conspiracy broke out during the first uprisings of the Japanese pirates, and that the piracy ceased within a few years. The young good-family members who were condemned by Fujiwara Yasunori for leading piracy might have belonged to Tomo and Ki Clans. They might have been as violent and cruel as Tomo Yoshio. Thanks to “good” governors such as Yasunori, the piracy became under control, but, after half a century, another young good-family member, Fujiwara Sumitomo, emerged to be a pirate king this time, learning a lesson from the first uprisings.