The Izu Sea Forces (4)

On November the 30th, 1351, the battle between Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358) and his younger brother, Tadayoshi (1306-1352) broke out around the Satta Pass in Suruga Province at the dawn of the Muromachi Shogunate under the Ashikaga Clan, Shigetomo took Tadayoshi’s side. By another ill chance, on January the 5th, 1352, Tadayoshi surrendered to Takauji, was confined to Jomyo-ji Temple in Kamakura, and died a sudden death on February the 26th. No matter whether Tadayoshi died of a disease or was poisoned to death as “Taiheiki” (“Chronicle of Great Pease”, a Japanese historical military epic written in the late 14th century) writes, Shigetomo fled to Enashi Village again to live there until his death. Thus the Suzuki Family in Enashi started, and the head of the Suzuki Family in Fujishiro was succeeded to by Shigetomo’s younger brother, Shigetsune (?-?). Shigetomo, however, outlived Ashikaga Takauji as well as Tadayoshi. Ashikaga Motouji (1340-1397), Takauji’s 4th son, strived for the establishment of the control and governance over Kanto Region as a kind of Deputy Shogun based in Kamakura. Shigetomo served Motouji, and in 1367, was appointed as an admiral in Izu and Sagami Provinces by Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), the son of Motouji and the second Deputy Shogun in Kamakura.