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Ito Sukechika and Yaehime: The Minamoto no Yoritomo Love Story of Ito, and What the Records Actually Say

Ito Sukechika and Yaehime: The Minamoto no Yoritomo Love Story of Ito, and What the Records Actually Say

Separating what the Azuma Kagami records from what the Soga Monogatari and local legend add

By J-Times Editorial·Oct 26, 2026·1 min

J-Times Editorial

J-Times 編集部 / J-Times Editorial Team

October 26, 20261 min4 views
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Ito Sukechika guarded the exiled Yoritomo. His daughter Yaehime's love affair with Yoritomo is legend; his plot against him and his 1182 death are on record.

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Ito Sukechika and Yaehime: the Minamoto no Yoritomo love story of Ito

Short answer (as of 2026-09-23): Ito Sukechika was the Izu warrior who kept watch over the exiled Minamoto no Yoritomo. The romance between Yoritomo and Sukechika's daughter Yaehime, and the death of their son Chizuru, come from war tales such as the Soga Monogatari and from local legend, not from the shogunate's own chronicle.

In Ito, the story is everywhere. There is a shrine where the lovers are said to have met, a festival that turns their secret signal into a comedy of bumping bottoms, a pool in the river named after the drowned child, and a statue of Sukechika on the hill beside city hall. It is also a story in which history and literature are wound tightly together. This article separates the two. It looks first at what the Azuma Kagami (吾妻鏡), the history compiled by the Kamakura shogunate, actually records. It then turns to what the war tales, above all the Soga Monogatari (曽我物語), and Ito's local traditions add.

Who was Ito Sukechika?

Ito Sukechika (伊東祐親, died 1182) was a warrior of eastern Izu who served the Taira, was given charge of the exiled Yoritomo, fought against him in 1180, and killed himself two years later. He was also the grandfather of the Soga brothers.

Japanese reference works agree on the outline. He belonged to the Kudō family of eastern Izu and was known as Kawazu Jirō, after the Kawazu estate he held. The Heibonsha World Encyclopedia describes him as a retainer of Taira no Shigemori and his son Koremori. Ito City says the Ito family held not only Ito but parts of today's Kawazu and Izu City in the late Heian period.

He is remembered for two family tragedies as well as for Yoritomo. A land dispute with his relative Kudō Suketsune ended in 1176 with the killing of Sukechika's eldest son, Kawazu Saburō Sukeyasu, near Akazawa, according to Ito City and the Ito Tourist Association. Sukeyasu's sons grew up to avenge him in 1193, the vendetta retold in the Soga Monogatari. The other tragedy is the one this article is about.

Why was Minamoto no Yoritomo in Izu?

Yoritomo was exiled to Izu in 1160, aged 14, after his father's side lost the Heiji Disturbance. He stayed there for about 20 years, until he raised an army in 1180.

The Shizuoka Prefectural Education Center describes Yoritomo, spared execution at the plea of Taira no Kiyomori's stepmother Ike no Zenni, being sent to Hiru-ga-kojima in Izu, now in Izunokuni City. It says he is thought to have spent the years from February 1160, when he was 14, to August 1180, when he raised his army at 34, there. The Nipponica encyclopedia says he was placed under the watch of the Izu magnates Ito Sukechika and Hōjō Tokimasa. Even the site of his exile is a matter of tradition: the prefecture calls Hiru-ga-kojima a place "associated with" his exile. A stone set up there records that an Edo-period scholar, Akiyama Funan, identified it.

In Ito, the Ito Tourist Association says Yoritomo is "said to have" lived for a time at a residence called the Kita-no-Kogosho. That is where the local story begins.

Is the story of Yaehime and Chizuru history or legend?

The shogunate's chronicle records that Sukechika tried to kill Yoritomo in 1175, but it does not mention Yaehime or a child. The love affair and the drowning of their son come from later war tales, the Soga Monogatari and the Genpei Jōsuiki, and from Ito's local traditions.

Start with the Azuma Kagami. The National Archives of Japan describes it as a history compiled by the shogunate, probably around 1300, whose year-by-year entries begin in the fourth month of 1180. So anything before 1180 appears in it only in retrospect. It mentions the Ito affair twice. In its entry for the 19th day of the 10th month of 1180, it says that "some years earlier" Sukechika had meant to kill Yoritomo, and that his second son, Kurō, warned Yoritomo so he escaped. In its entry for the 15th day of the 2nd month of 1182, it gives a date: "in about the 9th month of Angen 1" (1175) Sukechika planned to kill Yoritomo, Kurō secretly told him, and Yoritomo fled to Sōtōsan (走湯山). Neither entry gives a reason, names a daughter or mentions a child.

The reason is supplied by literature. The Soga Monogatari is a tale of the Soga brothers' revenge. The National Archives dates its oldest version, the Mana-bon, to between the late 14th and early 15th centuries. The oldest surviving manuscript of that version, held by the Tokyo National Museum, was copied in 1546. The tale opens with the Ito family's troubles. The Atami City historical records office notes that the killing of the child is described in detail both there and in another war tale, the Genpei Jōsuiki (源平盛衰記).

The Genpei Jōsuiki version, which Atami City quotes from a modern Japanese translation, runs like this. Sukechika had four daughters. The third was unmarried, and Yoritomo visited her in secret. A son was born, and Yoritomo named him Chizuru. In the spring when the boy was three, Sukechika came home from guard duty in Kyoto and saw him playing in the garden. His wife told him who the father was. Sukechika feared what the Taira would do if he took an exiled Minamoto as a son-in-law. He ordered his men to drown the child "in the upper Matsukawa, at the bottom of the White Falls", and he married his daughter to a local man, Ema Kojirō. Yoritomo, the tale says, swallowed his anger for the sake of his larger ambitions. Even the child's name is read in different ways: Atami City notes the readings Chizu, Sentsuru and Senzuru. In Ito he is usually called Chizuru-maru or Chizuru-gozen. Heibonsha's Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei, a gazetteer of historical place names, notes that book 2 of the Soga Monogatari mentions "the upper reaches of the Matsukawa". Both the Myōhonji manuscript and the Iwanami edition have the phrase. The Matsukawa is the local name for Ito's main river, officially the Ito Ōkawa, and in Ito's tradition its upper reaches are where the child was drowned.

Modern reference works often fold the story into Sukechika's biography. The Heibonsha World Encyclopedia says he killed the boy Yoritomo had with his third daughter, and Encyclopedia Mypaedia says he plotted to kill Yoritomo because Yoritomo had become involved with his daughter. Readers should know that these summaries rely on the literary tradition. The chronicle gives the plot but not the motive. Ito City's own wording is careful: Sukechika "is said to have" been forced into an agonising decision about Chizuru.

YearEventWhat records itSource type
1160Yoritomo exiled to Izu, aged 14Shizuoka Prefectural Education Center; Encyclopedia Mypaedia (20 years in exile)Official / reference
UndatedYoritomo and Sukechika's daughter have a son, Chizuru; the lovers meet at OtonashiGenpei Jōsuiki and Soga Monogatari (per Atami City); Ito Tourist AssociationLiterature / legend
UndatedChizuru, aged three, drowned in the upper MatsukawaGenpei Jōsuiki (per Atami City); Soga Monogatari book 2 (per Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei); Ito Tourist AssociationLiterature / legend
c. 9th month, 1175Sukechika plots to kill Yoritomo; son Kurō warns him; Yoritomo flees to SōtōsanAzuma Kagami, 1182.2.15 entryChronicle
1176Sukechika's eldest son Kawazu Saburō Sukeyasu killedIto City; Ito Tourist AssociationOfficial / local
1180, 8th monthSukechika leads over 300 riders against Yoritomo at IshibashiyamaAzuma Kagami, 1180.8.23 entryChronicle
1180, 10th monthSukechika captured at Koina harbour, handed to son-in-law Miura YoshizumiAzuma Kagami, 1180.10.19 entryChronicle
1182, 2nd monthOffered a pardon, Sukechika kills himselfAzuma Kagami, 1182.2.14 entry; Kotobank dictionariesChronicle / reference
2022NHK drama The 13 Lords of the Shogun features Yae and SukechikaNHK; ORICONTelevision

How did Ito Sukechika die?

He was captured in the tenth month of 1180 as he tried to join the Taira by sea. In the second month of 1182 Yoritomo offered him a pardon, and he killed himself rather than accept it.

The Azuma Kagami tells the end in detail. In the eighth month of 1180, after Yoritomo rose in arms, Sukechika led more than 300 riders behind Yoritomo's position at Ishibashiyama. On the 19th day of the 10th month, he took to a boat at Koina harbour in Izu, planning to join Taira no Koremori, and was caught by Amano Tōkage. He was brought to Yoritomo's camp at Kisegawa. His son-in-law, Miura Yoshizumi, asked to take custody of him, and Yoritomo agreed. The same entry says Yoritomo then offered to reward Kurō for the old warning. Kurō replied that he could not accept a reward while his father was a prisoner and asked leave to go and join the Taira.

Sixteen months later, in the second month of 1182, Hōjō Masako was expected to give birth. Yoshizumi saw a chance and asked for clemency, and Yoritomo said Sukechika would be pardoned. According to the entry for the 14th, Sukechika, ashamed of his past conduct, killed himself before Yoshizumi could bring him. The next day Yoritomo, "grieving and moved", summoned Kurō to reward him. Kurō asked to be released, as his father was dead, and the chronicle says he was then put to death. It is one of the chronicle's own inconsistencies that the 1180 entry has Kurō leaving to join the Taira, while the 1182 entry has him still in Yoritomo's hands.

A note on names: in the 1180 entry the Azuma Kagami writes Kurō's name with the same characters, 祐泰 (Sukeyasu), that Ito City uses for the eldest son Kawazu Saburō. They are two different sons. The dictionaries on Kotobank all date Sukechika's death to 1182. The Britannica International Encyclopedia gives the 14th day of the 2nd month, matching the chronicle.

Where can you find the Yaehime legend in Ito today?

At Otonashi Shrine, where the lovers are said to have met; at Higurashi Hachiman Shrine across the river; in the Shiritsumi Festival every 10 November; and at temples, a pool and a grave linked to Sukechika's family.

  • Otonashi Shrine (音無神社). Ito City's cultural-properties page says the shrine "is said to be" where Yoritomo and Yaehime met. Its grove is protected: a sudajii chinquapin, 25 metres tall, was designated a city natural monument in 1979, and two tabu trees in 1968.
  • Higurashi Hachiman Shrine (日暮八幡神社). On the opposite bank. The Ito Tourist Association says tradition holds that this "Higurashi" grove is where Yoritomo waited for dusk (higure) before meeting Yaehime.
  • The Shiritsumi Festival (尻つみ祭り). Held at Otonashi Shrine every 10 November, according to the tourist association. The tourist association says the rite began from the legend of the lovers' meetings at the shrine: worshippers passing sacred sake in the pitch-dark hall signalled to their neighbour with a pinch on the bottom. Today its highlight is a bottom-bumping sumo contest. For this year's date, times and how to take part, see the Shiritsumi Festival 2026 guide.
  • Saiseiji temple and Chigo-ga-fuchi. The tourist association says Saiseiji holds a Chizuru-maru Jizō said to have been dedicated by Yaehime, and that Chigo-ga-fuchi ("the pool of the child") on the upper river is where the boy is said to have been drowned.
  • Monomizuka Park. A hilltop park beside Ito City Hall, opened in 1954, with a statue of Sukechika where the Ito family residence is said to have stood.
  • The traditional grave of Ito Sukechika. A city-designated historic site since 1979. Ito City describes a stone gorintō 140.5 cm tall, built from parts of different dates, with the upper parts thought to be early 14th century and the base 13th century. In other words, it was assembled long after 1182, as a memorial to the lord.

What happened to Yaehime is itself told in more than one way. The Ito Tourist Association says she was married to Ema Koshirō and asked him to found the temple that became Saiseiji, to pray for her son. The Genpei Jōsuiki, as quoted by Atami City, names the husband Ema Kojirō instead. Izunokuni City tells a third version at Shinjuin temple: that she drowned herself in the Shinju-ga-fuchi pool, a tributary of the Kano River. Atami City's account of that temple's tradition dates this to 1180, after she learned that Yoritomo was now with Hōjō Masako. She is revered there as a guardian of women. All of these are tradition or literature. None appears in the Azuma Kagami. For other festivals across the year in Ito, see the Ito events calendar.

Was the Yae in The 13 Lords of the Shogun the real Yaehime?

NHK's 2022 historical drama Kamakura-dono no 13-nin (The 13 Lords of the Shogun) brought Yae and her father Ito Sukechika to a national audience, but its storyline is a drama, not a historical source.

The series, written by Mitani Kōki, ran on NHK in 2022. ORICON's cast list names Yui Aragaki as Yae and Kazuyuki Asano as Ito Sukechika, and includes the child Chizuru-maru among the characters. It describes Yae as the first love of Hōjō Yoshitoki and the first wife of Yoritomo, caught between her father and the man she loves. In February 2022 the Ito Tourist Association published its guide to Sukechika sites with the words "now a hot topic". But the storyline is the screenwriter's interpretation, not a historical record. For history, the Azuma Kagami is still the source to start from, and it names none of this family's women.

Ito Sukechika and Yaehime: frequently asked questions

Was Yaehime a real person? She is not named in the Azuma Kagami. The story of Sukechika's daughter and Yoritomo is told in the Soga Monogatari and Genpei Jōsuiki and in local tradition in Ito and Izunokuni. The Genpei Jōsuiki calls her Sukechika's third daughter, and the Heibonsha World Encyclopedia follows it. The name "Yaehime" is the one used in local tradition in Ito and Izunokuni.

Why did Ito Sukechika turn against Yoritomo? The Azuma Kagami records the 1175 plot but gives no reason. The Genpei Jōsuiki and Soga Monogatari, and later reference works, link it to the affair with his daughter and his fear of the Taira. Sukechika served the Taira, according to the Heibonsha World Encyclopedia.

Where did Yoritomo and Yaehime meet? According to legend, at the "Otonashi grove" where Otonashi Shrine now stands in Ito. Ito City and the Ito Tourist Association both present this as tradition.

When is the Shiritsumi Festival? Every year on 10 November at Otonashi Shrine, according to the Ito Tourist Association. See the festival guide linked above for this year's details.

Is Ito Sukechika buried in Ito? Ito has a city-designated "traditional grave of Ito Sukechika". The stone memorial dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, so it was put up later in his honour.

Sources (checked 2026-09-23)

Written by the J-Times Editorial Team. Facts current as of 2026-09-23.

Featured image: 663highland / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:231007_Otonashi-jinja_Ito_Shizuoka_pref_Japan07s3.jpg)

#Ito#Ito Sukechika#Japan history#Minamoto no Yoritomo#Shizuoka#Yaehime

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J-Times Editorial

J-Times 編集部 / J-Times Editorial Team