Yasuda Yoshisada

Yasuda Yoshisada (安田 義定, 1134 - September 5, 1194) was a samurai lord of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. He served as Governor of Tōtōmi Province for both the Kamakura shogunate and the Imperial Court, as shugo and kami, respectively. Life Yasuda Yoshisada was born in 1134, the son of Minamoto no Yoshikiyo, the 2nd head of the Kai Minamoto clan. The Kai Minamoto clan was of the Seiwa Genji lineage. He was adopted by his elder brother Minamoto no Kiyomitsu. During the late Heian period, the Kai Minamoto clan expanded and settled in various parts of the Kōfu Basin, but the Saigusa clan, a powerful ancient family of government officials in the Kyōtō region, was defeated after the suspension of the Yashiro Manor in 1162. It is believed that Yoshisada had expanded into the eastern part of the Kōfu Basin and succeeded the old Yasuda clan, thus taking the surname Yasuda. Yoshisada was powerful in the eastern part of the Fuefuki River basin, ruling the Yahata Manor, Maki Manor, and Yasuda Manor in Yasuda, Yamanashi, Kai Province. He had a mansion in present-day Kobara-nishi, Yamanashi, Yamanashi Prefecture. In 1180, he was called to arms by Minamoto no Yoritomo, as the rest of the Minamoto clan. Yoshisada traveled to war in Suruga Province with the fellow clan member Takeda Nobuyoshi. After defeating the Taira clan in the Battle of Fujikawa, Yoshisada was appointed Governor (shugo) of Tōtōmi Province on behalf of the Kamakura shogunate.