Soga Sukenobu

Soga Sukenobu (曾我 祐信) was a Japanese samurai lord and gokenin of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. He was the lord of Soga Manor in Sagami Province. He was the adoptive father of Soga Tokimune and Sukenari, known for the Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident. He was also known as Soga Tarō.

Life

Soga Sukenobu was born to the Soga clan, who claimed descent from Emperor Kanmu's lineage of the Taira clan. His mother was the daughter of Itō Sukeie.

He was a resident of Soga township in Sagami Province (present-day Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture).

In 1193, he participated in the grand hunting event Fuji no Makigari arranged by Minamoto no Yoritomo. On June 28, 1193, on the last night of Fuji no Makigari, Tokimune and Sukenari killed Kudō Suketsune, the killer of their biological father, which came to be known as the Revenge of the Soga Brothers. Following the deaths of his adoptive sons, Sukenobu was allowed seclusion and a tax exemption on the Soga Manor to hold their memorial service.

The descendants of Soga Sukenobu served as gokenin to the Kamakura shogunate and later to the Ashikaga shogunate, and was later known as an antiquarian samurai family. The clan served as a retainer to the Hōjō Tokusō and later became the acting governor (jitō-dai) of Tsugaru, Mutsu Province.