Hirugashima Island

Minamoto No Yoritomo’s Exile to Hirugashima Island

Minamoto No Yoritomo was defeated in the Heiji Rebellion. Taira No Kiyomori’s stepmother Ike No Zenni pleaded for Minamoto No Yoritomo’s life, and as a result he was exiled to Hirugashima Island. Minamoto No Yoritomo spent 20 years in exile on the island, from February of 1160 when he was 14 years old until the August of 1180 when he was 34 years old. Even though he was in exile, it is thought that his supervision was not very strict. He fell in love with Ito Sukechika’s daughter Yaehime, went on to marry Hojo Masako, and there are legends of him going to worship at the three temples of Hakone, Izusan, and Mishima, and going hunting at Mt. Amagi. It is thought that the Hirugashima Island of the time is referring to either a sandbar in the Kano river, which crisscrossed the Tagata Planes during floods, or slightly elevated land (Tajima) among paddy fields. It is believed that since the sandbar was the smallest out of the sandbars with the “Hirugashima” name, it came to be called Hirugakojima in later years (the “ko” meaning small in Japanese).