Kugyō (priest)

[1] At the age of six, after his father was killed in Shuzenji in Izu, he became his uncle Sanetomo's adopted son and, thanks to his grandmother Hōjō Masako's intercession, a disciple of Songyō, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's bettō (head priest).

[3] In 1219 he murdered his uncle Sanetomo on the stone stairs at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in the shogunal capital of Kamakura, an act for which he was himself slain on the same day.

At about six in the evening of February 12, 1219 (Jōkyū-1, 26th day of the 1st month),[7] the Buddhist New Year, Sanetomo had just finished the Ceremony of Celebration for his nomination to Udaijin.

[8] The shōgun left the temple's gate and started descending the stone stairs accompanied only by the sword-bearer, a man called Nakaakira.

[8] According to the traditional interpretation of events, Kugyō's act had been instigated by Yoshitoki and the Hōjō, who wanted to get rid at one stroke of the last two male members of the Seiwa Genji line.

[1][8] Although the assassination undoubtedly served Yoshitoki's interests, it is unclear why Kugyō would have willingly helped the Hōjō family, who was responsible not only for his father's death, but also for that of his brother Ichiman and of the entire Hiki clan.

[8] Realizing that Yoshitoki had avoided death out of sheer luck and that their plan was doomed, Yoshimura could very well have decided that he had to betray Kugyō to save himself and his family.