In 1333, history turned here
In 1333 (Genko 3), Nitta Yoshisada raised an army to topple the Kamakura shogunate. Following the battle at Kotesashigahara, the “Battle of Kumegawa” was the clash with the shogunate's forces at Kumegawa in Musashi Province (around today's Suwa-cho, Higashimurayama). Yoshisada's army defeated the shogunate forces here and pressed on toward Kamakura with that momentum. Soon after, the Kamakura shogunate — which had lasted about 150 years — fell. Higashimurayama is a place through which that great surge of history passed.
The “Shogunzuka” on Hachikokuyama — the hill where Yoshisada made camp
It is said that Nitta's army made camp on Hachikokuyama at the eastern end of the Sayama Hills, and from here faced the shogunate forces below and directed the fighting. The site of that camp still remains on the ridge of Hachikokuyama, known as the “Shogunzuka” (general's mound). That green hill said to be the model for Totoro's “Shichikokuyama” was, in fact, also a Kamakura-period battlefield — being able to layer these two stories as you walk is the charm of Hachikokuyama.
See Hachikokuyama details →The “Genko-era itabi,” carrier of the battle's memory
The “Genko-era itabi” is said to have been erected to honor the Nitta-side warriors (Saito and others) who fell in this battle. Originally at the foot of Hachikokuyama, it was moved to Tokuzoji in the Edo period and is now carefully kept at the “Itabi Museum.” Inscribed with the warriors' names, it is designated a national Important Cultural Property as a historical document supporting the account in the war chronicle Taiheiki. Not a legend, but “real evidence,” remains in this town.
See Tokuzoji & Itabi Museum details →The Kumegawa battlefield site is a Tokyo-designated historic site (designated in 1919). Today only a stone monument stands in a quiet residential area, but linking Hachikokuyama (Shogunzuka) → the Kumegawa battlefield → Tokuzoji (the Genko-era itabi) makes a half-day history walk through Higashimurayama tracing “the end of the Kamakura shogunate.”
This column is based on Higashimurayama City and historical sources (Wikipedia, etc.). Hachikokuyama and Shogunzuka lie along the municipal boundary spanning Higashimurayama and Tokorozawa. Dates and designation categories follow the sources, but the current state of the sites and access can change, so check before you go.
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