Background
Yoshimori Wada was born in 1147. He was the son of Miura Yoshiaki and grandson of Sugimoto Yoshimune, making him a descendant of the Heike.
義盛 和田
Yoshimori Wada was born in 1147. He was the son of Miura Yoshiaki and grandson of Sugimoto Yoshimune, making him a descendant of the Heike.
Yoshimori Wada was attached to Noriyori as his saburai daisho (general of soldiers). He fought in the battle of Ichi-no-Tani (1184). He also fought in the Battle of Dan-no-ura, where he engaged Chikakiyo of Iyo in an archery duel.
Later, Yoshimori Wada participated in the campaign against Kiso Yoshinaka (1184) and Fujiwara Yasuhira (1189). Like many others, he and his family became victims of the struggle for power that followed the death of the first Kamakura shōgun Minamoto no Yoritomo. Tension had been growing between the Hōjō Regents and Wada, and open war started when Wada Yoshinao, Wada Yoshishige and Wada Tanenaga were accused of conspiracy and arrested. Yoshimori Wada , who was in Kazusa, returned to Kamakura and managed to free his two sons. Tanenaga was however detained and exiled to Mutsu province.
War ensued (the so-called Wada Gassen (和田合戦)) and in 1213 he was defeated and killed together with his family. The Wada are traditionally supposed to be buried in the Wadazuka Mound in Kamakura, however this is only an unproven theory born after excavations in situ during the Meiji period.
Yoshimori Wada was a man of simple and straightforward disposition, was very popular among his fellow samurai and held a position of considerable authority in the Kamakura shogunate.
Among his sons were Wada Yoshinao, Asahina Yoshihide, and Wada Yoshishige. He also had a nephew, Wada Tanenaga.