6 June 1221 (Jōkyū 3)
Donated by the Homma family
This is a letter dated June 6 1221 from Hōjō Yoshitoki (1163–1224), second regent of the Kamakura shogunate, addressed to Ichikawa Rokurō of the Ministry of Justice, in his capacity as military governor of Shinano Province.
The letter pertains to Rokurō’s military exploits during the Jōkyū Rebellion, in which the Emperor Go-Toba planned to overthrow the shogunate. Yoshitoki praises his fighting the Emperor’s forces, which included Nishina Moritō at Kanbara in Echigo Province (present-day Itoigawa City, Niigata Prefecture). The letter also instructs him to inform the other retainers to decimate all warriors fighting for the emperor, and that they will be rewarded for their military successes.
This letter is the oldest record in the Ichikawa Documents that mentions someone named Ichikawa.