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Fujiwara no Motofusa (藤原 基房, 1144 – February 1, 1230) was animperial regent in the late 12th century, serving bothEmperor Rokujō andEmperor Takakura. He was also calledMatsudono Motofusa (松殿 基房), as he came from the village of Matsudono, nearKyoto.Fujiwara no Tadataka andMatsudono Moroie were his first and third sons, respectively.
Though wielding great power assesshō andkampaku, Motofusa was prevented from becoming the head of theFujiwara family by the political maneuvers ofTaira no Kiyomori. An incident in 1170, while Motofusa was on his way to theHōjuji Palace, further cemented his rivalry with theTaira clan. The Regent, along with a large retinue, was making his way to the palace for a ceremony which thecloisteredEmperor Go-Shirakawa was supposed to attend, when a young boy, Taira no Sukemori, refused to make way for him and his retinue. As a result, the Regent's men smashed Sukemori's carriage and humiliated him. Sukemori was a grandson of Kiyomori and so, after a few failed attempts at reprisal, followers ofTaira no Shigemori (Sukemori's father) attacked the Regent's men on their way to a solemn ceremony, dragging them from their horses and humiliating them. These events, while seemingly minor on the surface, led to a rift between Emperor Go-Shirakawa and the Taira, and therefore to closer relations between Go-Shirakawa and theMinamoto, enemies of the Taira.
He is the maternal grandfather of the founder ofSōtō Zen Buddhism in Japan,Eihei Dōgen, son of his daughter Ishi.[1][2]
In 1179, he was ordained as a Buddhist monk and took theDharma nameZenkan (善観). When he died in 1230, he was given the posthumous Buddhist namesNakayamain (中山院) andBodaiin (菩提院).