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Genpei War
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The (1180–1185) was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans and in late-Heian period Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192.
The name "Genpei" (pronounced and sometimes romanised as Gempei) comes from alternate readings of the kanji 'Minamoto' and 'Taira'. The conflict is also known in Japanese as the , after the two eras between which it took place.
It began with Minamoto support for a different candidate to take the throne, in conflict with the Taira's nomination.
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The (1180–1185) was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans and in late-Heian period Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192.
The name "Genpei" (pronounced and sometimes romanised as Gempei) comes from alternate readings of the kanji 'Minamoto' and 'Taira'. The conflict is also known in Japanese as the , after the two eras between which it took place.
It began with Minamoto support for a different candidate to take the throne, in conflict with the Taira's nomination. The ensuing Battle of Uji took place just outside Kyoto, starting a five-year long war, concluding with a decisive Minamoto victory in the naval Battle of Dan-no-ura.
Background
The Genpei War was the culmination of a decades-long conflict between the two aforementioned clans over dominance of the Imperial court, and by extension, control of Japan. In the Hogen Rebellion and in the Heiji Rebellion of earlier decades, the Minamoto attempted to regain control from the Taira and failed. The Taira then began a series of executions, intended to eliminate their rivals.
In 1177, relations between the Taira clan and the retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa became highly strained, and the latter attempted a coup d'État to oust the Daijo Daijin (prime minister), Taira no Kiyomori. Kiyomori defeated the former emperor and abolished the Insei system. This provoked strong anti-Taira sentiment.
On March 21 1180, Taira no Kiyomori put his grandson, Antoku (then only two years of age), on the throne, after the abdication of Emperor Takakura. Go-Shirakawa's son, Prince Mochihito, felt that he was being denied his rightful place on the throne and, with the help of Minamoto no Yorimasa, sent out a call to arms to the various samurai families and Buddhist monasteries on May 5.
In June, Kiyomori moved the seat of imperial power to Fukuhara (modern day Kobe), in the hope of promoting trade with Song Dynasty China, and on the fifteenth of that month, Prince Mochihito fled Kyoto to take refuge in Mii-dera.
Beginnings of the war
The actions of Taira no Kiyomori having deepened Minamoto hatred for the Taira clan, a call for arms was sent up by Minamoto no Yorimasa and Prince Mochihito. Not knowing who was behind this rally, Kiyomori called for the arrest of Mochihito, who sought protection at the temple of Mii-dera. The Mii-dera monks were unable to ensure him sufficient protection, so he was forced to move along. He was then chased by Taira forces to the Byodo-in, just outside Kyoto. The war began thus, with a dramatic encounter on and around the bridge over the River Uji. This battle ended in Yorimasa's ritual suicide inside the Byodo-in and Mochihito's capture and execution shortly afterwards.
It was at this point that Minamoto no Yoritomo took over leadership of the Minamoto clan and began traveling the country seeking to rendezvous with allies. Leaving Izu Province, heading for the Hakone Pass, he was defeated by the Taira in the battle of Ishibashiyama. However he successfully made it to the provinces of Kai and Kozuke, where the Takeda and other friendly families helped repel the Taira army. Meanwhile, Taira no Kiyomori, seeking vengeance against the Mii-dera monks and others, besieged Nara and burnt much of the city to the ground.
Fighting continued the following year. Minamoto no Yukiie launched an unsuccessful sneak attack attempt against the army of Taira no Tomomori at the Battle of Sunomatagawa. He was pursued by them to the Yahahigawa, destroying the bridge over the river in order to slow the Taira progress. He was defeated and forced to withdraw once again, but Taira no Tomomori fell ill and called off his pursuit of Yukiie's forces.
Taira no Kiyomori died from illness in the spring of 1181, and around the same time Japan began to suffer from a famine which would last through the following year. The Taira moved to attack Minamoto no Yoshinaka, a cousin of Yoritomo, who had raised forces in the north but were unsuccessful. For nearly two years, the war ceased, only to resume in the spring of 1183.
Turning of the tide
Minamoto no Yoritomo, suspicious of the strength of his cousin, launched a series of attacks against Yoshinaka. Yoshinaka had sought to take for himself lands controlled by Yoritomo, which had earlier belonged to Yoshinaka's father. Though the two reconciled with one another and agreed to focus on their common enemy, the Taira, this rivalry would remain strong throughout the war. Forced to recognize Yoritomo as the head of the clan and to send his son Yoshitaka to Kamakura as a hostage, Yoshinaka would not truly fight alongside his cousin for much of the war. He sought to defeat the Taira himself and to reach Kyoto before Yoritomo, claiming victory and the according honor and power.
Placating Yoritomo's suspicions of treachery or betrayal, Yoshinaka survived an assault on his fortress at Hiuchiyama by Taira no Koremori and engaged Koremori again at the battle of Kurikara. Yoshinaka's victory for the Minamoto at Kurikara, also known as the battle of Tonamiyama, would prove to be the turning point in the war. Through creative tactics, skillful division of his forces and a series of bluffs and diversions, Yoshinaka inflicted heavy losses on the Taira, who fled, confused and demoralized.
The Taira loss at Kurikara was so severe that they found themselves, several months later, under siege in Kyoto, with Yoshinaka approaching the city from the northeast and Yukiie from the east. Both Minamoto leaders had seen little or no opposition in marching to the capital and now forced the Taira to flee the city. Taira no Munemori, head of the clan since his father Kiyomori's death, led his army, along with the young Emperor Antoku and the Imperial regalia, to his clan's fortresses in western Honshu and Shikoku.
Internal Minamoto clan hostilities
The Taira clan set fire to their Rokuhara palace and the surrounding district, leaving Minamoto no Yoshinaka with the only force of any significant power in the Home Provinces surrounding the capital. Empowered with a mandate by Emperor Go-Shirakawa to pursue the Taira and destroy them, Yoshinaka once again sought to gain control of the Minamoto clan and regain his ancestral lands from his cousins Yoritomo and Yoshitsune.
Meanwhile, the fleeing Taira set up a temporary Court at Dazaifu in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands. They were forced out soon afterwards by local revolts, spurred by Emperor Go-Shirakawa and sought refuge at Yashima, a small island in the Inland Sea.
Yoshinaka sent a force to pursue the Taira, while he led a second force back to Kamakura to delay his cousins' actions. While his men lost to the Taira at Mizushima, Yoshinaka conspired with Yukiie to seize the capital and the Emperor, possibly even establishing a new Court in the north. However, Yukiie revealed these plans to the Emperor, who communicated them to Yoritomo.
Betrayed by Yukiie, Yoshinaka took command of Kyoto and, at the beginning of 1184, set fire to the Hojujidono, taking the Emperor into custody. Minamoto no Yoshitsune arrived soon afterwards with his brother Noriyori and a considerable force, driving Yoshinaka from the city. After fighting his cousins at the bridge over the Uji, where the war began, Yoshinaka made his final stand at Awazu, in Omi province.
Final stages of the conflict
As the united Minamoto forces left Kyoto, the Taira began consolidating their position at a number of sites in and around the Inland Sea, which was their ancestral home territory. They received a number of missives from the Emperor offering that if they surrendered by the seventh day of the second month, the Minamoto could be convinced to agree to a truce. This was a farce, as neither the Minamoto nor the Emperor had any intentions of waiting until the eighth day to attack. Nevertheless, this tactic offered the Emperor a chance to regain the Regalia and to distract the Taira leadership.
The Minamoto army, led by Yoshitsune and Noriyori, made their first major assault at Ichi-no-Tani, one of the primary Taira fortresses on Honshu. The fortress was surrounded, and the Taira retreated to Shikoku. However, the Minamoto were not prepared to assault Shikoku; a six-month pause thus ensued during which the Minamoto took the proper steps. Though on the retreat, the Taira enjoyed the distinct advantages of being in friendly, home territories, and of being far more adept at naval combat than their rivals.
It was not until nearly a year after Ichi-no-Tani that the main Taira fortress at Yashima came under assault. Seeing bonfires on the mainland of Shikoku, the Taira expected a land-based attack and took to their ships. This was a deceptive play on the part of the Minamoto, however, who lay in wait with their own navy. The Yashima fortress fell, along with the improvised imperial palace built there by the Taira, many of whom however escaped along with the Imperial regalia and the Emperor Antoku.
The Genpei War came to an end one month later, following the battle of Dan-no-ura, one of the most famous and important battles in Japanese history. The Minamoto engaged the Taira fleet in the Straits of Shimonoseki, a tiny body of water separating the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. After a series of archery duels, hand-to-hand fighting broke out. The tides played a powerful role in the development of the battle, granting the advantage first to the Taira, who were more experienced and abler sailors and later to the Minamoto. The Minamoto advantage was considerably enhanced by the defection of Taguchi Shigeyoshi, a Taira general who revealed the location of Emperor Antoku and the regalia. The Minamoto redirected their attention on the Emperor's ship, and the battle quickly swung in their favor.
Many of the Taira samurai, along with Emperor Antoku and his grandmother Taira no Tokiko, widow of Taira no Kiyomori, threw themselves into the waves rather than live to see their clan's ultimate defeat at the hands of the Minamoto.
Consequences of the Genpei War
The Taira clan was destroyed, and the Minamoto victory was followed by the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. Though Minamoto no Yoritomo was not the first to ever hold the title of Shogun, he was the first to wield it in a role of nationwide scope. The end of the Genpei War and beginning of the Kamakura shogunate marked the rise of military (samurai) power and the suppression of the power of the emperor, who was compelled to preside without effective political or military power, until the Meiji Restoration over 650 years later.
In addition, this war and its aftermath established red and white, the colors of the Taira and Minamoto standards, respectively, as Japan's national colors. Today, these colors can be seen on the flag of Japan, and also in banners and flags in sumo and other traditional activities.
Battles
Major figures in the Genpei War
Minamoto Clan (Also called as "Genji")
The Minamoto were one of the four great clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period (794-1185). They were, however, decimated by the Taira in the Heiji Rebellion of 1160. Minamoto no Yoshitomo had been the head of the clan at this time; upon his defeat at the hands of Taira no Kiyomori, two of his sons were killed and the third, Minamoto no Yoritomo, was banished. Following the call to arms of Prince Mochihito and Minamoto no Yorimasa in 1180, the clan would gather together and rise to power again. The Genpei war would see the Minamoto clan defeat the Taira and take command of the entire country.
- Minamoto no Noriyori, general, younger brother of Yoritomo.
- Minamoto no Yorimasa, head of the clan at the beginning of the war.
- Minamoto no Yoritomo, head of the clan upon Yorimasa's death.
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune, younger brother of Yoritomo, chief general of the clan.
- Minamoto no Yukiie, general, uncle to Yoritomo.
- Allies and vassals:
- Emperor Go-Shirakawa, cloistered (retired) emperor.
- Prince Mochihito, Imperial Prince.
- Benkei, sohei (warrior monk), ally of Yoshitsune.
- Hojo Tokimasa (?? ??), head of the Hojo clan, father-in-law of Yoritomo.
- Kajiwara Kagetoki (?? ??), officially an ally of Yoshitsune, in fact a spy for Yoritomo.
- Kumagai Naozane (?? ??), samurai vassal of Yoritomo.
- Sasaki Moritsuna (?? ???), vassal of Noriyori who commanded the assault at the battle of Kojima.
- Taguchi Shigeyoshi (?? ??), Taira general who turned to the Minamoto camp upon seeing the tide turn at the battle of Dan no Ura, thus ensuring Minamoto victory.
- Nasu no Yoichi, celebrated archer and Minamoto ally.
- Yada Yoshiyasu (?? ??), vassal of Yoshinaka and commander of Minamoto forces at the battle of Mizushima.
- The sohei (warrior-monks) of Mii-dera and other temples. Three in particular are mentioned in the Heike Monogatari for their part in the first battle of Uji:
- Ichirai Hoshi (?? ??), who is famous for having jumped ahead of Jomyo Meishu and led the Mii-dera monks to battle.
- Gochin no Tajima, called Tajima the arrow-cutter, and famous for deflecting the arrows of the Taira with his naginata, upon the bridge over the Uji.
- Tsutsui Jomyo Meishu (?? ?? ????), who fought to his last on the bridge over the Uji, taking over sixty arrows and still fighting.
- Partisans of Minamoto no Yoshinaka, cousin of Yoritomo, who supported his rebellion:
- Imai Kanehira (?? ??), who joined Yoshinaka in his escape to Seta.
Taira Clan (Also called as "Heike")
- Taira no Atsumori, young samurai killed by Kumagai Naozane who, because of his youth and innocence, became quite famous in death.
- Taira no Kiyomori, head of the clan at the beginning of the war.
- Taira no Koremori, grandson of Kiyomori.
- Taira no Munemori, son and heir of Kiyomori; head of the clan for much of the war.
- Taira no Noritsune, a Taira clan samurai
- Taira no Shigehira, general, son of Kiyomori.
- Taira no Tadanori, general, brother of Kiyomori.
- Taira no Tokiko, wife of Kiyomori who committed suicide at the battle of Dan-no-ura.
- Taira no Tomomori, general, son of Kiyomori.
- Taira no Yukimori, general, commander of the Taira forces at the battle of Kojima.
- Allies and vassals:
- Emperor Antoku, Emperor of Japan and grandson of Taira no Kiyomori
- Oba Kagechika (?? ??), vassal of the Taira.
- Saito Sanemori (?? ??), former vassal of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, switched sides and became a vassal of Taira no Munenori.
- Seno Kaneyasu (?? ??), vassal of the Taira who commanded at the Fukuryuji fortress.
- Taguchi Shigeyoshi (?? ??), Taira general who turned to the Minamoto camp upon seeing the tide turn at the battle of Dan no Ura, thus ensuring Minamoto victory.
- The sohei (warrior-monks) of Enryaku-ji, at least in theory, on account of their rivalry with the Mii-dera, which was allied with the Minamoto.
The Genpei War in literature
Many stories and works of art depict this conflict. The Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari, ????) is one of the most famous, though many Kabuki and bunraku plays reproduce events of the war as well. Ichinotani futaba gunki (Chronicle of the battle of Ichi-no-Tani) by Namiki Sosuke may be one of the more famous of these.
"Shike" by Robert Shea features a somewhat fictionalised account of the wars, as seen from the perspectives of his two main characters, the Zinja Monk Jebu, and the Noblewoman Lady Shima Taniko. The names of the two rival clans have been changed, "Minamoto" to "Muratomo" and "Taira" to "Takashi".
Another fictionalized account of the conflict forms the central plot of Civil War (also known as Turbulent Times), the ninth volume of Osamu Tezuka's celebrated Phoenix series.
See also
External links
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