Minamoto no Yoshinaka

Minamoto No Yoshinaka

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Minamoto no Yoshinaka

(1154 – 1184) was a general of the late Heian Period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical History of Japan, running from 794 to 1185. It is the period in Japanese history when Confucianism and other Chinese culture were at their height....
of Japanese history

History of Japan

The written history of Japan begins with brief references of Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts, in the 1st century AD....
. A member of the Minamoto samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial society Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character ? was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau....
clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199....
was his cousin and rival during the Genpei War

Genpei War

Musashi Province

was a Provinces of Japan of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture, mainly Kawasaki, Kanagawa and Yokohama....
province, Yoshinaka's father Minamoto no Yoshikata was killed and his domain was seized by Minamoto no Yoshihira

Minamoto no Yoshihira

Minamoto no Yoshihira was a Minamoto clan warrior who fought alongside his father, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, in the Heiji Rebellion.His mother was the daughter of Miura no Yoshiaki, thus indicating the close ties between the two families....
in an intrafamily feud while he was still an infant.

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(1154 – 1184) was a general of the late Heian Period

Heian period

History of Japan

The written history of Japan begins with brief references of Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts, in the 1st century AD....
. A member of the Minamoto samurai

Samurai

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199....
was his cousin and rival during the Genpei War

Genpei War

Musashi Province

Minamoto no Yoshihira

Shinano Province

is an old provinces of Japan of Japan that is now present day Nagano Prefecture. Its abbreviation is Shinshu .Shinano bordered on Echigo Province, Etchu Province, Hida Province, Kai Province, Kozuke Province, Mikawa Province, Mino Province, Musashi Province, Suruga Province, and Totomi Province provinces....
(present-day Nagano Prefecture

Nagano Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan of Japan located in the Chubu region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Nagano, Nagano....
) where he was then raised. He was raised with Nakahara Shiro who was his milkbrother (Shiro's mother Chizuru nursed Yoshinaka and Shiro). This Shiro would later become Imai no Shiro Kanehira, Yoshinaka's best friend and most loyal retainer. Yoshinaka later changed his name from Minamoto to Kiso.

In 1180, Yoshinaka received Prince Mochihito

Prince Mochihito

, also known as the 'Takakura Prince', and as 'Minamoto Mochimitsu', was a son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. He is noted for his role in starting the Genpei War....
's call to the members of the Minamoto clan to rise against the Taira. Yoshinaka entered the Genpei War

Genpei War

The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clan 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....
raising an army in Shinano and quickly conquered the province. In 1181, Yoshinaka sought to regain his father's domain in Musashi which was already under the control of his cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199....
. The two reconciled and resolved to not fight one another but Yoshinaka had to accept Yoritomo as the leader of the Minamoto clan, give up his aspirations for his father's domain, and send his son Yoshitaka to Kamakura

Kamakura, Kanagawa

is a cities of Japan located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called . Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is sometimes considered a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Shikken during the Kamakura Period....
as a hostage. However, having been shamed, Yoshinaka was now determined to beat Yoritomo to Kyoto

Kyoto

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, defeat the Taira on his own, and take control of the Minamoto for himself.

Yoshinaka defeated the army of Taira no Koremori

Taira no Koremori

was one of the Taira clan's commanders in the Genpei War of the late Heian period of Japanese history. He was defeated at the battle of Fujigawa in 1180, and again at the battle of Kurikara....
at the Battle of Kurikara Pass

Battle of Kurikara

The battle of Kurikara, also known as the battle of Tonamiyama , was a crucial battle of Japan's Genpei War; in this battle the tide of the war turned in the favor of the Minamoto clan....
and marched to Kyoto. The Taira retreated out of the capital, taking the child Emperor Antoku

Emperor Antoku

Emperor Antoku was the 81st Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1180 through 1185....
with them. Three days later Yoshinaka's army entered the capital and the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa

Emperor Go-Shirakawa

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158....
bestowed upon him the title of Asahi Shogun. However, his army ransacked Kyoto, and the emperor ordered him to attack the Taira in order to get the army out of the capital.

Later, returning to Kyoto after a battle, Yoshinaka was angered to find out that the Emperor had sided with his cousin Yoritomo. He extended military control over the city, pillaging it and imprisoning the Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and forced the Emperor to bestow upon him the title of shogun

Shogun

is a military rank and historical title for Hereditary Commanders in Chief of the Armed Forces of Japan. The Japanese word for "general", it is made up of two kanji characters: sho, meaning "commander", "general", or "admiral", and gun meaning military troops or warriors....
. Minamoto no Yoritomo, angry at Yoshinaka's actions, ordered his brothers Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo....
and Minamoto no Noriyori

Minamoto no Noriyori

was a late Heian period period general, who fought alongside his brothers Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune at a number of battles of the Genpei War....
to attack and kill Yoshinaka.

Yoshinaka was driven out of Kyoto and killed by his cousins at the Battle of Awazu

Battle of Awazu

Minamoto no Yoshinaka made his final stand at Otsu, Shiga, after fleeing from his cousins' armies, which confronted him after he attacked Kyoto, burning the Siege of Hojujidono, and kidnapping Emperor Go-Shirakawa....
in Omi Province

Omi Province

is an old provinces of Japan of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tosando Circuit . It is nicknamed as ...
(present-day Shiga Prefecture

Shiga Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan of Japan which is part of the Kansai region on Honshu Island. The capital is the city of Otsu, Shiga....
) along with his milk brother Kanehira. With night coming and with many enemy soldiers chasing him, he attempted to find an isolated spot to kill himself. However, the story says that his horse became trapped in a field of partly frozen mud and his enemies were able to approach him and kill him.

He was buried in Otsu

Otsu, Shiga

is the capital cities of Japan of Shiga Prefecture, Japan.As of February 2007 the city has an estimated population of 329,355 with an age average of 40.7 years and a population density of 880.49 persons per square kilometer....
, in Omi; a temple was built his honor during the later Muromachi period

Muromachi period

The was a division of History of Japan running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1336 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji....
. Its name, Gichu-ji, has the same two kanji

Kanji

are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese language logogram along with hiragana , katakana , Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet....
as his given name. Kanehira's grave is also in Otsu, but it is not close to Yoshinaka's. The Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of History of Japan running from 1603 to 1868. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu....
poet Matsuo Basho

Matsuo Basho

was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Basho was recognized for his works in the collaborative Renku form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku....
, pursuant to his last wishes, was buried next to Minamoto no Yoshinaka in Gichu-ji.

Minamoto no Yoshinaka is one of many main characters in the Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of History of Japan that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
epic

Epic poetry

An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation....
, the Tale of Heike. The story of Yoshinaka and Kanehira is fairly well known in Japan; it is also the subject of the Noh

Noh

, or is a major form of classic Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Together with the closely-related Kyogen farce, it evolved from various popular, folk and aristocratic art forms, including Dengaku, Shirabyoshi, and Gagaku....
play "Kanehira", in which Kanehira's tormented ghost describes his and Yoshinaka's death, and his wish to go to the other side.

Yoshinaka's life is described in some detail in S. Turnbull's
Stephen Turnbull (historian)

Stephen Richard Turnbull is an historian specializing in eastern military history, especially the Samurai of Japan.He attended Cambridge University where he gained his first degree....
book The Samurai (1977) pages 55 to 66).