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Prince Mochihito

 
Prince Mochihito

 
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Prince Mochihito
 
 
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(d. July, 1180), also known as the Takakura Prince, and as Minamoto Mochimitsu, was a son of 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....
. He is noted for his role in starting 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....
.

Believing that Taira no Kiyomori
Taira no Kiyomori

was a general of the late Heian Period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the History of Japan.After the death of his father Taira no Tadamori in 1153, Kiyomori assumed control of the Taira clan and ambitiously entered the political realm in which he had previously only held a minor post....
 had denied him the throne, and that Kiyomori was causing suffering, despoiling graves and destroying Buddhist Law, Mochihito supported the Minamoto clan in their conflict against the Taira. At the same time, Minamoto no Yorimasa
Minamoto no Yorimasa

was a prominent Japanese poet whose works appeared in various anthologies. He served eight different emperors in his long career, holding posts such as hyogo no kami ....
 led the Minamoto clan in supporting Mochihito's bid for the Imperial Throne
Chrysanthemum Throne

File:Emperor Tenji.jpgThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English language term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun on November 10, 1928 ....
.






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(d. July, 1180), also known as the Takakura Prince, and as Minamoto Mochimitsu, was a son of 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....
. He is noted for his role in starting 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....
.

Believing that Taira no Kiyomori
Taira no Kiyomori

was a general of the late Heian Period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the History of Japan.After the death of his father Taira no Tadamori in 1153, Kiyomori assumed control of the Taira clan and ambitiously entered the political realm in which he had previously only held a minor post....
 had denied him the throne, and that Kiyomori was causing suffering, despoiling graves and destroying Buddhist Law, Mochihito supported the Minamoto clan in their conflict against the Taira. At the same time, Minamoto no Yorimasa
Minamoto no Yorimasa

was a prominent Japanese poet whose works appeared in various anthologies. He served eight different emperors in his long career, holding posts such as hyogo no kami ....
 led the Minamoto clan in supporting Mochihito's bid for the Imperial Throne
Chrysanthemum Throne

File:Emperor Tenji.jpgThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English language term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun on November 10, 1928 ....
. In May of 1180, Yorimasa sent out a call to other Minamoto leaders, and to the monasteries (Enryakuji, Miidera and others) that Kiyomori had offended; he asked for aid against the Taira, in the name of Prince Mochihito.

Learning of this, Kiyomori sent men after Mochihito, who retreated to Miidera, at the foot of Mount Hiei
Mount Hiei

is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto city, lying on the border between the Kyoto Prefecture and Shiga prefectures, Japan.The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first Japanese outpost of Tendai sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saicho in 788....
, but discovered that the warrior monks
Sohei

were Buddhism warrior monks of feudal Japan. At certain points of history they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate....
 of Miidera, for various political reasons, could not rely on the support of any other monasteries. Thus, he fled once more, along with a small Minamoto force, across the River Uji, to the Phoenix Hall of the Byodo-in. There they were caught by the Taira forces, and the Battle of Uji
Battle of Uji (1180)

The first battle of Uji is famous and important for having opened the Genpei War.In early 1180, Prince Mochihito, the Minamoto Clan's favored claimant to the Chrysanthemum Throne, was chased by Taira forces to the Mii-dera, a temple just outside Kyoto....
 was fought. The bridge was the site of much of the fighting, and the planks were famously smashed to help impair the ability of the Taira to cross, but eventually the Minamoto were forced back into the Phoenix Hall, where Yorimasa committed seppuku
Seppuku

is a form of Japanese Suicide#Ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai honor code, seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, as a form of capital punishment for samurai who have committed serious offenses, and for reason...
. Mochihito escaped to Nara, but was captured on his way and killed soon afterwards.