Chris Perry, Author

Tag: Japanese medieval history

  • Memento Mori, Part 1.

    Memento Mori, Part 1.

    If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might be forgiven for thinking that Japanese history was mostly focused on the Kanto or Kansai regions (modern Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka, respectively). Whilst the capital was in Kyoto, and some of the most powerful clans were based either there or in the Kanto, there were others, just as powerful and just as ambitious, who were based in other parts of Japan.

    One such clan was the Mori, who we have mentioned briefly previously but are deserving of a much closer look. The subject of this post is Mori Motonari, and though he would go on to establish himself and his clan as one of Japan’s strongest, when he was born in 1497, there was little to indicate that the Mori would be anything other than a regional footnote.

    Mori Motonari, our subject for today.

    In the early 15th century, the most powerful clan in the region was the Ouchi, who played a significant role in the turmoil surrounding Kyoto and the Ashikaga Shogunate in the late 1400s. The Mori were based in Aki Province, in modern-day Hiroshima Prefecture, and found themselves caught up in the conflict between the Ouchi and the Hosokawa, who by this point were in effective control of the Shogunate.

    In 1500, in a bid to avoid having to choose sides, Motonari’s father, Hiromoto, retired as head of the clan and was replaced by his son (Motonari’s older brother), Okimoto. Motonari would have a tough childhood, even by the standards of the day. His mother died in 1501, and his father in 1506, either from stress or alcohol poisoning (or a combination of the two).

    In 1507, Okimoto had chosen his side, as he accompanied the Ouchi to Kyoto, leaving 10-year-old Motonari back in Aki. The young lad then had his income embezzled by unscrupulous vassals, leaving him destitute. However, the embezzler died suddenly in 1511, and Motonari’s income was restored.

    Also in 1511, Okimoto returned from Kyoto and set about preserving the clan’s position in Aki Province. In 1513, Motonari would make a formal pledge of loyalty to his brother, supporting Okimoto’s rule, and (ideally) avoiding the kind of fratricidal violence that plagued so many of Japan’s other clans.

    Aki Province.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1645417

    In 1515, there was an outbreak of violence in Aki and neighbouring Bingo (yes, it was really called that) province. In response, the Ouchi dispatched a member of the Takeda Clan to restore order. (You may remember we spoke previously of several branches of the Takeda family, this one is sometimes called the Aki-Takeda, due to the location of their base.)

    The Aki-Takeda proved to be unreliable vassals, however, as they took advantage of the chaos to rebel against the Ouchi and take control of several castles for themselves. Okimoto, continuing his service to the Ouchi, would attack the Aki-Takeda and take one of their castles, forcing them to withdraw and giving birth to a local rivalry that would be important for Motonari and the Mori Clan.

    In 1516, Okimoto died suddenly, aged just 24, apparently also from alcohol poisoning. His son was just two years old, and so Motonari would become the guardian and acting head of the clan. A sudden change in leadership can leave a clan vulnerable, and the Aki-Takeda sought to take advantage, attacking several castles in Aki Province that protected the Mori heartlands.

    Mori Okimoto, Motonari’s brother. His sudden death paved the way for Motonari’s rise to power, though it would be said he deeply mourned his brother’s passing.

    Motonari was obliged to respond and proved his mettle several times in the war that followed. Between 1517 and 1522, Motonari would engage in a series of sieges and battles against the Aki-Takeda, which would see Mori gradually extend control across southern Aki province (in the area around modern Hiroshima), and even into neighbouring Bingo.

    Despite his personal successes, the overall situation remained chaotic, and in 1523, the Amago Clan, seeking to expand their influence, advanced into Aki Province. Motonari, who had fought for the Ouchi up to that point, switched sides and aided the Amago in their conquests of several castles in the region.

    This relationship would be relatively short-lived, however. In 1523, Okimoto’s son (Motonari’s nephew), who had been the nominal head of the clan, died, aged just 9. As was common, there was no clear successor, and although he had been the de facto head for years, Motonari was opposed by a faction that wanted his half-brother in charge instead.

    Initially, Motonari was able to secure enough political support to be named head of the clan, and he was even recognised as such by the Amago. Almost as soon as the ink was dry, though, the Watanabe Clan, who had supported Motonari’s half-brother, began agitating against him.

    The situation worsened when several other clans joined the conspiracy, apparently with the approval (or possibly even direct support) of the Amago Clan. Motonari’s position was still insecure, and he was forced to take action, launching a purge of those involved. Japanese politics at this time was usually an extremely bloody affair, and it wasn’t uncommon for entire families to be wiped out as punishment for rebellion.

    Though Motonari ordered the death of his half-brother and his key supporters, he stopped there. No harm was done to the wives and children of the conspirators, as Motonari himself seemed to believe the incident was not so much a rebellion as it was interference from the Amago. Indeed, it was even suggested at the time that Motonari deeply regretted the killings, blaming himself for not having been able to stop the conspiracy, and the Amago for having encouraged it.

    Quite why the Amago were so keen to conspire against Motonari isn’t clear, but they’d soon have cause to regret it. In 1525, as a response to Amago meddling, Motonari switched sides again, giving his support back to the Ouchi, who had largely stabilised their own situation by this point. Motonari would use this new alliance to expand his control of Aki Province even further, as many of the local clans remained loyal to the Amago and were now prime targets for Motonari’s revenge and political ambitions.

    Mori Motonari’s Battle Flag.

    Over the next few years, Motonari would use a combination of diplomacy, threat, and outright force to establish broad control of Aki Province. In 1532, 32 local vassals of the clan signed a document pledging to follow Motonari’s lead and establishing him as the final arbiter in legal matters within the province. Also that year, Motonari was (with the support of the Ouchi) granted an Imperial title. As we’ve discussed previously, these titles were largely just for show by this point, but they did serve to increase Motonari’s personal prestige.

    In 1540, the ongoing Amago-Ouchi war reached a new level of escalation, as the Amago marched into Aki Province with 30,000 men. Standing in their path was the Mori home castle at Yoshida-Koriyama, which quickly came under siege. Despite being outnumbered as much as 10 to 1, Motonari held out, and the Battle of Yoshida-Koriyama (which was actually a series of battles) eventually ended in the Mori’s favour, as the castled was relieved by Ouchi reinforcements, and the Amago were forced into a humilitating retreat, ending their attempts to conquer Aki, and leaving Mori control of the province in a much stronger position.

    In 1545, Motonari’s wife died, and shortly after that, he announced his retirement as head of the clan. In a letter to his son, he strongly implied that it was grief over the passing of his wife that led him to make the decision. In 1546 (or possibly 1547), Motonari formally retired in favour of his son, Takamoto. However, as was common, Motonari’s ‘retirement’ was just for show, and he retained almost complete control of the clan.

    As control over Aki and Bingo provinces was established, and Mori power increased, Motonari was now in a strong enough position to deal with his remaining internal enemies. In 1550, after gaining the tacit approval of the Ouchi (still the Mori’s nominal overlords), Motonari launched a violent purge of the Inoue Clan, one time vassals of the Mori, who had begun to operate independently, presenting a threat to Mori internal stability.

    Bingo Province.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1652300

    What followed was the massacre of up to 30 individuals, which left the other Mori vassals fearing for their lives. However, Motonari gathered 238 of them and had them sign a pledge of loyalty and obedience. All agreed, and the end of the Inoue Clan further cemented Motonari’s position.

    A year later, the Ouchi themselves fell victim to an internal coup, their leader was assassinated, and replaced by his son, though the real power would be with the new regent, Sue Harutaka (pronounced soo-eh, by the way). Motonari took advantage of the chaos to capture several castles that remained loyal to the old Ouchi Lord, and Harutaka agreed, recognising the Mori as lords of the Aki and Bingo provinces.

    This rapprochement didn’t last long (they never do), with Harutaka soon regretting the power he had given Motonari, and he demanded that he return control. Motonari, unsurprisingly, refused, and shortly after that, conflict broke out. The problem for the Mori was one of numbers; Harutaka was regent of the Ouchi Clan, the regional power, and could muster 30,000 men, to the Mori’s 5000.

    Fortunately for Motonari, the Ouchi were facing several rebellions in the aftermath of the coup, and their forces were divided. This gave the Mori their chance, and at the Battle of Oshikibata in 1554, the Mori, despite being outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, launched a surprise attack against the Ouchi and won.

    A later image of Motonari at the Battle of Itsukushima.

    A year later, Harutaka himself led a large army to put down the Mori, laying siege to Miyao Castle on Itsukushima (site of the famous ‘floating’ Torii gate), with 20,000 men. Unbeknownst to Harutaka, however, was that this was exactly what Motonari had hoped he’d do. The Mori had one of the most powerful navies in Japan at the time, and what followed was a combined sea and land operation, in which the outnumbered Mori launched another surprise attack, trapping the Ouchi and effectively wiping them out, with Harutaka himself amongst the dead.

    The Battle of Itsukushima was not the end of the Ouchi, but they were never again a serious force. Over the next two years, the Mori would expand into the former Ouchi heartlands of Suo and Nagato provinces, as well as advancing in Iwami Province, gaining control of the valuable silver mines there.

    In a sign of how far things had changed, the Amago, who had previously been able to exert control over the Mori, now found that they had to deal with them on equal terms, with the conflict over the Iwami Silver Mines ending in the Mori’s favour.

    Iwami Province.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image:Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1682513

    In 1563, with Mori control reaching new heights, Takamoto, Motonari’s son and heir, died, leaving his son, Terumoto, as the new ‘leader’ of the Mori. The reality, of course, was that Motonari had retained control, and Terumoto was a child besides, leading to a kind of ‘dual leadership’, which was supposed to last until Terumoto came of age, but of course lasted much longer.

    In 1566, Motonari, with Terumoto in tow, attacked the last Amago stronghold in Izumo province, forcing their surrender in November, and bringing a final end to the Amago, who had once been the region’s dominant power.

    The next year, Terumoto was 15, and officially came of age, with Motonari announcing he would end the ‘dual leadership’. Apparently, Terumoto begged him to reconsider, and so Motonari would stay on as co-leader, though his health was already declining, and by the end of the 1560s, it was becoming clear that Motonari’s time was nearly up.

    Mori Motonari would eventually pass away in June 1571, aged 75, possibly from cancer or old age. At his birth, the Mori had been a minor clan in a distant province, the proverbial leaf on the wind, buffeted to and fro depending on the whims of their powerful neighbours. As he lay dying 75 years later, Motonari ruled one of the largest territories of the era, and had established his clan as one of the truly great Sengoku Clans.

    It would fall to his grandson, Terumoto, to continue this legacy, and though he would often prove equal to the task, fate was not yet done with the Mori Clan.

    Mori Terumoto

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%9B%E5%88%A9%E5%85%83%E5%B0%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8E%B3%E5%B3%B6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8E%B3%E5%B3%B6%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%98%B2%E9%95%B7%E7%B5%8C%E7%95%A5
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%8A%98%E6%95%B7%E7%95%91%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%89%E7%94%B0%E9%83%A1%E5%B1%B1%E5%9F%8E%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%89%E7%94%B0%E9%83%A1%E5%B1%B1%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E6%A9%8B%E8%88%88%E5%85%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A6%99%E7%8E%96
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A3%AC%E7%94%9F%E7%94%BA_(%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6%E7%9C%8C)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%95%E4%B8%8A%E5%85%83%E7%9B%9B
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_Province
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%9B%E5%88%A9%E8%88%88%E5%85%83

  • Turmoil after Turmoil

    Turmoil after Turmoil

    In 1351, the rather misleadingly named Kanno ‘Disturbance’ ended with the death of Ashikaga Tadayoshi, brother to the Shogun, Takauji. The brothers’ relationship had broken down violently in the years leading up to 1350, and with Tadayoshi’s death, the political turmoil seemed like it might finally come to an end.

    But you’ve seen the title of this post, so it’s time for some good, old-fashioned, post-turmoil turmoil!

    As you may remember, the Nanbokucho Period is named for the Northern and Southern Courts in place at the time, rivals for the title of ‘real’ Emperor, with the Northern Court largely being puppets of the Shogun, and the Southern Court being descended from Emperor Go-Daigo, who had opposed the Kamakura Shogunate, and then been overthrown by the Ashikaga.

    In order to secure enough support to overcome his brother, Takauji had taken the highly controversial step of approaching the Southern Court for help. In exchange, the Southern Court had extracted huge concessions; Takauji effectively agreed to let the Southern Court take over the Northern one.

    Though this agreement would seem to suggest that the Southern Court was now in the ascendancy, things are rarely that straightforward. The Southern Court, no content to simply take over the Northern Court, intended to destroy the Shogunate entirely.

    A reading of recent history might have shown them the error of that plan, but it appears no one thought to tell them. In February 1352, the Southern Court moved to dismiss Takauji as Shogun, nominating Prince Munenaga (Emperor Go-Daigo’s son) in his place. Munenaga, leading an army of Imperial loyalists, marched on Kamakura, successfully occupying it.

    Prince Munenaga, the Southern Court’s pick for Shogun. The fact that he doesn’t appear on any official lists of Shoguns should tell you how that went.

    Meanwhile, another Imperial army attacked Kyoto, held by Takauji’s son, Yoshiakira. Successfully driving the Shogunate forces out of the city, the Imperial army occupied Kyoto on February 24th, and for the first time in more than fifteen years, an Emperor could be said to rule from the ancient capital (in this case, Emperor Go-Murakami). The Three Sacred Treasures (The Sword, Mirror, and Jewel), as well as the three remaining retired Emperors, were taken to the Southern Court capital at Yoshino.

    The Fight Back

    Despite these early successes, and having nominally stripped Takauji of legitimacy by taking his title, the Imperial cause’s optimism would prove to be short-lived. The Emperor may have had prestige as a son of heaven, but Takauji had the warriors, and that was what counted.

    Ashikaga Yoshiakira recovered from his set back quickly, gathering allies, he marched on Kyoto, retaking it on March 15th, an besieging Emperor Go-Murakami at the Otokoyama Hachiman shrine. The Shrine would hold out until May 11th before surrendering, though Go-Murakami would escape.

    Go-Murakami, who happened to be the Emperor recognised by the Southern Court during all this.

    In the east, too, Imperial fortunes quickly took a turn. Prince Munenaga had successfully occupied Kamakura, but a series of defeats in nearby Musashi Province meant he couldn’t hold the city, and Shogunate forces, led by Takauji himself, retook Kamakura by the end of March.

    Despite political uncertainty, the military situation clearly favoured the Shogunate; however, for the time being at least, the Northern Court was little more than a concept. There was no Emperor, no regent, and no Shogun, at least not officially. There wasn’t even a retired Emperor, as they all remained as ‘guests’ at Yoshino, along with the Sacred Treasures, which were required in a coronation.

    Side note: Emperor Go-Daigo actually dismissed these Sacred Treasures as ‘fakes’, but his heirs seemed to have either believed they were the real deal, or else accepted the political convenience of their existence, if not their provenance.

    After much political wrangling over the summer, Kogimonin, mother to two previous Emperors, was convinced to accept the position of regent. In August, she issued an Imperial Edict, selecting Go-Kogon as the new Emperor, re-establishing the Northern Court, and the Shogunate at a stroke.

    One of the key figures in this process had been Doyo. More than deserving of a post of his own, Doyo (originally named Sasaki Takauji, yes, same name as the Shogun), was one of the key political figures of the era, and his role in bringing about the Northern Court’s new Emperor was just the latest accomplishment in an impressive CV.

    Doyo, one of the key political players in this period.

    Doyo and his family would be at the centre of Shogunate power in Kyoto. With Takauji dealing with matters in the east, the actual rule of Kyoto was left to his son, the aforementioned Yoshiakira. In 1353, the already fragile peace was broken once again when Doyo got into a land dispute with the Yamana Clan. A direct consequence of this dispute was the Yamana defecting from the Shogun’s side, making common cause with the Southern Court, and marching on Kyoto.

    This time, Yoshiakira, who had lost Kyoto during the last round of disturbances, made sure to evacuate the Emperor ahead of time. It was a good job he did, too, as Yoshiakira’s forces were defeated when they tried to hold the city, and, realising he lacked the strength to do it alone, he called on his dad, Takauji, to come to his aid.

    As soon as word reached the Yamana that the Shogun himself was on the way, they retreated, and Ashikaga forces retook the city. There was some sporadic fighting, but the Yamana and their allies were handily defeated, and order was restored.

    In the aftermath, Doyo had proved his value to the Shogunate as someone who was a cool head in a crisis, but he had also proven he was a troublemaker, quite happy to get into feuds with powerful warrior families, which was going to be a problem going forward.

    Consequences

    In the short term, the direct consequence of this turmoil was the consolidation of power in the hands of Ashikaga Takauji. In the early years, he had been obliged to share power with his brother and deal with the threat of the Southern Court, but now, he was in charge.

    On the other hand, though, Takauji’s deal with the Southern Court had only served to increase its legitimacy, especially after the Northern Court was established. In later years, the ‘true’ Imperial line would be seen as the one that passed through the Southern Court, and the Northern Court was increasingly seen as nothing more than a Shogunate puppet.

    Finally, the most far-reaching consequence of this chaotic period was the increased power of regional warlords. Though we are still more than a century from the Warring States Period (Sengoku Jidai), the early days of the Ashikaga Shogunate had shown how weak central authority could be; the Shogun couldn’t rely on his own power to deal with threats, he had to seek support and alliances with local warlords.

    A Samurai as they might have appeared in this era.

    Increasingly, these warlords stopped being appointed officials of the Shogun, but became hereditary lords in their own right, a process that had already begun but was accelerated in this period. Sooner or later, this conflict between central and provincial authority would lead to a complete breakdown in government, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves; more on that next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A6%B3%E5%BF%9C%E3%81%AE%E6%93%BE%E4%B9%B1#%E6%99%82%E6%B0%8F%E9%9B%A2%E5%8F%8D%E3%81%A8%E9%81%93%E8%AA%89%E3%81%AE%E4%BC%B8%E9%95%B7
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%90%E3%80%85%E6%9C%A8%E9%81%93%E8%AA%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%97%E8%89%AF%E8%A6%AA%E7%8E%8B
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kann%C5%8D_disturbance
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_shogunate
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Takauji
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E5%9C%92%E5%AF%BA%E5%AF%A7%E5%AD%90#%E4%BA%8B%E5%AE%9F%E4%B8%8A%E3%81%AE%E6%B2%BB%E5%A4%A9%E3%81%AE%E5%90%9B%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B

  • Kamakura III – The Jokyu War

    We’ve already talked about Imperial decline during the Heian Period. Over many centuries, central control eroded, until eventually the provinces proved to be ungovernable. Eventually, the power of the Imperial Court was usurped by Minamoto no Yoritomo, who established the Kamakura Shogunate in Kamakura, obviously.

    You may not be surprised to hear that the Emperor wasn’t best pleased with this turn of events. Although the actual power of the Emperor had been largely theoretical for decades, there had always been a veneer of ‘Imperial’ authority. The rise of the first Shogunate, however, did away with that.

    With supreme military power firmly in Yoritomo’s hands, there was little the Emperor could do to change the status quo. However, as we’ve discussed, Yoritomo’s heirs proved not to be the model of their father. By the dawn of the 13th Century, the Kamakura ‘Shogunate’ was in fact ruled by regents, or Shikken, from the Hojo Clan.

    In 1219, the regent was Hojo Yoshitoki, who shared power with his influential sister Hojo Masako, the so-called ‘Nun Shogun’. That year, Masako’s son, Sanemoto, the third Shogun, was assassinated, bringing an end to the line of Minamoto Shoguns (Yoritomo and his two sons). Although the Hojo were already in effective control, the end of the ‘legitimate’ line of Shoguns presented an apparent opportunity for their enemies to challenge them.

    Emperor Go-Toba

    In a period where Emperors were often well-decorated figureheads, Go-Toba stood out. He was highly educated, as most courtiers were, but he had also shown skill at martial arts, earning him respect and loyalty from warrior families in the west and north. Unfortunately for him, the Throne still drew its income from its land holdings, and when the Shogunate appointed officials to oversee those holdings, the money taken in taxes often didn’t find its way to the Emperor.

    Emperor Go-Toba, whose attempts to restore Imperial power would start the Jokyu War.

    After Sanemoto’s assassination in 1219, the Hojo approached Go-Toba about the possibility of one of the Emperor’s sons becoming the next Shogun. Go-Toba attempted to negotiate, seeking the removal of Shogunate officials from Imperial holdings.

    The Shogunate sent a force of 1000 men under Yoshitoki’s brother in an attempt to intimidate the Emperor. Go-Toba wasn’t easily scared, however, and negotiations broke down, although the Emperor would offer a concession; he would allow a member of the Imperial family to become Shogun, as long as it wasn’t a prince of the main royal line.

    The Hojo were satisfied with this, and Kujo Yoritsune, who was only a little over a year old, was chosen as the fourth Shogun. However, because Yoritsune was a baby, the position of the Hojo as regents was secure, and, for a time at least, peace endured.

    The elevation of a member of the Imperial house to the position of Shogun did nothing about the underlying issues, however, and in July 1219, just a few months after the previous negotiations, the military governor of the area around Kyoto, (who had been appointed by the Shogun) was attacked and killed by warriors acting on the Emperor’s orders.

    Some records say that the governor had been planning to launch a coup and make himself Shogun, with Go-Toba, made aware of the plot, acting to stop the plot before it came to fruition. Other sources, however, point out how unlikely it is for Go-Toba to have had a Shogunate official killed as a favour to the Shogun, and it is more likely that the governor either discovered, or was made aware of, the Emperor’s plans, and was removed accordingly.

    The unfortunate fellow apparently took his own life when his residence (which was within the grounds of the Imperial Palace) was surrounded and burned by Imperial loyalists, and whatever the reasons, this was a direct attack by forces representing the Emperor on those representing the Shogun. The Emperor then asked the Shogunate, Court Officials, and local temples and shrines to donate money to help rebuild the burned residence, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of them refused to pay up.

    During rebuilding work, rumours spread that Go-Toba was quietly gathering allies and raising an army. It was also alleged that he had asked shrines and temples around the capital to invoke the power of the gods on the Emperor’s behalf, which was quite the provocation, apparently.

    War Begins

    Then, in Spring 1221, Go-Toba gathered troops in the capital under the pretext of protecting religious sites and ceremonies. On May 15th, he dropped the pretext; however, when forces loyal to the Imperial Side attacked the offices of the Shogun in Kyoto, burning them and killing the officials, which, as declarations of war go, is pretty definitive.

    On the same day, Go-Toba issued a formal Imperial decree, ordering all the warriors of the nation to arrest Yoshitoki, who was declared an outlaw and enemy of the court. Within a few days, warriors from across western Japan had risen against the Shogun, and Go-Toba believed, rather flippantly, that the issuance of an Imperial decree would fatally undermine the Shogunate.

    This is one of those times that later writers absolutely love to dramatise. It’s all honour, loyalty, duty unto death, etc. but the reality is that, despite an Imperial Decree, and a counter-decree from Hojo Masako, the majority of the warriors across the nation (those who were directly tied to either side through blood or obligation) sided with whoever they thought would benefit them the most if they won.

    In those calculations, the Shogunate had the advantage; the Shogun had the right to distribute land, and most of the warrior families expected to be rewarded with the lands and titles of those who had sided with the Emperor and the court, who was generally believed to have been likely to favour himself and his courtiers, in the event of their victory.

    So, for all their vaunted ‘honour’, the Samurai would (and not for the last time) side with those they thought would give them the best deal, and by the time they marched, the armies loyal to the Shogun are said to have numbered nearly 200,000.

    A later illustration of a Samurai as they might have appeared during the Jokyu War.

    The Shogunate army was actually three separate forces, with 40,000 men heading by a northern route, another force of 50,000 heading through the mountains, and the third, largest force of 100,000, following the main Tokaido Road, with all three marching on Kyoto.

    The Imperial side seems to have been caught off guard by first the size, then the speed of the Shogunate forces. It appears that the Emperor had believed his decree would be enough to secure mass defections, and when the opposite occurred, the forces loyal to the throne were out of position and hugely outnumbered.

    Resistance was scattered and ineffective, with some sources suggesting that the main army took just 22 days to complete the march from Kamakura to Kyoto, which might be an exaggeration, but goes some way to highlighting how badly prepared the Imperial Army was.

    Though the court was able to gather warriors from Western Japan, the numbers were nowhere near what they had expected, and besides, the rapid advance of the Shogunate army meant that reinforcements wouldn’t have been able to reach the capital in time.

    In desperation, Go-Toba went to Mt Hiei, on the outskirts of Kyoto, and pleaded with the famed warrior monks for support. The monks, partly out of opposition to the Emperor, and partly due to their fear of the strength of the Shogun, refused to help, and Go-Toba was left with an army of around 18,000 to defend the capital.

    Outnumbered 5 to 1, Imperial forces took position near Uji, and on June 13th, another Battle of Uji (the third in 50 years) took place. Despite brave resistance, the Imperial side was overwhelmed, and on June 15th, Shogunate forces were in Kyoto. What followed was an orgy of violence, as the houses of Imperial officials and supporters were ransacked and burned, and the citizens suffered at the hands of the rampaging army.

    As Kyoto burned, Go-Toba sent a message to the Shogunate army, withdrawing the Imperial order to arrest Yoshitoki, and blaming the whole thing on his ministers and advisors. Abandoned by the Emperor, some of his supporters fought on in vain, but the final defeat was inevitable, and by July, serious fighting was over, with a few fugitives evading capture until October.

    In the aftermath, Go-Toba was exiled, and eventually replaced as Emperor by Go-Horikawa, and the estates of those who had been killed fighting for the Court, or proscribed afterwards, were distributed to the Shogun’s supporters. Direct control was established over Kyoto, and any semblance of independent military strength was ended; every warrior was now the direct vassal of the Emperor, or else.

    The Shogunate also took control of the purse strings for the court. Prior to the war, the Emperor had held land in his own right and drawn income from it, but now, those lands were ruled directly by the Shogun, and the government in Kamakura could now decide how much, if any, cash the Emperor would get.

    The end of the Jokyu War would mark the zenith of Shogunate, and therefore Hojo power, and for a time, they would rule more or less unchallenged, but some 60 years later, a new threat would emerge.

    Since the dawn of the 13th Century, a previously fractured and quarrelsome people had been united under a single ruler and gone on to conquer an empire the likes of which had never been seen. Though this great conqueror was long dead, his sons and grandsons had continued his work, and in 1260, a new ruler was enthroned, one who would go on to make himself master of China and Korea before seeking new conquests across the sea.

    In 1274, Kublai Khan, grandson of the Great Genghis, had ambitions to make himself master of the world, and he cast his eyes on Japan.

    The Mongols were coming.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%BF%E4%B9%85%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura_shogunate
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuma_Kagami
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Dky%C5%AB_War
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Go-Toba
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%8C%E9%B3%A5%E7%BE%BD%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A%87

  • Kamakura I – A Good Start

    According to historians, the Kamakura Period (named for the eponymous city in modern Kanagawa Prefecture) began in 1185. You probably know by now that history is never that neat. For starters, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the ‘first’ Shogun of this period, wasn’t actually granted the title until 1192.

    Despite some unclear dates, the reality is that Imperial power had been in decline for centuries. The rising warrior class (Samurai) had had effective control of the provinces for years, and one clan, the Taira, would rise to take effective control of the government, though their leader, Taira no Kiyomori, would not take the title of Shogun and nominally ruled through the Emperor.

    Taira control came to an end at the Battle of Dan-no-Ura in 1185, and they were replaced by the Minamoto. We’ve already discussed them, but in summary, the Minamoto, much like the Taira, were a sprawling extended family whose wealth and power did not come from Imperial prestige or titles, but control of the land and the armed men who protected it.

    After Dan-no-Ura and the end of the Genpei War, the Minamoto were in control, but here’s where history takes a turn. Previously, clans like the Soga, Fujiwara, and Taira had taken control of the capital, and they exerted influence on the court through political appointments, marriages, and the occasional use of force. The clans would sometimes become powerful enough to reduce Imperial rule to a mere concept, but the illusion of Imperial power was always formally maintained.

    The Minamoto were different. Firstly, they didn’t base themselves in the capital, even after their victory over the Taira. The Minamoto base, and centre of their power, was at Kamakura, and that is where they remained. After 1185, Yoritomo would pay lip service to the Emperor, but he began appointing his own provincial administrators, cutting the court out of the process entirely.

    In 1189, Yoritomo undertook an invasion of the northern provinces of Dewa and Mutsu. These provinces were ruled by the remnants of the Northern Fujiwara clan and had been largely independent since the outbreak of the Genpei War in 1180. It was also an area that harboured Minamoto rivals to Yoritomo.

    Before the outbreak of what would become known as the Oshu War, Yoritomo sought the permission of the Imperial Court to lead the army against the ‘rebels’. This was a formality, but technically the Emperor still had the right to select the General of ‘his’ army.

    However, Yoritomo didn’t wait for permission to be granted. Instead, he summoned warriors from across Japan, and they answered the call from as far away as Satsuma Province in southern Kyushu (in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture). Throughout the summer, the Imperial Court made a lot of noise, trying to dissuade warriors from joining Yoritomo, but it did no good. If Japan had been waiting for a sign that power had definitively shifted, then this was it.

    The Oshu War in 1189 put an end to even the pretence of Imperial authority over the warrior class.

    The Oshu War lasted around 40 days, and Yoritomo achieved a complete victory. The Court, apparently trying to save face, offered its formal congratulations and a retroactive ‘permission’ for the war. Though the formalities had been observed, no one was fooled; Yoritomo was the boss now.

    Yoritomo’s main rival at court was the Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who had abdicated in 1158 and ruled as an insei or cloistered Emperor, influencing events at court for years. Though the two men would cooperate occasionally, especially against the Taira, it wasn’t long before the relationship broke down. Luckily for Yoritomo, and unluckily for Imperial power, Go-Shirakawa died in 1192, and the last real opposition to Minamoto dominance died with him.

    It is debated as to whether or not Go-Shirakawa actually sought to prevent Yoritomo from taking the title of Shogun, but the timing is certainly interesting. Go-Shirakawa died in April 1192, and Yoritomo was raised to Shogun in July, giving some credence to the idea that the only obstacle had been the Emperor.

    The title of Shogun, more appropriately, Seii taishōgun, is literally translated as Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians (which is a bit of a mouthful, I agree), and had always been a temporary title before. In the Yamato Period and early Heian, the Emperor would issue a ceremonial sword to a General before sending him against the Empire’s enemies (usually the Emishi Tribes in what is now northern Japan).

    The title seems to have fallen out of use in the 10th century as the Emishi had ceased to be a threat, and there was no longer any need for a Supreme Commander. Yoritomo’s assumption of the title reflected the new reality. His was not a government that was based on divine origins, or the glitz and glamour of Imperial ceremony. He had taken power through military strength, and he would rule Japan in the same way.

    Though Yoritomo was obviously a capable commander and administrator, he also took advantage of powerful alliances in and around his home provinces. His marriage to Hojo Masako (an important figure in her own right) brought him the support of the powerful Hojo Clan, who would go on to play an important role in the Kamakura Government.

    The strength (and, ironically, the eventually fatal weakness) of the Kamakura government was its decentralisation. Japan had been divided into provinces during the Taika Reforms over 500 years earlier, with each province being further divided into districts.

    The system had relied on officials appointed by the Imperial Court to run it, and when Yoritomo took over, he replaced Imperial Officials with Gokenin. This new system was pretty much the same as the one it had replaced, with officials appointed by the Shogun to oversee lands that they didn’t own.

    The home of a Gokenin from later in the period.

    The power of the Shogun came from the exclusive right to appoint these officials, but over time, they become de-facto hereditary, meaning that later Kamakura-based Shoguns would face exactly the same problem as the Emperors had, nominal vassals who were in reality heavily militarised, semi-independent principalities, who were not interested in obeying the government.

    The Great Hunt

    All that was in the future, and Yoritomo was focused on establishing the power of his regime in the short term. In the summer of 1193, Yoritomo called all his retainers to a great hunt in Suruga Province, not far from his capital. The so-called ‘Fuji no Makigari” (Hunt near Mt Fuji) was apparently attended by upwards of 700,000. Though that does seem implausibly high (and probably is), it does go some way to showing how high-profile an event this was. There were also a few incidents that highlight the complexities of power, both within the family and outside it.

    Firstly, when Yoritomo’s son and heir, Yoriie, killed his first deer, Yoritomo stopped the hunt to call for a celebration. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to shoot anything with a bow, let alone a deer, but it’s not easy, and Yoriie was only 12, so good for him, right?

    Well, it turns out, not so much, when Yoritomo sent a message to his wife, and the boy’s mother, Hojo Masako, inviting her to the celebration, she sent a message back stating that the son of a Shogun being able to shoot a deer was no reason to celebrate.

    Hojo Masako, the original Tiger Mum.

    Another incident, which wasn’t political exactly, but still a bit weird, was when Kudo Kagemitsu, a famous archer, shot at a deer and missed three times. He would claim to be baffled, and that the deer must have been the one that the Gods of the mountains rode. Which I’m sure it was. It’s a convenient excuse anyway. Kagemitsu would apparently get sick and collapse that very evening, and Yoritomo even considered calling off the hunt, but he didn’t, and they carried on for another week, so there’s that.

    The third incident is certainly the most serious, and has a name that probably explains itself: The Revenge of the Soga Brothers.

    These Soga aren’t the same as the Soga who had first dominated the Imperial Court in the Yamato Period; instead, they were a clan based in Sagami Province (most of modern-day Kanagawa) near Odawara. The target of the Soga’s vengeance was Kudo Suketsune, who had accidentally killed their father in a dispute over land, or a woman, or something. It’s complicated, but Samurai love a vendetta, and even though Suketsune’s death had been an accident, the Soga Bros, Sukenari and Tokimune, swore revenge.

    Now, the exact details of the attack are recorded in the Soga Monogatari, which is of unknown authorship, and tends to sensationalise quite a lot of what happened, and the Azuma Kagami, which is heavily biased towards the Kamakura government. Both sources share some similarities and some differences, but the basic outline is that the brothers attacked and killed Suketsune either at an inn or in a mansion, where he was attended by one or possibly two prostitutes.

    The Soga Brothers take their revenge.

    The sources agree that the brothers killed Suketsune with their swords, but the Soga Monogatari says they also killed one of the prostitutes, or maybe just cut her legs off, which I guess was fine?

    Both sources agree that the brothers attacked and killed many warriors, with the Azuma Kagami suggesting that this was part of an attack on the Shogun, whilst the Monogatari says it was all about killing as many enemies as possible, to make their mark on history.

    Both sources also agree that Sukenari, the elder brother, was cut down in the melee, but Tokimune was captured, and subject to interrogation, before being put to death.

    This story was romanticised as heck later on, especially during the Edo Period, and why not? After all, what’s more inspiring than a story about a pair of brothers who avenge their murdered father before going on to slaughter a bunch of people who had nothing to do with it?

    Whether or not the Soga Brothers actually attempted to kill the Shogun, this episode highlights the often chaotic and bloody reality of a government run by warriors.

    Yoritomo would become a monk, and then almost immediately die in February 1199, leaving his son Yoriie as the second Shogun. Yoriie would immediately come under the influence of his grandfather, Hojo Tokimasa, and mother, the aforementioned Hojo Masako. Pretty soon, the same problems that had plagued the Imperial Court began affecting the Shogun’s court too, but more on that next time.

    Sources
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura_shogunate
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_%C5%8Csh%C5%AB
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_no_Yoritomo
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%BA%90%E9%A0%BC%E6%9C%9D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogun
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Go-Shirakawa
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dj%C5%8D_Masako
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gokenin
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuji_no_Makigari
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenge_of_the_Soga_Brothers
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuma_Kagami
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soga_Monogatari

  • The Genpei War

    Oh yes, here we go, a good old-fashioned war post! All those posts about economic and social decline are finally paying off! Let’s get into it!

    So, as we’ve discussed, by the mid-12th Century, the Imperial Court was in a bad way. Over the centuries, the throne had been dominated by one powerful clan after another, who would marry into the Imperial family again and again in order to maintain that domination, at the cost of turning their gene pool into more of a muddy puddle. Luckily, Heian Era Japan didn’t have a concept of genetics, so I’m sure it was fine.

    The first of these families had been the Soga, who had been overthrown by the Fujiwara in the Isshi Incident in 645. The Fujiwara had had more or less complete control until the Emperors started abdicating to become insei, that is, cloistered Emperors, or an Emperor with all the power of the throne and none of the restraints that the Fujiwara had taken advantage of.

    With the Fujiwara weakened, their enemies started circling. The Hogen Rebellion in 1156 marked the end of Fujiwara power, as the rival Taira and Minamoto families teamed up to take them down. In a betrayal that will surprise no one, the Taira then shafted the Minamoto in the post-rebellion settlement, taking most of the power and the influence over the Emperor for themselves.

    The Minamoto were understandably a bit put out by that, so they launched a rebellion of their own in 1160. The so-called Heiji Rebellion failed, and the Minamoto were effectively wiped out, their leadership either killed or banished to the provinces.

    For the next 20 years, the Taira ruled as the Fujiwara had, but the problem with a violent takeover is that once one group does it, everyone wants to have a go. The Taira, like the Fujiwara before them, became overly enamoured with court life and neglected the provinces.

    This was unfortunate because, as I mentioned earlier, it was the provinces to which the Minamoto had been banished, and they weren’t in a forgiving mood when it came to the Taira.

    The Heiji Rebellion in 1160 marked the triumph of the Taira over their Minamoto rivals, at least temporarily.

    The leader of the Taira at this point was Kiyomori. He had led the Taira forces that had overthrown the Fujiwara and then seen off the Minamoto, and he was probably feeling pretty pleased with himself. Using his influence (and presumably the implicit threat of force), he rose through the ranks at court, eventually becoming Daijo-Daijin, which was basically the head of the government and second only to the Emperor (in theory).

    Now, there had obviously been Daijo-Daijin before Kiyomori, but he was significant because he was the first from the buke or warrior families to rise to that rank. Previously, the formal ranks of the Imperial Bureaucracy had been held by members or allies of the Fujiwara, and Kiyomori was an outsider who was seen as having used martial strength to gain his position, which was true, to be fair.

    In 1171, Kiyomori cemented his power at court by having his daughter, Tokuko, marry Emperor Takakura. Now, none of this was particularly new; the Fujiwara had been doing it for centuries, after all, but Kiyomori was different; he was a thug.

    The Fujiwara, for all their faults, had always played the game properly. They knew the rules, understood court etiquette, wrote beautiful poems, all that stuff. Kiyomori wasn’t like that. He’d taken power through military strength, and that was how he intended to keep hold of it. He wasn’t afraid to throw his weight around, and it was a risky business to oppose him.

    In 1177, in response to an alleged coup (the Shishigatani incident), Kiyomori ordered the arrest of dozens of conspirators. That these conspirators were all people who had reason to be offended by Kiyomori was convenient, and some sources speculate that the plot never existed at all, as it appears to have relied entirely on the testimony of a single monk, who Kiyomori had tortured and then beheaded.

    Regardless of whether it was real or not, Kiyomori had reinforced his power. Those who had ‘opposed’ him were dead or exiled, and he filled the vacant posts with family members and allies, further cementing his power and the fury of the opposition against him.

    In 1178, Tokuko gave birth to a son, Antoku, and Kiyomori decided it’d be a good time to remind everyone at court who was really in charge. The so-called Political Crisis of the Third Year of the Jisho Era (which is a bit easier to say in Japanese, I assure you) was basically a military coup d’etat. Kiyomori brought thousands of his warriors from the provinces to the capital and took over.

    There was no longer any pretence, Kiyomori was dictator in all but name, and shortly after the coup, he had Emperor Takakura abdicate in favour of the two-year-old Antoku, who obviously couldn’t rule himself, at which point Kiyomori kindly stepped in as regent.

    You remember what I said about violent takeovers? Well, Kiyomori was about to learn that lesson. The Taira had driven out the Minamoto, but they hadn’t destroyed them, and for twenty years, Kiyomori had ruled in such a way that he alienated just about everyone.

    In 1180, Prince Mochihito, who had been in line for the throne before Kiyomori raised the infant Antoku in his place, raised his banner in rebellion, calling for the opponents of the Taira to gather an army and march on the capital. Unfortunately, for Mochihito, his plan was discovered, and he was forced to flee, eventually arriving at the temple of Mii-Dera in Nara.

    What follows is largely recorded in The Heike Monogatari, which is a pretty epic read, but is largely a fictionalised account of the war, presenting an idealised version of events, in which heroic warriors do heroic things against impossible (and often implausible) odds.

    What we do know is that Mochihito, outnumbered and overwhelmed, was defeated at the Battle of Uji, just outside modern Kyoto, where he was either killed or executed shortly afterwards. Despite his unsuccessful attempts at raising an army, Mochihito’s call to arms did serve to galvanise the opposition to the Taira.

    Prince Mochihito, whose failed rebellion and death at the Battle of Uji served to inspire the opposition to Taira rule.
    ColBase: 国立博物館所蔵品統合検索システム (Integrated Collections Database of the National Museums, Japan), CC 表示 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92525963による

    It is at this point that Minamoto no Yoritomo enters the stage, he definitely deserves a post of his own, but the short version is that he was 13 in 1160, and the Taira, perhaps feeling pity over his youth, hadn’t executed him, banishing him to the provinces instead.

    Yoritomo, however, had a long memory, and he had spent the last twenty years gaining strength, first over his own clan, and then the surrounding area. His base was the city of Kamakura, in modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture, and it was a relatively long way from the capital.

    When news of Uji reached him, Yoritomo set off looking for a fight. He called for help from the surrounding clans, and although there seems to have been some support, very few actually showed up to fight. In September 1180, Yoritomo had managed to gather just 300 men, and he was attacked by a force ten times that size at the Battle of Ishibashiyama.

    Despite this defeat, Yoritomo was able to escape by sea to Awa Province (in modern Chiba Prefecture), from where he would continue the fight. Meanwhile, the Taira, under Kiyomori, sought to take revenge against the monks who had hidden Prince Mochihito, and attacked and burned the city of Nara.

    Meanwhile, Yoritomo’s uncle was defeated at the Battle of Sunomatagawa in June 1181. The story goes that the Minamoto tried to sneak across a river at night in order to attack the Taira on the other bank. Apparently, their plan failed because Taira sentries were able to distinguish friend from foe by checking who was wet, or not. That seems like remarkable awareness for a battle in the dark, but regardless, the Minamoto failed to surprise the Taira and were defeated.

    Later that year, Yoritomo’s cousin (and sometimes rival) Yoshinaka raised an army in the north and defeated the Taira army sent to stop him, after which, fighting died down for a while.

    Taira no Kiyomori had died earlier in 1181 (the story goes that his fever was so hot anyone who tried to tend him would be burned), and not long after, a famine broke out that would spread across the nation. You can’t fight if you can’t eat, and so what followed was a two-year lull in the fighting, which I imagine wasn’t much comfort to the starving peasants.

    The fighting would resume in 1183, and the Taira would have some initial success, but at the Battle of Kurikara Pass in June of that year, the Taira were decisively defeated, and the momentum shifted to the Minamoto. It was Yoshinaka (Yoritomo’s cousin) and Yukiie (Yoritomo’s Uncle, but not Yoshinaka’s father, I know, it’s confusing) who actually led the Minamoto to the capital.

    As Kiyomori was dead, it fell to his son Munemori to lead the defence of the city. He did this by taking young Emperor Antoku and fleeing west, as you do. It was at this point that the cloistered Emperor, Go-Shirakawa (yeah, he’s still alive at this point!) threw in his lot with Yoshinaka and the Minamoto, calling on them to pursue and destroy the Taira.

    Unfortunately, Yoshinaka had different plans. Fancying himself the rightful leader of the Minamoto, he engaged in a plot against his cousin, Yoritomo, who was by now marching from the East towards the capital. It seems he was initially joined by Yukiie, who then got cold feet and let details of the plot slip.

    Yoshinaka himself became aware that the plot had been discovered and moved first, setting fire to several parts of the capital and taking Go-Shirakawa hostage. It was at this point that Yoritomo’s brothers, Yoshitsune and Noriyori, arrived with a considerable force. They drove Yoshinaka out of the capital, and then killed him at the Second Battle of Uji , bringing an end to the Minamoto Clan’s feuding (for now.)

    A scene from the Second Battle of Uji. The bridge had been pulled up, hence the need to swim.

    After this, the momentum was decisively on the side of the Minamoto. They pursued the Taira, who had originally set up camp at Dazaifu, in Kyushu, and fortifying their positions around the Inland Sea, which were the lands the Taira had originally held.

    The Minamoto went on the offensive and defeated the Taira at the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani, near modern-day Kobe, followed up by another victory at Kojima. These successes allowed the Minamoto to drive the Taira out of their strongholds along the coast of the Inland Sea.

    The Taira, in possession of what was apparently the only navy in Japan at the time, and certainly the strongest, retreated to Shikoku, knowing that the Minamoto couldn’t follow. The Minamoto weren’t going to just let the Taira get away, however, and although it took time, they built up their naval strength before launching an attack at Yashima, in modern-day Takamatsu, that took the Taira fortress there, which had also been used as a makeshift palace for Emperor Antoku.

    Driven out of yet another stronghold, the Taira took to their ships and fled. The Minamoto would catch up to them at Dan-no-Ura, in the Straits of Shimonoseki. If you believe the Heike Monogatari (which you shouldn’t), then the Minamoto had 3000 ships to the Taira’s 1000. According to the Azuma Kagami, which is a biased by slightly more believable source, the forces were actually around 800 to 500, which are still considerable forces, but a bit more plausible.

    Despite being outnumbered, the Taira had home advantage and knew the tides and currents better than their foes. They also had the Emperor with them, which they assumed would give their side more legitimacy and encourage their men to fight harder.

    It was a good idea in theory, but it didn’t work. Though the tides were initially in the Taira’s favour, they turned, as tides do, and one of the Taira’s commanders turned as well, as men often do. Surrounded and attacked from all sides, the Taira began committing suicide en masse. One of those who died was six-year-old Antoku. The story goes that his grandmother, Taira no Kiyomori’s widow, took the boy in her arms and jumped with him into the sea. Neither was seen again.

    The Taira also tried to get rid of the Imperial Regalia, tossing them overboard. However, they apparently only managed to dump the mythical Kusanagi Sword and the Yasakani Jewel. The Yata no Kagami, a sacred bronze mirror, was apparently saved when the woman who tried to throw it overboard was killed when she accidentally looked at it.

    All three items were apparently recovered, either on the day of the battle or later, by divers. They are supposedly housed at the Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture. The fact that no one has been allowed to see the artefacts since Dan-no-Ura is apparently just a coincidence.

    A later illustration of the Battle of Dan-no-Ura, which brought an end to Taira control of Japan.

    The result of Dan-no-Ura was the end of the Taira as a serious political force. Later that year, the Emperor Go-Shirakawa gave Minamoto no Yoritomo the right to collect taxes and appoint officials, effectively handing control of the state over to him.

    Though it would be some years before Yoritomo would take the formal title, the Genpei War marks the time at which control of Japan shifted from courtiers and Emperors to warriors under a supreme military commander who took a title that had first been used in the earliest days of Imperial rule in Japan, Sei-i Tai Shōgun.

    Cue dramatic music

    Sources
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dan-no-ura
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Uji_(1184)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuma_Kagami
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%8B%E5%B3%B6%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yashima
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E3%83%8E%E8%B0%B7%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%97%A4%E6%88%B8%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%BA%90%E8%A1%8C%E5%AE%B6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%80%B6%E5%88%A9%E4%BC%BD%E7%BE%85%E5%B3%A0%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kurikara_Pass
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_no_Yukiie
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_no_Yoshinaka
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sunomata-gawa
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ishibashiyama
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%A5%E4%BB%81%E7%8E%8B
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Mochihito
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Takakura
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Antoku
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taira_no_Kiyomori
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_Heike
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Uji_(1180)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%BB%E6%89%BF%E3%83%BB%E5%AF%BF%E6%B0%B8%E3%81%AE%E4%B9%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%BB%E6%89%BF%E4%B8%89%E5%B9%B4%E3%81%AE%E6%94%BF%E5%A4%89
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishigatani_incident
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B9%BF%E3%82%B1%E8%B0%B7%E3%81%AE%E9%99%B0%E8%AC%80
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genpei_War
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_no_Yoritomo

  • Heian VI – This is how it ends.

    The Heian Period is said to have ended in 1185, but, as you surely know by now, historical periods are rarely that neat. The actual end was really just a full stop at the end of a long period of decline.

    We’ve already discussed in detail how the Imperial Court lost control of the country’s economic and military affairs, and how that led to an erosion of political control. By the 11th Century, the writing was on the wall, but no one at the Heian Court was reading it (they had a lot of poems to keep them busy, after all).

    As we’ve talked about before, the dominant family in the latter half of this period was the Fujiwara. They grew so powerful that they could effectively choose the Emperor at will, and even in the provinces, there was no real alternative to Fujiwara power. That changed with Emperor Go-Sanjo, who came to the throne in 1068. He was the first Emperor not born to a Fujiwara mother for a century or more, and that was a problem.

    Emperor Go-Sanjo. The fact that his mother was not Fujiwara changed things considerably.

    Since he had no Fujiwara mother, he didn’t feel beholden to the wider Fujiwara family, and their influence was immediately under threat. Go-Sanjo was a pretty savvy guy; he realised that one of the main reasons why families like the Fujiwara were able to assert such dominance was that the Emperor was bound to myriad traditions and conventions that actually limited how much governing he could do.

    Go-Sanjo hit on a solution to this. He created the In-No-Cho, which basically means “Office of the Cloistered Emperor.” From then on, an Emperor could abdicate, but instead of simply moving aside for the next Fujiwara puppet, he (or she) would become an Insei, a cloistered Emperor, who could wield all the actual power of the throne, without being tied down to all the stuff that got in the way. (Some say it was Go-Sanjo’s son, Shirakawa who was the first Cloistered Emperor, which might be true, but the system is the same.)

    This system essentially meant that the Fujiwara were cut out of all major decisions. Though they kept their rank and titles at court, their dominance had relied on a compliant, or at least, impotent Emperor; now that that was no longer the case, the Fujiwara began to flounder, and the sharks closed in.

    No longer unchallenged, the Fujiwara did what all declining powers do: they turned on each other. Rival factions coalesced around the “Northern” and “Southern” Fujiwara (named because of the location of their houses in the capital in relation to the Imperial palace).

    The reassertion of Imperial authority and the decline of the Fujiwara didn’t solve any of Japan’s ongoing problems; in fact, in many ways, the Fujiwara left a power vacuum that other ambitious families tried to fill. There were soon clashes between rival factions, some of whom supported one Emperor or another, or were simply acting in their own interests, and Imperial power became increasingly illusory.

    By the mid-12th Century, even the illusion was fading, as the newly powerful warrior families (Buke) increasingly took up arms to solve their disputes, ignoring, and sometimes outright attacking Imperial power in ‘their’ lands.

    All this came to a head in 1155. It gets a bit complicated, but basically, two Emperors, Toba and his son and heir, Sutoku, both retired to become Insei, intending to be the power behind the throne during the reign of Konoe, who was also Toba’s son, and Sutoku’s half-brother.

    Konoe was only three when he took the throne (inasmuch as a three-year-old can take a throne), and for a while, things seemed fine. Unfortunately, as often happened, Konoe died young without having fathered an heir. At this point, Toba and Sutoku supported rival candidates. Toba wanted another son, Go-Shirakawa, whilst Sutoku wanted his son Shigehito to be next in line.

    Long story short, Toba got his way, and Go-Shirakawa became Emperor in August 1155. Now, it may come as no surprise that Sutoku wasn’t happy about this, and when Toba died less than a year later, battle lines were drawn.

    Emperor Go-Shirakawa ‘s disputed succession would lead to the Hogen Rebellion.

    Hogen & Heiji

    Now, the simple version of this is that it was a family dispute over who would get to rule. In truth, it was a lot more complicated than that. Whilst both factions supported rival claimants, there were also outstanding issues of influence at court. The Fujiwara wanted back in, whilst other families like the Minamoto and Taira wanted to keep them out and increase their own influence.

    Things get more complicated from here on in, I’m afraid. I mentioned in previous posts that when we talk about great “families”, we’re not actually talking about single families at all, but diverse groups who happen to share a name and some kind of Imperial ancestor.

    As this conflict escalated, these complex divisions came to the fore. Both sides called on the provincial warlords to support them, and by July 1156, both had armies containing Minamoto, Taira, and Fujiwara leaders. Some of these families were actually families too, with Fujiwara no Tadazane fighting for Go-Shirakawa, whilst his brother, Yorinaga, fought for Sutoku. This was also true with the Minamoto and Taira, with fathers fighting against sons, and uncles against nephews, until it becomes such a confusing mess that I swear it’s making me cross-eyed.

    Throughout July, both sides gathered their forces in and around the capital. Then, on July 29th, a night attack led by Taira no Kiyomori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo (on Go-Shirakawa’s side) attacked Sutoku’s forces. At first, the attacks were unsuccessful, but then someone suggested setting fire to the surrounded residences, and when this was done, Sutoku’s men lost heart and fled, leaving the capital in Go-Shirakawa’s hands.

    The immediate outcome of the Hogen Rebellion was the establishment of Go-Shirakawa’s influence (he would abdicate in 1158, and remain Insei until his death in 1192, effectively influencing five succeeding Emperors.) In the longer term, it signalled the end of Fujiwara power at court. They had sided with Sutoku in the hope that he would do away with the Cloistered Emperor system and restore the Fujiwara to power.

    Instead, Sutoku was defeated and banished, with those of his supporters who had survived the battle executed not long after. For the Minamoto and Taira (those branches that had supported Go-Shirakawa anyway), the victory led to increased influence at court, which brought a whole new set of problems.

    The main issue was that the Taira and Minamoto were allies of convenience. They had joined forces in support of Go-Shirakawa, but now that the immediate threat had passed, they quickly fell into squabbling about who would dominate the court next.

    When Go-Shirakawa abdicated in 1158, he was succeeded by his son, Nijo. As we’ve already discussed, real power remained with Go-Shirakawa as Insei, and he favoured the Taira, much to the chagrin of the Minamoto.

    This was further compounded when the Taira and Go-Shirakawa had the head of the Minamoto, Tameyoshi, executed as punishment for siding with Emperor Sutoku. Though Tameyoshi’s son, Yoshitomo, had remained loyal to Go-Shirakawa, his pleas for clemency fell on deaf ears.

    This would set the tone for the immediate post-rebellion situation. The Taira rose to a position of dominance whilst the Minamoto were left in the shade. Now, you might hope that the Minamoto had learned the lesson of the past and tried to find some way to make peace with the new status quo.

    But, of course, they didn’t. In 1160, the Minamoto, under their leader, Yoshitomo, allied themselves with what was left of the Fujiwara, and when the head of the Taira family, Kiyomori, left with his retinue on a pilgrimage, they abducted Go-Shirakawa, and had a member of the Fujiwara family declared Imperial Chancellor, this began the so-called Heiji Rebellion.

    Things unravelled pretty quickly after that. Despite having abducted the Emperor, the Minamoto don’t seem to have had much of a plan about what to do next. Taira no Kiyomori quickly got word of the attempted coup and made haste back to the capital.

    There were some attempts at negotiating, but it was a ruse; the Emperor was freed, and the Taira attacked. Initially, the Minamoto held their ground and drove the Taira forces back, but this was ruse number two; the Minamoto were drawn out of their defences and cut to pieces.

    The Taira Court

    In the aftermath, the newly established Taira dominance at court was confirmed. The leadership of the Minamoto, Yoshitomo, and his sons Tomonaga and Yoshihira, didn’t survive the battle, effective ending the threat. The Taira seized Minamoto lands, before banishing those who remained from the capital.

    One of those, thirteen-year-old Minamoto no Yoritomo, would come back to haunt the Taira and the Imperial court, but more on him later.

    With their rivals crushed, the Taira set about enjoying the fruits of their victory. Taira no Kiyomori became the pre-eminent man in the realm, filling the government with his relatives, and exerting control over the Imperial Throne, before doing what the Fujiwara had done before him, and marrying his daughter to the Emperor, and, when the Emperor in question died young, taking his place as regent for his infant grandson, who happened to be Emperor Antoku.

    Taira no Kiyomori. He became enamored with courtly life, and did nothing to stop the decline of Imperial power in the provinces.

    For twenty years, the Taira had it more or less their own way, but like the Fujiwara before them, they lost sight of what was going on in the provinces. Kiyomori did nothing to reverse the decline of Imperial power outside of the capital. Because of this, they were unable to stop the Minamoto from recovering their strength.

    Their leader, Minamoto no Yoritomo, was the son of the man who had opposed the Taira in the Heiji Rebellion in 1160. The Taira had let him live, and Yoritomo was going to make them pay for their mistake. Establishing himself at Kamakura, in Eastern Japan, and allying with the locally powerful Hojo Clan, Yoritomo set about getting revenge on the Taira.

    He would get his chance in 1180, in what became known as the Genpei War, but that really deserves its own post, so that’s what I’m going to do.

    Sources
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiji_rebellion
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian_period
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taira_no_Kiyomori
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dgen_rebellion
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Toba
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Sutoku
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Go-Shirakawa
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Nij%C5%8D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_no_Yoshitomo