Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune (? ??) (1159 - May_17,1189) was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo (the third son of Yoshitomo) founded the Kamakura shogunate.

Related Topics:
1159 - May_17 - 1189 - Minamoto - Japan - Heian - Kamakura period - Minamoto no Yoshitomo - Minamoto no Yoritomo - Kamakura shogunate

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Yoshitsune was born slightly before the Heiji Rebellion of 1159 in which his father and oldest two brothers were killed. His life was spared and he was put under the care of Kurama Temple, nestled in the Hiei Mountains near the capital of Kyoto, while Yoritomo was banished to Izu Province. Eventually Yoshitsune was put under the protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira, head of the powerful regional Northern Fujiwara clan in Hiraizumi, Mutsu Province.

Related Topics:
Heiji Rebellion - Kurama Temple - Kyoto - Izu Province - Fujiwara no Hidehira - Northern Fujiwara - Hiraizumi - Mutsu Province

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In 1180, Yoshitsune heard that Yoritomo, now head of the Minamoto clan, had raised an army at the request of Prince Mochihito to fight against the Taira clan which had usurped the power of the emperor. Yoshitsune shortly thereafter joined Yoritomo along with Minamoto no Noriyori, all brothers that had never before met, in the last of three conflicts between the rival Minamoto and Taira samurai clans in the Gempei War.

Related Topics:
1180 - Prince Mochihito - Taira - Minamoto no Noriyori - Gempei War

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Yoshitsune defeated and killed his rival cousin Minamoto no Yoshinaka at Awazu in Omi Province in the first month of 1184 and in the next month defeated the Taira at the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani in present day Kobe. In 1185, Yoshitsune defeated the Taira again at the Battle of Yashima in Shikoku and destroyed them at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in present day Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Related Topics:
Minamoto no Yoshinaka - Awazu - Omi Province - 1184 - Battle of Ichi-no-Tani - Kobe - 1185 - Battle of Yashima - Shikoku - Battle of Dan-no-ura - Yamaguchi Prefecture

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After the Gempei War, Yoshitsune joined the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa against his brother Yoritomo. Fleeing to the temporary protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira in Mutsu again, Yoshitsune was betrayed and killed by Hidehira's son Fujiwara no Yasuhira.

Related Topics:
Emperor Go-Shirakawa - Fujiwara no Yasuhira

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Because of Yoshitsune's tragic life and early death, he is one of the greatest folk heroes of Japan, becoming the subject of and influencing many works of Japanese literature and Japanese drama, especially the Tale of the Heike and Gikeiki (the name of which means "The Chronicle of Yoshitsune"), while the details of his life became legendary. For example, legend has it that while at Kurama Temple as a youth, he was trained by tengu, a mythical species of warrior beings. Most of the tales focus on his later days in exile, fleeing from Yoritomo with his loyal retainers, including the warrior-monk Saito Musashibo Benkei. It is said his few retainers held off a force many times greater than their own to allow Yoshitsune to commit seppuku.

Related Topics:
Japanese literature - Japanese drama - The Tale of the Heike - ''Gikeiki'' - Tengu - Saito Musashibo Benkei - Seppuku

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NHK's 2005 taiga drama Yoshitsune is a fictionalized account of the samurai's life and the political intrigues that sealed his fate.

Related Topics:
NHK - 2005 - Taiga drama

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Game Republic's 2005 Playstation 2 video game, Genji is another fictionalized account of the story of Yoshitsune and Saito Musashibo Benkei.

Related Topics:
2005 - Playstation 2

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