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This chapter is a detailed part of Chapter 6, Kamakura Period History 1192 – 1333. Please read Chapter 6 before reading this section. Since this continues from chapter 6, some of the information here may overlap with Chapter 6.

                         The red circle above indicates the time we discuss in this section

Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛)

Chapter 6, Kamakura Period History, describes two major samurai groups, the Genji (源氏) and the Heishi (平氏), at the end of the Heian period.  The leader of the Genji was Minamoto-no-Yoshitomo (源義朝), and the leader of the Heishi (or Heike) was Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛).  They were childhood friends.  However, due to political situations and circumstances, they became enemies by the time they reached adulthood.  After several power struggles, the Genji lost, and Taira-no-Kiyomori gained considerable power.  He favored his followers, gave them high positions, and arranged for his daughter to marry the emperor.   As a result, Kiyomori’s power went even beyond that of the emperor.  This was when people would say, “If you are not a part of the Heishi family, you are not a human being.”   A situation like this created too many opponents against him.  Eventually, the suppressed Genji and other samurai groups united, raised an army, fought the Heishi, and defeated them.

While Taira-no-Kiyomori was in power, he began trading with China, which contributed to Japan’s economic prosperity.  The picture below is the Itsukushima Jinja Shrine (厳島神社), built by Taira-no-Kiyomori.  It is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From Wikipedia.  The photo is in the public domain. Author: Rdsmith4      File Itsukushima Floating Shrine.jpg 8 /05/04

Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune (源頼朝)

Minamoto-no-Yoritomo (源頼朝) was the son of Minamoto-no- Yoshitomo(源義朝).  After Yoshitomo was defeated by Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛), the direct bloodline of Genji, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo was sent to Izu Island.  He was in his early teens. 

Yoritomo grew up as a young man on Izu Island, where he met Hojo Masako (北条政子).  She was the daughter of Hojo Tokimasa (北条時政), a local government official.  While Tokimasa was away on a business trip to Kyoto, Yoritomo and Masako had a baby.  Tokimasa feared that if the Heishi found out about his daughter and Yoritomo, the Hojo family could get into trouble.  So, he planned to have Masako marry someone else.  However, she eloped with Yoritomo the night before the wedding.  It is said that this story was written in the famous Japanese history book “Azuma Kagami: 吾妻鏡” and a few other books.  People started to believe this was how it happened between them. 

However, some argue that the story might not be exactly how it happened.  Meanwhile, in Kyoto, the Heishi became very powerful and tyrannical within the central government, called Chotei (朝廷), and suppressed their opponents.  All the angry, dissatisfied groups formed an army to attack the Heishi.  Minamoto-no-Yoritomo was the leader of these opposing groups, and his army grew larger and stronger with the help of Masako‘s father, Hojo Tokimasa.  By this time, Hojo Tokimasa came to realize that he would have had a better chance if he had sided with his son-in-law.  The Genji army pushed the Heishi all the way to the southern part of Japan.  The Heishi was defeated at a place called Dan-no-Ura (壇ノ浦) near Kyushu (九州) in 1185.

Yoritomo established the Kamakura Bakufu (Kamakura government) in Kamakura.  After Yoritomo‘s death, his wife Masako proved her ability as a leader. She saved the Kamakura bakufu when the central government, Chotei, attacked it. 

Here is a well-known story about her.  When Yoritomo used to go around to visit other women in Kamakura, Masako would send her men to follow her husband and had them set fire to the house of the woman whom her husband was after.  In her mind, the Hojo were the ones who made Yoritomo the head of the Kamakura bakufu.  Without the Hojo family’s assistance, Yoritomo could not have achieved his success.

Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu  in Kamakura 　Author: Urashimataro　     From Wikipedia  Photo is public domain

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is one of the main shrines in Kamakura.  It is within walking distance of the Kamakura train station.  The photo above shows a large shrine at the top of the long stairs.  Every year on Dec 31, a large number of people visit the shrine to hear the Joya-no-kane (除夜の鐘: the night watch bells on New Year’s Eve)

Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune (源義経)

Minamoto-no-Yoritomo (源頼朝) had several half-brothers.  Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛) saved the lives of these young boys on the condition that they would become monks when they grew up.  For Kiyomori, they were the sons of childhood friends, after all.  One of them was Ushiwaka-maru (牛若丸: later Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune源義経), whom Taira-no-Kiyomori raised as his own child.  Ushiwaka-maru believed that Kiyomori was his father.  Later, Yoshitsune was raised at Kurama Yama Temple. 

He lived there until he became a teenager.  After that, he went to live with the O-shu Fujiwara (奥州藤原) family.   They resided in the northern part of Japan, quite a distance away from Kyoto.  The O-shu Fujiwara clan was very wealthy.  They had a luxurious culture there.  Because of the distance from Chotei (the central government), they acted as if they were an independent country.   They created great wealth by mining gold and trading it with countries outside Japan. 

Yoshitsune lived there quite happily for a while, but when he heard that his half-brother Yoritomo had raised an army to attack the Heishi, he decided to join them.  Yoshitsune was highly skilled in battles.  He won many famous battles, which were critical for the Genji to win the war.  

Yoritomo had a grand political plan for how to proceed to take over the Heishi’s power.   However, Yoshitsune did not understand it.  He was a skilled warrior, but not a politician.  That made Yoritomo irritated and angry with him.  On top of that, Yoshitsune became quite popular in Kyoto.  That made Yoritomo anxious, and he decided to eliminate Yoshitsune. 

Yoshitsune fled to O-shu, Fujiwara.  Initially, the O-shu Fujiwara protected Yoshitsune but could not hold against Yoritomo’s army.  Ultimately, Yoritomo destroyed the O-shu Fujiwara entirely in the end.  Today, a grand structure built by the O-shu Fujiwara has been restored.  You can visit “Konjiki-do: 金色堂” inside “Chuson-ji Temple: 中尊寺.”

The  Chinese knew about the wealth of O-shu Fujiwara.  Later, Marco Polo heard about this wealthy small country further east. He mentioned this wealthy small island in his book, “The Travels of Marco Polo.”  In this book, he wrote, “All the houses are made of gold,” referring to O-shu Fujiwara.  Of course, not all the houses were made of gold.

Marco Polo introduced Japan as “Zipangu” in his book.  It means the golden country. The name “Zipangu” evolved into Japan.  However, we Japanese don’t call our country  Japan.  We call it “Nihon” or “Nippon,” and both are correct.