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Updated: May 23, 2025
It commenced with an inconclusive archery duel at long range, whereafter the two fleets closed up and a desperate hand-to-hand struggle ensued. Neither side could claim any decisive advantage until Taguchi Shigeyoshi deserted from the Taira and passed over with all his ships to the Minamoto.
Originally Endo Morito, an officer of the guards in Kyoto, he fell in love with his cousin, Kesa,* the wife of a comrade called Minamoto Wataru. His addresses being resolutely rejected, he swore that if Kesa remained obdurate, he would kill her mother. From this dilemma the brave woman determined that self-sacrifice offered the only effective exit.
At an early day, Yoritomo, the far-seeing founder of the Minamoto dynasty, had observed a militant tendency in Buddhism, and had attempted to check it by forbidding all priests and monks either to bear arms, or to maintain armed retainers.
This attitude of caution pointed specially to the provinces of Hitachi and Shimotsuke, where the powerful Minamoto families of Satake and Nitta, respectively, looked coldly upon the cause of their kinsman, Yoritomo. Therefore the army was withdrawn to a more convenient position on the Kiso River, and steps, ultimately successful, were taken to win over the Nitta and the Satake.
Taken completely by surprise, the Taira weakened, and the Minamoto, pouring in at either flank, completed the rout which had already commenced. Munemori was among the first of the fugitives. He embarked with the Emperor Antoku and the regalia, and steered for Yashima, whither he was quickly followed by the remnants of his force. Shigehira, Kiyomori's fifth son, was taken prisoner.
But Minamoto Yukiiye, learning of these strained relations, emerged from hiding and applied himself to win the friendship of Yoshitsune, who received his advances graciously. Yoritomo, much incensed at this development, sent the son of Kajiwara Kagetoki to Yoshitsune with a mandate for Yukiiye's execution. Such a choice of messenger was ill calculated to promote concord.
Thus, in the Heiji insurrection, the Minamoto received their severest blow when Fujiwara Korekata contrived that, under cover of darkness, the Emperor, disguised as a maid-of-honour in the household of the Empress, should be transported in her Majesty's suite, from the Kurodo palace to the Taira mansion at Rokuhara.
Yoshitomo, the head of the house, was assassinated by a traitor bribed by Kiyomori, his oldest son was beheaded, and the others whom he thought to be the last of the Minamoto were either banished or immured in monasteries. All the reins of power seemed to be in the regent's grasp. The story is here diversified by a legend well worth repeating.
Oye Tomotsuna, Sugawara Fumitoki, Minamoto Shitago these were famous littérateurs, and Minamoto Hiromasa, grandson of the Emperor Uda, attained celebrity as a musical genius. Minamoto Narinobu, and Minamoto Toshikata. It is observable that in this necessarily brief summary the name "Minamoto" occurs several times, as does that of "Fujiwara" also.
Yorimasa determined to strike a blow for the Minamoto cause, and looking round for a figure-head, he fixed upon Prince Mochihito, elder brother of Takakura. This prince, being the son of a concubine, had never reached Imperial rank, though he was thirty years of age, but he possessed some capacity, and a noted physiognomist had recognized in him a future Emperor.
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