Minamoto no Yoshinaka

A portrait of Yoshinaka

Minamoto no Yoshinaka ( Japanese 源 義 仲 ; * 1154 ; † February 21, 1184 at Awazu ) was a Japanese aristocrat and member of the Minamoto clan at the time of the Gempei War . He was also Shogun of Japan for a short time .

Family and early years

Yoshinaka was a member of the powerful Minamoto clan, who traced their ancestry back to the Japanese Emperor Saga , and a cousin of the later Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo and his brother Minamoto no Yoshitsune . His birth name was Komaomaru. His father Minamoto Yoshikata (源 義 賢), a sword bearer in the Palace of Spring, was defeated in 1155 in family disputes within the clan and was violently killed. His mother, Saeda, was the daughter of an official from the capital. Three-year-old Minamoto no Yoshinaka was hidden at the court of Kaneto Nakahara, the deputy governor of Shinano Province , to protect himself from his father's murderers . He probably grew up in the Kiso Mountains . As an adult, Yoshinaka learned of his origins and a little later married Tomoe, the daughter of Kaneto Nakahara. At the age of twenty he had a son who was named Yoshitaka.

Role in the Gempei war

When the military conflict between the Taira and the Minamoto broke out in 1180, later known as the Gempei War, Minamoto no Yoshinaka raised an army that same year and sided with the Minamoto against the Taira. In 1183 he was the commander-in-chief of his clan in the battle of Kurikara . When he saw the enemy, he ordered his warriors to wave white flags (the symbol of his clan ) on the surrounding hills to simulate a larger army. The Taira, who actually outnumbered them, did not dare to continue on their way and made camp in front of the pass. At sunset, the Minamoto attacked their opponents from three sides and, among other things, took them under fire with a rain of arrows. Yoshinaka drove a herd of oxen down the pass into the enemy army. This messed up the taira. Many of their fighters were trampled to death or fell into the depths. Much of their troops were killed in an ambush by the Minamoto. Few were able to escape. The losses of the Taira were probably enormous. The Battle of Kurikara is therefore considered to be a decisive battle and a turning point in the Gempei War.

Appointment to Shogun and overthrow

In the course of the war, Minamoto no Yoshinaka succeeded in capturing the former Japanese emperor Go-Shirakawa in 1182 . A little later he appointed him Shogun (sei-i teishogun). After this move, combined with his victory in the Battle of Kurikara in 1183, Yoshinaka was at the height of his power. However, it was not long before he got into conflicts with his own clan, the Minamoto, which were fought militarily. In 1184 he was killed by Minamoto no Yoshitsune ( Battle of Awazu ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Louis Frederic: Japan Encyclopedia , Cambridge / London 2002, pp. 62, 635.
2. ↑ Yuriko Iwakiri: Japense Warriors Prints , 1646-1904, Michigan 2007, p. 164.
3. ↑ Harald Pöcher: Wars and battles in Japan , Vienna 2009, p. 62.
4. ↑ Frederic 2002, pp. 635f.