Battle of Yashima
| date | March 22, 1185 |
|---|---|
| place | Yashima (now Takamatsu ) on Shikoku on the Seto Inland Sea |
| output | Victory of the Minamoto |
| consequences | Preparing for the final defeat of the Taira |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
various |
|
| Troop strength | |
| about 100 men | |
The Battle of Yashima ( Japanese 屋 島 の 戦 い , Yashima no tatakai ) took place on March 22, 1185 at the end of the Gempei War .
After a long series of defeats, the Taira clan withdrew to Yashima (now Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture ), just off the Shikoku coast on the Seto Inland Sea . Here they had a fortress and improvised palace for the underage Emperor Antoku and the throne insignia of Japan that they were able to take into their possession earlier in the year.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune , who left Kyōto after a break of a few months, arrived in Shikoku with a small force of only about 100 men. Most of his ships had been destroyed or lost in a storm the day before. However, he was supplied with supplies by an ally, Kajiwara Kagetoki .
The Taira expected a sea attack, so Minamoto no Yoshitsune had fire lighted on Shikoku in the rear of the enemy to make the Taira believe that a large force was approaching from land.
They gave up the fortress and palace and withdrew with the emperor and the throne regalia on their ships.
Then came the most famous event in the history of Japanese archery, when Nasu no Yoichi hit a fan attached to the mast of a ship by the Taira with the first shot (see Yabusame ).
The Minamoto had won the battle, but the majority of the Taira were able to escape by ship to Dan-no-ura, where they were finally defeated about a month later in the Battle of Dan-no-ura .
swell
- George Sansom: A History of Japan to 1334 . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1958
- Stephen Turnbull: The Samurai Sourcebook . Cassell & Co., London 1998