The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, ''gosannen kassen''), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū.

History

The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power within the warrior clans of the time. The ''Gosannen kassen'' arose because of a series of quarrels within the

Kiyohara clan The was a powerful clan of the far north of Japan during the Heian period, descended from Prince Toneri, son of Emperor Tenmu (631–686). Kiyohara no Fusanori (9th century) had two sons: the elder was the ancestor of the samurai branch fam ...

(sometimes referred to as "Kiyowara"). The long-standing disturbances were intractable. When

Minamoto no Yoshiie Minamoto No Yoshiie (源義家; 1039 – 4 August 1106), also known as Hachimantarō, was a Minamoto clan samurai of the late Heian period, and '' Chinjufu-shōgun'' (Commander-in-chief of the defense of the North). The first son of Minamoto ...

, who became Governor of Mutsu province in 1083, tried to calm the fighting which continued between Kiyohara no Masahira, Iehira, and Narihira. Negotiations were not successful; and so Yoshiie used his own forces to stop the fighting. He was helped by Fujiwara no Kiyohira. In the end, Iehira and Narihira were killed. During the Siege of Kanezawa, 1086–1089, Yoshiie avoided an ambush by noticing a flock of birds take flight from a forest.

In art

Much of the war is depicted in an '' e-maki'' narrative handscroll, the ''Gosannen Kassen E-maki'', which was created in 1171.Varley, p. 41. The artwork is owned today by the Watanabe Museum in Tottori city, Japan.

History

In art

See also

References

Further reading