The was fought between the attacking

Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...

and the defending

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

at Suma, to the west of present-day

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, on 20 March 1184. It sat on a very narrow strip of shore, between mountains on the north, and the sea to the south. This made it quite defensible, but also made it difficult to maneuver troops inside the fortress. The Taira suffered a crucial defeat to the forces of

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-br ...

and

Minamoto no Noriyori was a Japanese samurai lord of the late Heian period and early Kamakura period, who fought alongside his brothers Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune at a number of battles of the Genpei War. He was the sixth son of Minamoto no Yosh ...

Battle

Minamoto no Yoshitsune split his forces in two. Minamoto no Noriyori's forces attacked the Taira clan at

Ikuta Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Chūō Ward of Kobe, Japan, and is possibly among the oldest shrines in the country. It was founded by Empress Jingu when she returned from the Three Han (三韓, Korea) campaign. She was nearly shipwrecked but manag ...

, in the woods a short distance to the east. A second detachment, no more than a hundred horsemen under Yoshitsune himself, attacked the Taira at Ichi-no-Tani from the mountain ridge to the north. At the chosen hour, the Minamoto forces attacked causing confusion among the Taira who neither deployed nor retreated. Only about 3,000 Taira escaped to Yashima, while Tadanori was killed and Shigehira captured. Also killed from the Taira clan were Lord Michimori, Tsunemasa, Atsumori, Moromori, Tomoakira, Tsunetoshi, and Moritoshi. Ichi-no-Tani is one of the most famous battles of the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

, in large part due to the individual combats that occurred here.

Benkei , popularly known by the mononym Benkei (), was a Japanese warrior monk (''sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185). Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic, and then a rogue war ...

, probably the most famous of all warrior monks, fought alongside his lord Minamoto no Yoshitsune here, and many of the Taira's most important and powerful warriors were present as well. Ichi-no-Tani is the last recorded instance in which

crossbows A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, Elastic (notion), elastic used in garments or stretch fabric, stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alte ...

were used in a Japanese siege.

Legacy

The death of

Taira no Atsumori (1169–1184) was a ''samurai'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He was a member of the Taira clan (Heike) who fought in the Genpei War against the Minamoto (Genji). He is mostly known for his early death at the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani and hi ...

at the hand of Kumagai no Naozane during the battle is a particularly famous passage in the ''

Heike Monogatari is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). It has been translated into English at least five times. ...

''. It has been dramatized in

noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

and

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

, and in popular fiction,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

is often portrayed as performing the noh at his own death (''ningen goju nen geten no uchi wo kurabureba, yumemaboroshi no gotoku nari'') in

Honnō-ji Incident The was the assassination of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto, on 21 June 1582 (2nd day of the sixth month, Tenshō 10). Nobunaga was on the verge of unifying the country, but died in the unexpected rebellion of ...

. The death of Atsumori is arguably among the most celebrated acts of single combat in all of

Japanese history The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when ...

Gallery

Ichi-no-Tani.jpg, Scene from the battle, detail from screen painting Kumagai_Naozane_and_Taira_no_Atsumori.jpg, The encounter between Kumagai Naozane and Taira no Atsumori,

woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page or image is creat ...

, circa 1820 Genpei Kassen Ezu.4 Ichinotani.jpg, Attack down the slope on the Taira camp Taira no Atsumori&Kumagai Naozane.jpg, Encounter between Naozane (right) and Atsumori (left), screen painting Sumaura from Mt. Tekkai 02.JPG, View today of the narrow coastal strip where the battle took place Sumaura park05 2000.JPG, Monument at the site of the battle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ichi-no-tani 1184 Sieges of the Genpei War 1180s in Japan 1184 in Asia Conflicts in 1184 Settsu Province History of Kobe Military history of Hyōgo Prefecture Attacks on military installations in Japan

Battle

Legacy

Gallery

See also

References