was a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

lord who was the head of the

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 served as '' Chinjufu-shōgun''. Along with his son Minamoto no Yoshiie, he led the Imperial forces against rebellious forces in the north, a campaign called the

Zenkunen War The , also known in English as the Former Nine Years' War or the Early Nine Years' War, was fought between the Imperial Court in Kyoto, Imperial Court and the Abe clan in Mutsu Province, in Tōhoku region, Northeast Japan, from 1051 to 1062. It ...

, which would be followed some years later by the

Gosannen War 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 ...

Biography

His childhood name was Odaimaru (王代丸). He held the title, passed down from his father, of '' Chinjufu-shōgun'', Commander-in-chief of the Defense of the North. Yoriyoshi accompanied his father Minamoto no Yorinobu on his own missions to defend the Empire, quelling rebellions and disturbances. Thus he gained much of his knowledge of tactics and strategy. He fought in the Zenkunen War for twelve years starting in 1051, including the

Battle of Kawasaki The battle of Kawasaki was the first major battle of the Early Nine Years' War ( Zenkunen War) (1051-1063). It was fought between the forces of the Abe clan, led by Abe no Sadato, and those of the Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), no ...

. In 1063, Yoriyoshi founded Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

鶴岡八幡宮
"History of Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine" (in Japanese) retrieved on February 4, 2009 which was to become, roughly a century later, the primary shrine of the Minamoto clan when they began the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yori ...

. His son was Minamoto no Yoshiie, who "would go on to be admired by his contemporaries as the greatest warrior." In 1065, he ordained as a Buddhist monk and received the

Dharma name A Dharma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and Pabbajjā, monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The name is ...

Shinkai (信海).

Family

* Father: '' Chinjufu-shōgun'' Minamoto no Yorinobu * Mother: Shuri no Myobu * Wife: daughter of Taira no Naokata * Children: ** Minamoto no Yoshiie ** Minamoto no Yoshitsuna ** Minamoto no Yoshimitsu

References

Sources

*Sansom, George (1958). 'A History of Japan to 1334'. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Minamoto clan People of the Heian period Nobility from Kyoto 988 births 1075 deaths Deified Japanese men Imperial House of Japan {{japan-noble-stub Samurai Buddhist clergy of the Heian period

Biography

Family

See also

References

Sources