, also known as , 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 mentioned in the epic poem '' The Tale of the Heike.'' A member 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 ...

, he was a cousin and later rival of ''

shogun , officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, exc ...

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

during 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 ...

between the Minamoto and the Taira clans in the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

Early life

Yoshinaka was born in

Musashi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...

. His father, Minamoto no Yoshikata, was killed by Minamoto no Yoshihira in 1155. Yoshihira also sought to kill Yoshinaka who escaped to

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. He was raised by Nakahara no Kanetō, the father of Imai Kanehira, together with his milk-brother Imai Kanehira, who would later become his best friend and most loyal retainer. Yoshinaka later changed his name from Minamoto to , to reflect the Kiso Mountains where he was raised.

Genpei War

Yoshinaka accepted Prince Mochihito's call to the Minamoto clan to rise against the Taira in 1181. He entered the

by raising an army and invading

Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

. He then defeated a Taira force sent to pacify the area. The Taira army captured the fortress of Hiuchi in 1183. Yoshinaka later that year was confronted by his cousin,

, whose army had entered Shinano. They reconciled and resolved to unite against the Taira. Yoshinaka to seal the agreement sent his son Yoshitaka (or Yoshimoto) to

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 ...

as a hostage. However, having been shamed by the process, Yoshinaka was now determined to beat Yoritomo to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, defeat the Taira on his own, and take control of the Minamoto clan. Yoshinaka defeated the army of Taira no Koremori at the Battle of Kurikara Pass and marched to Kyoto. The Taira retreated out of the capital, taking the child Emperor Antoku with them. Yoshinaka's army entered the capital with the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa who issued a mandate for Yoshinaka to join with Yukiiye in "destroying Munemori and his army". The emperor also bestowed upon Yoshinaka the title of ''Asahi

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'' (). Yoshinaka plotted with Yukiie in "setting up a government in their own northern province". Learning Go-Shirakawa had sought help from his cousin Yoritomo, Yoshinaka seized the cloistered emperor and burned his palace. Yoritomo ordered his brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori to destroy Yoshinaka. He was subsequently driven out of Kyoto and killed by his cousins at the Battle of Awazu in

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

(present-day Shiga Prefecture) along with Kanehira. With night coming and with many enemy soldiers chasing him, he attempted to find an isolated spot to kill himself. However, the story says that his horse became trapped in a field of partly frozen mud and his enemies were able to approach him and kill him.

Legacy

Yoshinaka was buried in

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

, in Ōmi; a temple was built in his honor during the later

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

. Its name, Gichū-ji, has the same two

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

as his given name. Kanehira's grave is also in Otsu, but it is not close to Yoshinaka's. The

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

poet Matsuo Bashō, pursuant to his last wishes, was buried next to Minamoto no Yoshinaka in Gichū-ji. Minamoto no Yoshinaka is one of many main characters in the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, the ''

Tale of Heike is an epic poetry, 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 ...

''. The story of Yoshinaka and Kanehira is fairly well known in Japan; it is also the subject of the Noh play ''Kanehira'', in which Kanehira's tormented ghost describes his and Yoshinaka's death, and his wish to go to the other side.

In popular media

*In the '' Fate/Grand Order'' timeline, Minamoto-no-Yoshinaka is the romantic partner of

Tomoe Gozen Tomoe Gozen (, ) was an onna-musha, a female samurai, mentioned in '' The Tale of the Heike.'' There is doubt as to whether she existed as she doesn't appear in any primary accounts of the Genpei war. She only appears in the epic "The tale of th ...

, an Archer-class servant. Yoshinaka is summoned for the first time as a rogue Saber-class servant in the game '' Fate/Samurai Remnant'' where his backstory aligns with Tomoe's.

Early life

Genpei War

Legacy

In popular media

See also

References

Further reading