was a Japanese poet,

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

and

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. His poetry appeared in various

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

. He served eight different emperors in his long career, holding posts such as ''hyōgo no kami'' (head of the arsenal). As a general, he led the

Minamoto was a noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility since 814."...the Minamoto (1192-1333)". ''Warrior Rule in Jap ...

armies at the beginning 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 ...

. Even in later generations, the common name was passed down (Yorimasa was not the only person who was called “Genzanmi”, in the same period). Also, like his father, he used the surname “Baba” and was also called “Baba no Yorimasa.”

Biography

In the clashes between the Minamoto and

Taira The was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named ...

clans that had gone on for decades, Yorimasa had tried to stay out of politics, and avoided taking sides. He did participate in the

Hōgen rebellion The was a short civil war fought in order to resolve a dispute about Japanese Imperial succession. The dispute was also about the degree of control exercised by the Fujiwara clan who had become hereditary Imperial regents during the Heian p ...

in 1156. For a time, he was even friends with

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and '' kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Japan, in 1118 as the first son of Taira ...

. During the Heiji rebellion of 1160, he leaned just enough in favor of the Taira that it allowed them to overthrow the Minamoto. However, by the time he officially retired from military service in Kiyomori's army in 1179, Yorimasa had changed his mind about opposing his own clan. He entered the Buddhist priesthood and in May 1180, he sent out an appeal to other Minamoto leaders, and to temples and monasteries that Kiyomori had offended. In the following Genpei War, which began with the Battle of Uji in 1180, Yorimasa led Minamoto forces, along with warrior monks from Miidera, in defending the

Byōdō-in is a Buddhist temple in the city of Uji in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, built in the late Heian period. It is jointly a temple of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land) and Tendai-shū (Heavenly Level) sects. History This temple was originally built ...

temple. Despite the monks' having torn up the planks of the bridge leading to the temple, the Taira managed to break through their defenses, and take the temple. After suffering this defeat at Uji, he committed ritual suicide at Byōdō-in. Minamoto no Yorimasa's suicide by

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

may be the earliest recorded instance of a samurai's suicide in the face of defeat, although

Minamoto no Tametomo , also known as , was a samurai who fought in the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156. He was the son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi, and brother to Yukiie and Yoshitomo. Tametomo is known in the epic chronicles as a powerful archer and it is said that he onc ...

, who died in 1170, ten years before Yorimasa, may hold this distinction. He told

Minamoto no Yukiie was a brother of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and one of the commanders of the Minamoto forces in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. In 1181, he was defeated at the Battle of Sunomatagawa by Taira no Shigehira. After ...

to give the other members of the Minamoto clan

Prince Mochihito (died June 1180), also known as the Takakura Prince, and as Minamoto no Mochimitsu (源以光), was a son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan. He is noted for his role in starting the Genpei War. Believing that Taira no Kiyomori was causing su ...

’s orders. According to legend, after his death a retainer took Yorimasa's head to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Taira. He then fastened it to a rock and threw it into the

Uji River The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...

so it could not be found.

Family

Yorimasa had several children including a daughter, poet Nijōin no Sanuki, and sons, samurai lords

Minamoto no Nakatsuna Minamoto no Nakatsuna (died 1180) was a Japanese samurai lord. He was the elder son of Minamoto no Yorimasa, and fought in the Battle of Uji (1180), Battle of Uji in 1180, during the Genpei War. Together with his father and younger brother Minamo ...

and

Minamoto no Kanetsuna was a son of Minamoto no Yorimasa. Kanetsuna participated in the first Battle of Uji in 1180 that opened the Genpei War. He accompanied his father, Yorimasa, and brother, Nakatsuna, in opposing the Taira clan. In the Battle of Uji, the command ...

. His cousin was

Minamoto no Mitsuyuki Minamoto no Mitsuyuki (源光行 1163–1244) was an author, as well as governor in Kawachi province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was ...

a poet who was an advisor for

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 ...

Poetry

In a famous episode in the

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a medieval Japanese historical epic (see '' gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. It deals primarily with the Nanboku-chō, the period of war between the ...

''Samidare ni sawabe no makomo mizu koete/izure ayame to hikizo wazurau'' The fifth-month rains swamp the water-oats along the shore, making it hard to tell irises from one another and pull just one

"So, Yorimasa not only added to his reputation as an archer by shooting down a

nue The Nue (鵺, 鵼, 恠鳥, or 奴延鳥) is a legendary yōkai or mononoke from Japanese mythology. Appearance In the ''The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Heike'', it is described as a Japanese Chimera (mythology), Chimera having the head of a Ja ...

; he also proved himself a distinguished poet by winning with a single poem Lady Ayame, whom he had adored for years and months." Yorimasa's

death poem The death poem is a genre of poetry that developed in the literary traditions of the Sinosphere—most prominently in Culture of Japan, Japan as well as certain periods of Chinese history, Joseon Korea, and Vietnam. They tend to offer a reflectio ...

was:

''umoregi no/hana saku koto mo/nakarishi ni/mi no naru hate zo/kanashikarikeru'' Like a fossil tree From which we gather no flowers Sad has been my life Fated no fruit to produce

The slaying of the Nue

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. ...

'' and the '' Settsu Meisho Zue'' from the

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

, tell the following tale of the killing of the Nue: In the closing years of the

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 ...

, at the place where the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

(

Emperor Konoe was the 76th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 近衛天皇 (76)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Konoe's reign spanned the years from 1142 through 1155. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Chr ...

) lived, the Seiryō-den, there appeared a cloud of black smoke along with an eerie resounding crying voice, making Emperor Nijō quite afraid. Subsequently, the emperor fell into illness, and neither medicine nor prayers had any effect. A close associate remembered

Minamoto no Yoshiie , also known as and his title , 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 no Yoriyoshi, he proved himself in battle with the Ab ...

using an arrow to put a stop to the mystery case of some bird's cry, and he gave the order to a master of arrows, Minamoto no Yorimasa, to slay the monster. One night, Yorimasa went out to slay the monster with his servant Ino Hayata (written as 猪早太 or 井早太), and an arrow made from an arrowhead he had inherited from his ancestor

Minamoto no Yorimitsu , also known as Minamoto no Raikō, was a Japanese samurai of the Heian period, who served the regents of the Fujiwara clan along with his brother Yorinobu, taking the violent measures the Fujiwara were themselves unable to take. He is one of t ...

and the tailfeathers of a mountain bird. An uncanny black smoke started to cover the Seiryō-den. Yorimasa shot his arrow into it, there was a shriek, and a nue fell down around the northern parts of

Nijō Castle is a flatland Japanese castle, castle in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings (Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area ...

. Instantly Ino Hayata seized it and finished it off. In the skies above the imperial court, two or three cries of the

common cuckoo The cuckoo, common cuckoo, European cuckoo or Eurasian cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the Geococcyx, roadrunners, the ani (bird), anis and the coucals. This species is a widesp ...

could be heard, and it is thus said that peace had returned. After this, the emperor's health instantly recovered, and Yorimasa was given the sword as a reward.

References

External links