FIELD REPORTS
The Uji River, and Awazu: Why Was Yoshinaka Cast as Court Enemy Half a Year After Entering the Capital?
In the seventh month of 1183, Yoshinaka entered Kyoto and was appointed Barbarian-Subduing Shogun. But half a year later he was killed as a court enemy by the Kamakura army. What happened in the capital? A record of the half-year of mismanagement from the entry to Kyoto to the death at Awazu.
On the twenty-eighth day of the seventh month of 1183, Yoshinaka entered Kyoto. He drove the Taira house out of the capital, and was appointed Barbarian-Subduing Shogun by Emperor Go-Shirakawa — the epithet 'Rising-Sun Shogun' derives from this.
He was twenty-nine. But half a year later, on the twentieth day of the first month of 1184, he was killed at Awazu in Ōmi Province （the modern Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture）.
Grain Seizure and the Anger of Kyoto
Immediately after the entry, Yoshinaka's army was welcomed by the people of Kyoto.
But within a few months, the requisitioning of provisions by the Kiso troops, clashes with residents, and the deterioration of public order continued.
The capital was already struck by famine, and the requisitioning by Yoshinaka's army directly pressed the survival of the residents.
In less than half a year, the anger of the people of Kyoto turned on Yoshinaka.
The Hōjū-ji Engagement — the Break with Emperor Go-Shirakawa
In November 1183, Yoshinaka attacked the Hōjū-ji Palace of the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa.
The 'Hōjū-ji engagement.' The retired emperor was confined. By having a warrior confine a retired emperor by force, Yoshinaka lost the political support of the court entirely.
At the same time, it gave Yoritomo in Kamakura the justification for a 'pursuit of the court enemy Yoshinaka.
The Uji River, and the Morning at Awazu
In the first month of 1184, the force of Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitsune dispatched by Yoritomo approached Kyoto.
Yoshinaka met Noriyori's force at the Uji River, but Yoshitsune's force crossed from upstream and struck the flank.
Yoshinaka's army broke, and on his way falling back to Ōmi, Yoshinaka was killed at Awazu.
Thirty-one.
The Tale of the Heike depicts Yoshinaka's end as accompanied by his favored female warrior Tomoe Gozen （this site's id 28）.
'Tomoe, though a woman, is a warrior worth a thousand. You — flee quickly.' Sending Tomoe to flee, Yoshinaka fell struck by arrows together with a few retainers.
The first victor over the Taira was destroyed, half a year after victory, in the same capital that had made his victory.
"Tomoe, though a woman, is a warrior worth a thousand. You — flee quickly."
PRIMARY SOURCES & ARCHIVES
- PRIMARY
Azuma Kagami
Compiled by the Kamakura shogunate
Records Yoshinaka's stay in Kyoto, the Hōjū-ji engagement, and his death at Awazu chronologically
- SCHOLARSHIP
The Genpei War
Uwayokote Masataka / Shueisha
Empirical examination of the political structure of Yoshinaka's mismanagement and destruction
- ARCHIVE
Gichū-ji
Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture
Yoshinaka's grave site; also the site of Matsuo Bashō's grave
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RELATED REPORTS
- SA-0053Kiso Yoshinaka— The 'Rising-Sun Shogun' who broke the Taira at Kurikara Pass and reached Kyoto first
- SA-0028Tomoe Gozen— The woman warrior of the Genpei War whose existence historians cannot quite confirm or deny
- SA-0051Minamoto no Yoshitsune— The Genji general who destroyed the Taira at Dannoura, then was killed by his own brother Yoritomo