The Descent at Hiyodorigoe: What Did Yoshitsune Do at Ichi-no-Tani That Morning?

In the early dawn of March 20, 1184 （the seventh of the second month of Juei 3）, at Ichi-no-Tani in Settsu Province （the modern Suma Ward of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture）.

The Taira army, several thousand strong, had placed its headquarters in a fortress guarded by the sea to the south and the sheer Mount Tekkai to the north.

Before sunrise — along the ridgeline of the northern mountain, the small mounted force under Yoshitsune appeared.

'Hiyodorigoe' is the name of a pass on the north side of Ichi-no-Tani. The terrain is sheer, unsuited to the advance of a great army.

The Taira had left this direction out of the main lines of defense — this much is corroborated even in the contemporary sources: a gap in tactical judgment.

The Tale of the Heike depicts Yoshitsune riding down the cliff on horseback with some seventy horsemen.

'Go,' Yoshitsune commands, and the white horse leaps. The horses behind descend the cliff.

The Taira camp, thrown into confusion by a mounted surprise from a direction they had not prepared for, breaks.

It is one of the most famous battlefield scenes in Japanese war literature.

But the description in the contemporary Azuma Kagami is very brief. 'Yoshitsune attacks from the mountain side' — that is nearly the whole of it.

The dramatic depiction of riding a cliff on horseback is most likely amplification characteristic of the war narrative.

The actual terrain of Mount Tekkai has changed considerably from that time to the present.

Modern military historians have speculated that what Yoshitsune descended was not a sheer cliff but a steep path along the ridgeline.

That said, what is certain remains. Yoshitsune broke through the north side of Ichi-no-Tani in a surprise flanking maneuver, and struck behind the Taira camp.

On that day the Taira lost several key commanders and withdrew to Yashima. To their destruction at Dannoura — one year and three months.