Minamoto (Genji)Minamoto (Kawachi Genji)
Minamoto no Yoshinaka
木曽義仲
“The Rising Sun Shogun”
1154–1184 (aged 31)
- Rank / office
- Shogun / Captain of the Left Stables
- Domain / base
- Kiso, Shinano
- Banner / crest
- Bamboo and gentian
- Battles in 3D
- 1 battle
The armour that never used to weigh on me feels heavy today.
The Tale of the Heike, "The Death of Kiso"
Second son of Minamoto no Yoshikata. After his father was killed by his nephew Yoshihira, he was raised by Nakahara Kaneto in the Kiso valley of Shinano. In Jishō 4 he rose in concert with Yoritomo and brought the Hokuriku road under his control. In Juei 2 he met the great Taira army of Taira no Koremori at Kurikara pass on Mount Tonami and, with decoy white banners, a night attack and the fire-oxen stratagem, drove it into the ravine. Riding his momentum into the capital, he chased the Taira from Kyoto and was hailed as the "Rising Sun Shogun." But he could not keep order in the city and fell out with the cloistered emperor Go-Shirakawa; scarcely appointed shogun, he was attacked by Yoshitsune and Noriyori, sent by Yoritomo, and died at Awazu with Imai Kanehira. He was thirty-one.
Life and battlesGold dots mark battles you can watch in 3D
- 1154Kyūju 1
Birth
Born the second son of Minamoto no Yoshikata. His childhood name was Komaōmaru.
- 1180Jishō 4
Rising at Kiso
Receiving Prince Mochihito's call to arms, he raised troops in Shinano against the Taira.
- 1183Juei 2
Battle of Kurikara
On Mount Tonami he destroyed Taira no Koremori's great army with a night attack and the fire-oxen stratagem.
Battle of Kurikara Commander-in-chief 5,000 troops Watch in 3D › The Minamoto scion raised in the Kiso valley of Shinano. With thirty decoy banners and the fire-oxen stratagem he drove a great Taira army into the ravine and swept on to the capital: the "Rising Sun Shogun." - 1183Juei 2
Entry into the capital
Drove the Taira from Kyoto and was hailed as the "Rising Sun Shogun."
- 1184Juei 3
Death at Awazu
Defeated by the armies of Yoshitsune and Noriyori, he died at Awazu in Ōmi together with Imai Kanehira.
