1.
Genpei War
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The Genpei War was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late-Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1192, the name Genpei comes from alternate readings of the kanji Minamoto and Taira. The conflict is known in Japanese as the Jishō-Juei War. It followed a coup détat by the Taira in 1179 and call to arms against them led by the Minamoto in 1180, the ensuing Battle of Uji took place just outside Kyoto, starting a five-year-long war, concluding with a decisive Minamoto victory in the naval Battle of Dan-no-ura. The Genpei War was the culmination of a conflict between the two aforementioned clans over dominance of the Imperial court, and by extension, control of Japan. In the Hōgen Rebellion and in the Heiji Rebellion of earlier decades, in 1180, Taira no Kiyomori put his grandson Antoku on the throne after the abdication of Emperor Takakura. However, this ended with the deaths of Yorimasa and Mochihito. In June 1180, Kiyomori moved the seat of power to Fukuhara-kyō. The actions of Taira no Kiyomori having deepened Minamoto hatred for the Taira clan, not knowing who was behind this rally, Kiyomori called for the arrest of Mochihito, who sought protection at the temple of Mii-dera. The Mii-dera monks were unable to ensure him sufficient protection, so he was forced to move along and he was then chased by Taira forces to the Byōdō-in, just outside Kyoto. The war began thus, with an encounter on and around the bridge over the River Uji. This battle ended in Yorimasas ritual suicide inside the Byōdō-in and Mochihitos capture and it was at this point that Minamoto no Yoritomo took over leadership of the Minamoto clan and began traveling the country seeking to rendezvous with allies. Leaving Izu Province and heading for the Hakone Pass, he was defeated by the Taira in the battle of Ishibashiyama, however he successfully made it to the provinces of Kai and Kōzuke, where the Takeda and other friendly families helped repel the Taira army. Meanwhile, Taira no Kiyomori, seeking vengeance against the Mii-dera monks and others, besieged Nara, fighting continued the following year,1181. Minamoto no Yukiie was defeated by a led by Taira no Shigehira at the Battle of Sunomatagawa. However, the Taira could not follow up their victory, Taira no Kiyomori died from illness in the spring of 1181, and around the same time Japan began to suffer from a famine which was to last through the following year. The Taira moved to attack Minamoto no Yoshinaka, a cousin of Yoritomo, for nearly two years, the war ceased, only to resume in the spring of 1183. Both Minamoto leaders had little or no opposition in marching to the capital and now forced the Taira to flee the city
2.
Shimonoseki
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Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is at the tip of Honshu, facing the Tsushima Strait. Nicknamed the Fugu Capital, it is known for the locally caught pufferfish and is the largest harvester of the pufferfish in Japan, as of October 1,2016, the city has an estimated population of 265,684 and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area is 716.14 km², the Heike and Genji fought at Dan-no-ura near the present Kanmonkyo Bridge. The city prior to 1902 was commonly known as Bakan and formally Akamagaseki, on February 13,2005, Shimonoseki absorbed the towns of Hōhoku, Kikugawa, Toyota and Toyoura to create the new and expanded city of Shimonseki. Since October 1,2005, the city has designated as a core city by the Japanese Government. An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Shimonoseki as a port for trading with the United States. On January 7,2006, the station building at Shimonoseki station, which had dated back to 1942, was destroyed in a fire. Shimonoseki has a subtropical climate with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heavier in summer, Shimonoseki Shipyard and Machinery Works Yamaguchi Financial Group, Inc. Yamaguchi Shimbun Minato Shimbun The Kanpu ferry to Pusan in South Korea regularly, the Gwangyang Beech to Gwangyang in South Korea regularly. The Orient ferry to Shanghai in China regularly, the Orient ferry to Qingdao in China was suspended in November 2015. Shin-Shimonoseki Station - Shin-Shimonoseki Station is a station on the Sanyō Shinkansen Line. Intercity bus services go to the destinations, Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Airport. It formerly housed two other North Korean schools, Yamaguchi Korean High School and Shimonoseki Korean Elementary and Junior High School, Fugu uni Sea urchin Whale Anko Goosefish Kawara Soba Ganryu Yaki Mentaiko Roe Fuku Chochin Akamagaseki Suzuri Jourou Ningyo Shimonoseki is home to many festivals that are held throughout the year. Of these, the most famous are Shimonoseki Kaikyo Festival and Shimonoseki Bakan Festival, a designated yakuza group, the Goda-ikka is the largest yakuza syndicate in Yamaguchi Prefecture. S. Shimonoseki City Tourism Promotion Film Shimonoseki City Official Channel
3.
Kanmon Straits
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The Kanmon Straits or the Straits of Shimonoseki is the stretch of water separating two of Japans four main islands. On the Honshu side of the water is Shimonoseki and on the Kyushu side is Kitakyushu, whose former city and present ward, Moji, gave the strait its mon. The straits silt up at the rate of about 15 centimetres per annum, the total population of the Kanmon area is about 1.3 million, counting the whole of Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki, although detailed definitions vary widely. The New Kitakyushu Airport opened in Kitakyushu on March 16,2006, the Kanmon Straits Summer Fireworks Festival is held in August every year. The Voyager pleasure boat departs from Moji-kō and cruises the straits, helicopter joyrides are available from Kaikyo Dramaship in Moji-kō. In October 2005, one of the worlds largest airships currently flying also passed through Moji on an all-Japan tour and this airship was purchased by Nippon Airship Corporation in June 2004 and was used in the Tokyo area and at the Aichi Expo 2005. The Kanmon Straits can be crossed in a number of ways, there is a car ferry between Nishiminato and Hikinoshima which takes about ten minutes, and a passenger ferry from Moji-ko to Shimonoseki. There is also a bridge carries an expressway. By far the most used method is a number of Kanmon Tunnels which carry the Sanyō Shinkansen, trains, cars, the first railway tunnel was opened on November 15,1942. The highway tunnel was opened on March 9,1958, the Kanmonkyo Bridge was opened to vehicles on November 14,1973. The Shinkansen tunnel was opened on March 10,1975, the Kanmon straits is also the connection between the Sea of Japan and the Inland Sea. It is used by cargo ships as a shortcut to Osaka and Tokyo from Korea. The New Kitakyushu Airport is also nearby
4.
Minamoto
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Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were demoted into the ranks of the nobility. The practice was most prevalent during the Heian Period, although its last occurrence was during the Sengoku Era, the Taira were another such offshoot of the imperial dynasty. The Minamoto clan is called the Genji, using the Sino–Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for Minamoto. The Minamoto were one of four clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period — the other three were the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana. The first emperor to grant the surname Minamoto was Emperor Saga, in order to alleviate some of the pressure of supporting his unusually large family, he made many of his sons and daughters nobles instead of royals. He chose the word minamoto for their new surname in order to signify that the new clan shared the same origins as the royal family. Afterwards, Emperor Seiwa, Emperor Murakami, Emperor Uda, and Emperor Daigo, among others and these specific hereditary lines coming from different emperors developed into specific clans referred to by the emperors name followed by Genji, e. g. Seiwa Genji. According to some sources, the first to be given the name Minamoto was Minamoto no Makoto, in 814, Emperor Saga awarded the kabane Minamoto no Ason to his non-heir sons, thereafter, they and their descendants ceased to be members of the Imperial Family. Several subsequent emperors gave the Minamoto surname to their non-heir sons, the most prominent of the several Minamoto families, the Seiwa Genji, descended from Minamoto no Tsunemoto, a grandson of the 56th Emperor Seiwa. Tsunemoto went to the provinces and became the founder of a major warrior dynasty, Minamoto no Mitsunaka formed an alliance with their Fujiwara masters. Yorinobus son, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, and grandson, Minamoto no Yoshiie, the Seiwa Genjis fortunes declined in the Hōgen Rebellion, when the Taira executed much of the line, including Minamoto no Tameyoshi. During the Heiji Disturbance, the head of the Seiwa Genji clan, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Taira no Kiyomori seized power in Kyoto by forging an alliance with the retired emperors Shirakawa and Toba and infiltrating the kuge. He sent Minamoto no Yoritomo, the son of Minamoto no Yoshimoto of the Seiwa Genji. In 1180 Yoritomo mounted a rebellion against the Taira rule, culminating in the destruction of the Taira. In 1192 he received the title shogun and set up the first bakufu at Kamakura, also, its from the Seiwa Genji line that the later Ashikaga, Nitta, and Takeda clans come. The Genpei War is also the subject of the early Japanese epic The Tale of the Heike, many later clans were formed by members of the Minamoto clan, and in many early cases, progenitors of these clans are known by either family name. There are also known monks of Minamoto descent, these are noted in genealogies. There were 21 branches of the clan, each named after the emperor from whom it descended, some of these lineages were populous, but a few produced no descendants
5.
Taira clan
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Taira clan was a major Japanese clan of samurai. The Taira clan is often referred to as Heishi or Heike, offshoots of the imperial dynasty, some grandsons of Emperor Kanmu were first given the name Taira in 825 or later. Afterwards, descendants of Emperor Ninmyō, Emperor Montoku, and Emperor Kōkō were also given the surname, the specific hereditary lines from these emperors are referred to by the emperors posthumous name followed by Heishi, e. g. Kanmu Heishi. The Taira were one of the four important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period – the others were the Fujiwara clan, the Tachibana clan, a great-grandson of Heishi Takamochi, Taira no Korihira, moved to Ise Province and established a major daimyo dynasty. Masamoris son, Taira no Tadamori, became a supporter of the abdicated Emperor Shirakawa. Taira no Kiyomori, son and heir of Tadamori, rose to the position of daijō daijin following his victories in the Hōgen Disturbance, Kiyomori managed to enthrone his infant grandson as Emperor Antoku in 1180, an act which led to the Genpei War, the Taira-Minamoto War. Kiyomoris sons, the last of the family of the Kammu Heishi line, were eventually defeated by the 6 armies of Minamoto no Yoritomo at the Battle of Dan-no-ura. This story is told in the early Japanese epic, The Tale of the Heike and this Kammu Heishi had many branch families, including the Hōjō, Chiba, Miura, Tajiri and Hatakeyama. Another Kammu Heishi, Takamune-ō, the eldest son of Kazurahara-Shinnō, thus there were two Kammu Heishi families, one descended from Takamune and the other from his nephew, Takamochi. The Oda clan in the time of Oda Nobunaga claimed descent from the Taira, by Taira no Chikazane, a grandson of Taira no Shigemori
6.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
7.
Minamoto clan
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Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were demoted into the ranks of the nobility. The practice was most prevalent during the Heian Period, although its last occurrence was during the Sengoku Era, the Taira were another such offshoot of the imperial dynasty. The Minamoto clan is called the Genji, using the Sino–Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for Minamoto. The Minamoto were one of four clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period — the other three were the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana. The first emperor to grant the surname Minamoto was Emperor Saga, in order to alleviate some of the pressure of supporting his unusually large family, he made many of his sons and daughters nobles instead of royals. He chose the word minamoto for their new surname in order to signify that the new clan shared the same origins as the royal family. Afterwards, Emperor Seiwa, Emperor Murakami, Emperor Uda, and Emperor Daigo, among others and these specific hereditary lines coming from different emperors developed into specific clans referred to by the emperors name followed by Genji, e. g. Seiwa Genji. According to some sources, the first to be given the name Minamoto was Minamoto no Makoto, in 814, Emperor Saga awarded the kabane Minamoto no Ason to his non-heir sons, thereafter, they and their descendants ceased to be members of the Imperial Family. Several subsequent emperors gave the Minamoto surname to their non-heir sons, the most prominent of the several Minamoto families, the Seiwa Genji, descended from Minamoto no Tsunemoto, a grandson of the 56th Emperor Seiwa. Tsunemoto went to the provinces and became the founder of a major warrior dynasty, Minamoto no Mitsunaka formed an alliance with their Fujiwara masters. Yorinobus son, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, and grandson, Minamoto no Yoshiie, the Seiwa Genjis fortunes declined in the Hōgen Rebellion, when the Taira executed much of the line, including Minamoto no Tameyoshi. During the Heiji Disturbance, the head of the Seiwa Genji clan, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Taira no Kiyomori seized power in Kyoto by forging an alliance with the retired emperors Shirakawa and Toba and infiltrating the kuge. He sent Minamoto no Yoritomo, the son of Minamoto no Yoshimoto of the Seiwa Genji. In 1180 Yoritomo mounted a rebellion against the Taira rule, culminating in the destruction of the Taira. In 1192 he received the title shogun and set up the first bakufu at Kamakura, also, its from the Seiwa Genji line that the later Ashikaga, Nitta, and Takeda clans come. The Genpei War is also the subject of the early Japanese epic The Tale of the Heike, many later clans were formed by members of the Minamoto clan, and in many early cases, progenitors of these clans are known by either family name. There are also known monks of Minamoto descent, these are noted in genealogies. There were 21 branches of the clan, each named after the emperor from whom it descended, some of these lineages were populous, but a few produced no descendants
8.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
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Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a nobleman and military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan and he is considered one of the greatest and the most popular warriors of his era, and one of the most famous samurai fighters in the history of Japan. Yoshitsune perished after being betrayed by the son of a trusted ally, Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsunes older half-brother Minamoto no Yoritomo would go on to found the Kamakura shogunate, Yoshitsunes name in childhood was Ushiwakamaru. He was born just before the Heiji Rebellion of early 1160 in which his father and he survived this incident by fleeing the capital with his mother, while his half-brother Yoritomo was banished to Izu Province. At approximately age 10, Yoshitsune was placed in the care of the monks of Kurama Temple, a skillful swordsman, Yoshitsune defeated the legendary warrior monk Benkei in a duel. From then on, Benkei became Yoshitsunes right-hand man, eventually dying with him at the Siege of Koromogawa. In the ensuing war between the rival Minamoto and Taira samurai clans, known as the Genpei War, Yoshitsune joined Yoritomo, along with Minamoto no Noriyori and he finally destroyed them one month later at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture. Following the Genpei War, Yoshitsune was appointed as Governor of Iyo and his suspicious brother Yoritomo, however, opposed the presentation of these titles, and nullified them. Yoshitsune then secured imperial authorization to ally with his uncle Minamoto no Yukiie in opposing Yoritomo, incurring Yoritomos wrath, Yoshitsune fled Kyoto in 1185. His faithful mistress, Shizuka Gozen, carrying his child, fled with him at first, but then was left behind. Yoshitsune eventually made his way to Hiraizumi, Mutsu, once again to the protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira, yasuhira then had Yoshitsunes head preserved in sake, placed in a black-lacquered chest, and sent to Yoritomo as proof of death. Historical sources differ as to the fate of Yoshitsunes mistress Shizuka, Yoshitsune is enshrined in the Shirahata Jinja, a Shinto shrine in the city of Fujisawa. The death of Yoshitsune has been very elusive, according to Ainu historical accounts, he did not commit seppuku, but instead escaped the siege at Koromogawa, fleeing to Hokkaido and assuming the name Okikurumi/Oinakamui. In Hokkaido, the Yoshitsune Shrine is erected in his honor in the town of Biratori and this letter was Yoshitsunes final appeal to Yoritomo of his loyalty. The letter is a mixture of bravado and an almost masochistic indulgence in misfortune, the Japanese term for sympathy for a tragic hero, Hōgan-biiki, comes from Yoshitsunes title Kurō Hōgan, which he received from the Imperial Court. Many of the pieces that Yoshitsune appears in are legend rather than historical fact. Legends pertaining to Yoshitsune first began to appear in the fourteenth century, in early works at that time, Yoshitsune was described as a sharp-witted military leader
9.
Taira no Munemori
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Taira no Munemori was heir to Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira clans chief commanders in the Genpei War. As his father Taira no Kiyomori lay on his deathbed, Kiyomori declared, among his last wishes and his favorite, and eldest, son, Shigemori, had died, and so Munemori was next in line. In 1183, the rival Minamoto clan gained power, with Minamoto no Yoshinaka, following the defection of Emperor Go-Shirakawa to the Minamoto side, Munemori led his forces in escaping the capital city to the west, along with the young Emperor Antoku. In Sept. the Taira established a temporary Court in Kyūshū, Munemori took part in nearly every battle of the war, and was captured at the Battle of Dan-no-ura, and executed in 1185
10.
Taira no Tomomori
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Taira no Tomomori was the son of Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira Clans chief commanders in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. Tomomori was again victorious over the Minamoto in a battle at Mizushima two years later. The Taira forces tied their ships together, to create a stable surface to fire arrows from. At the Battle of Dan-no-ura, when the Taira were decisively beaten by their rivals and he tied an anchor to his feet and leapt into the sea. Tomomori has become a subject for kabuki plays
Minamoto clan
Taira clan
Media related to Battle of Dan-no-ura at Wikimedia Commons