The Genpei War was a national civil war between the Taira and 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 Yoritomo, who appointed himself as Shōgun in 1192, governing Japan as a military dictator from the eastern city of Kamakura.
Scene of the Genpei War
The Heiji rebellion (1159) and the subsequent rise of the Taira were the main cause of the Genpei War 20 years later.
Scene of the Genpei war (1180–1185), Kanō Motonobu (1476–1569), Muromachi period (1336 and 1573).
The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in, where Yorimasa committed seppuku
The Taira (平) 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 after the emperors they descended from: Kanmu Heishi, Ninmyō Heishi, Montoku Heishi, and Kōkō Heishi, the most influential of which was the Kanmu Heishi line.
Yoshitsune and Benkei defending themselves in their boat during a storm created by the ghosts of conquered Taira warriors (by Utagawa Kuniyoshi)
