MINAMOTO NO YOSHITSUNE:
A HERO HOUNDED

Twenty-first day, tenth month [1180]. Today a young man, alone, stood outside Lord Kamakura’s quarters, asking for an audience with him. [Toi] Sanehira, [Tsuchiya] Munet, and [Okazaki] Yoshizane became suspicious about this and were unwilling to relay the request. Time passed by until the commander himself heard about it and said, “Considering his age, he may be Kur, from sh. Let me see him right away.” And so Sanehira summoned the man. Sure enough, he was Yoshitsune. At once he was allowed to proceed to where his lordship was, and the two of them reminisced about the events of long ago and shed tears over their pasts.¹

This dramatic appearance in history of Minamoto no Kur Yoshitsune (1159-89) is recorded in the Azuma Kagami (History of the East), an official account of events related to the first half of the Kamakura Bakufu, the military government established by his older brother Yoritomo (1149-99), here called Lord Kamakura and the “commander” (bue or buei). The Azuma Kagami is judged to be reliable on the whole, though it does show obvious bias toward Yoritomo and those who worked to maintain the power structure he created. The military title given Yoritomo here is a case in point. Even though at age twelve he had been granted the rank of Acting Commander (gon no suke) of the Outer Palace Guards, Right Division, of which bue or buei is the Chinese name (pronounced the Japanese way), by the time this encounter with his brother took place, he had long since lost that title; worse, he was now, in the view of the Kyoto court, a rebel leader. He would be restored to the rank of commander only two years later. For that matter, he would not publicly be recognized as the Master of Kamakura and called Lord Kamakura until two months afterward.

The drama of the encounter derives from what had happened before the meeting and what would unfold in the years ahead.

Minamoto no Yoshitomo (1123-60), the two brothers’ father and Yoshiie’s great-grandson, was heavily involved in the armed strife that twice ensued from the power struggles within the imperial household: the Hgen Disturbance, in 1156, and the Heiji Disturbance, in 1159. In the first Yoshitomo was on the winning side but was forced to behead a dozen of his relatives, among them his own father and nine of his own brothers. In the second he was on the losing side and while trying to escape was assassinated–in the bathroom of the house of a man he thought he could trust. As a result, Taira no Kiyomori (1118-81), the leader of the other military clan who was on Yoshitomo’s side in the first clash but his opponent in the second, gained further ascendancy and soon took the upper hand in controlling the aristocracy, thereby starting the historic role reversal between aristocratic master and warrior-servant.

Following Yoshitomo’s vanquishment, his eight sons were hunted down for execution as a matter of course. Indeed, his first son, Yoshihira, was captured and beheaded. By singular luck, though, most of the seven others fared better. Yoritomo was captured but allowed to go into exile because Kiyomori’s stepmother, when she saw the captured boy, said he looked exactly like her late son and pleaded with Kiyomori for clemency. Yoshitsune, still a suckling baby, was also allowed to live because his mother, different from Yoritomo’s and an extraordinary beauty, agreed to become Kiyomori’s mistress in exchange for the lives of her three sons. Needless to say, the surviving sons of the vanquished leader of a military clan were constant security risks, and Yoritomo, Yoshitsune, and others had to lie low. Still, it appears that Yoritomo, in his place of exile, Izu, and Yoshitsune, first at a temple on Mt. Kurama, north of Kyoto, then in the sh (north of Shimotsuke, on the Pacific side), had considerable freedom of movement.

During the ensuing decades Kiyomori’s tyranny mounted to the point where it was said, “Anyone who isn’t a member of our [Taira] clan has to be a nonhuman.” Discontent also mounted–not only among the usurped aristocrats and members of non-Taira clans, but also among the general populace. Finally, in the fourth month, 1180, Prince Mochihito, unable to contain his frustration and anger, sent Yoritomo an imperial order (ryji), which began:

To the members of the Minamoto clan in the provinces of the three regions of the Tkai, Tsan, and Hokuriku, as well as their soldiers:

It is ordered that Lay Priest Kiyomori² and the rebellious cohorts who follow him be pursued and destroyed at the earliest time possible.

At first Yoritomo was cautious. But then the news reached him that in the following month Prince Mochihito’s action had been exposed and he had been killed in battle, along with Minamoto no Yorimasa, who had encouraged him to revolt.³ Kiyomori was bound soon to dispatch a punitive army against Yoritomo or otherwise try to destroy him. Time was running out. So in the eighth month he raised an army against the Taira. But his first battle with local clans, on Mt. Ishibashi, ended in disaster, and Yoritomo was almost captured and killed.

Luck was with him again, however: He was able to regroup quickly, the sending of Kiyomori’s army from Kyoto was delayed because of a squabble between its commander in chief and his chief of staff, and the army that finally faced Yoritomo’s troops across the Fuji River, on the twentieth of the tenth month, was puny and bedraggled. When a detachment of Yoritomo’s army feigned an attack to the rear of the Taira forces, a vast number of waterfowl suddenly took to wing from a large marsh nearby, terribly confounding the Taira men. Deciding that all the local clans in the Eastern provinces were on Yoritomo’s side, the Taira commanders vied with one another, it is said, in fleeing back to Kyoto. Yoritomo wanted to pursue them, but some of the powerful clan leaders who were with him strongly counseled against it, advising instead further consolidation of his power in the Kant region before engaging in another battle-the counsel that Yoritomo accepted. It was on the following day that Yoshitsune turned up to meet him.

There is no evidence that the two had met during the twenty years after their father’s defeat and death, and there is little known about Yoshitsune during the same period except what has been noted above. He probably spent his early years at a temple near Kyoto because Kiyomori ordered him, along with Tokiwa’s two other sons, to become a monk, but in his adolescence escaped to the north to seek the protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira (d. 1187), the overlord of the vast region of shu.⁴ There is not much recorded about him following his reunion with Yoritomo, either, except that during a period of a little over a year, from the first month of 1184 to the third month of 1185, he would prove himself to be one of the greatest military commanders in Japanese history and then would be hounded by his brother, eventually to death.

The relationship that was to develop between the two brothers is adumbrated in the passage where Yoshitsune appears for the second time in the Azuma Kagami. On the twentieth of the seventh month, 1181, when the construction of the treasure hall of the new Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine was finished, Yoritomo came to attend the completion ceremony and presented the carpenters with horses. It seems that a horse presented as a gift was led on decorative reins by two or more men walking on both sides.

Accordingly his lordship told Master Kur to lead out the horses, to which Kur replied, “At the moment there’s no one to do the leading with me.” His lordship repeated his order and said, “When we have right here with us Hatakeyama Jir, Sanuki Shir, and others, how dare you say there’s no one to do it with you? Am I to understand you think this function is too lowly for you and that’s why by saying such a thing you’re indicating you don’t want to do it?”

Master Kur was struck with great fear, and at once left his seat and led two horses.

On such ceremonial occasions, “leading a horse” was an act expressing obeisance to one’s master, and this incident is interpreted as Yoritomo’s attempt to impress upon Yoshitsune that he was merely one of his subordinates.

Through this year the Azuma Kagami has only one other entry on Yoshitsune: On the fifth of the eleventh month, he, along with the leaders of several clans, wanted to take their forces to Ttmi Province to defend a friendly leader, but gave up on the plan when another clan leader counseled against the move. For the year of 1182 no entry is found on Yoshitsune, and for 1183 the document’s entries are missing. Following these two blank years things pick up for Yoshitsune early in 1184.

Meanwhile, even though Yoritomo himself was more interested in consolidating his power than sending out forces to fight the Taira, there was a good deal of military action. In particular, Minamoto no Yoshinaka (1154-84), Yoritomo and Yoshitsune’s cousin,⁵ who had also raised an army against the Taira in response to Prince Mochihito’s command, made his own attempt to reach Kyoto and won a string of battles.

Yoshinaka’s most important battle took place not far from the capital, on the eleventh of the fifth month, 1183, at Kurikara Pass, on the border of Kaga and Etch; in it he destroyed the bulk of the Taira clan’s central forces. Two months later, on the twenty-second of the seventh month, he reached Mt. Hiei, which overlooks Kyoto from the northeast. With other Minamoto armies pressing in, the Taira men decamped from the capital and fled westward three days later, taking with them the young emperor, Antoku (1178-85). On the twenty-eighth Yoshinaka entered and occupied Kyoto. Retired Emperor Goshirakawa (1127-92) then issued him a formal command to destroy the Taira clan.

The political alliance between Yoshinaka and Goshirakawa was shortlived.⁶ By the ninth month Goshirakawa had in effect asked Yoritomo to destroy Yoshinaka, a request with which Yoritomo was happy to comply. After some political maneuvering of his own with Goshirakawa he dispatched to Kyoto two of his brothers, Noriyori and Yoshitsune, as generals. In the eleventh month Yoshinaka, incensed by this and other developments, burned down Goshirakawa’s palace. On the third of the first month, 1184, Yoshinaka forced Goshirakawa to appoint him shogun.

Let us now return to the Azuma Kagami.

Twenty-ninth day, first month. Gama no Kanja Noriyori and Kur Yoshitsune, as the commander’s emissaries, arrived in Kyoto, leading several tens of thousands of troops. Their purpose was to punish Yoshinaka. Today Noriyori entered Kyoto from the Seta [route]; Yoshitsune entered from the Uji route. Kiso [Yoshinaka] tried to fight them back on both routes with soldiers under the command of Shida Senj Yoshihiro and Imai Shir Kanehira, but they were all defeated. Noriyori and Yoshitsune, accompanied by Kawagoshi Tar Shigeyori, [Kawagoshi] Kotar Shigefusa, Sasaki Shir Takatsuna, Hatakeyama Jir Shigetada, Shibuya Shji Shigekuni, and Kajiwara Genta Kagesue, hurried to Rokuj Palace to protect the emperor [Goshirakawa].⁷ During this time, brave warriors under the command of Ichij Jir Tadayori ran in various directions and finally, near Awazu, mi Province, had Ishida Jir, a resident of Sagami Province, kill Yoshinaka.

Twenty-seventh day. Around two in the afternoon, express messengers from Governor of Ttmi Yoshisada, Noriyori, Yoshitsune, and Ichij Jir Tadayori arrived in Kamakura. They said that back on the twentieth a battle was completed in which his lordship’s army killed Yoshinaka and his cohorts. Three of the messengers were summoned by his lordship and went to Ishitsubo, on the north side. While he was probing for much greater details, an express messenger from [Kajiwara] Kagetoki also arrived. He brought a list of the names of those vanquished and those taken prisoner. Various messengers came but it was not possible to make a record of their reports. His lordship is said to have observed movingly, more than once, that Kagetoki’s considerateness was divine.

The entry for the twenty-seventh may need some explanations.

Kajiwara Heiz Kagetoki (d. 1200), who was on the side of Yoritomo’s enemies during the battle of Mt. Ishibashi but deliberately overlooked him in his hiding place, joined him soon afterward, went on to become his “number-one aide” (ichi no rd), and wielded enormous power. During the war Kagetoki played a triple military role: field commander, superintendent of logistics and warriors, and inspector-general of officers. In the military command structure of the day his rank of saburai daish (general of soldiers) was nominally far below that of someone like Yoshitsune, who bore the title of s-daish (general of the army), but Kagetoki regarded himself as Yoritomo’s o-daikan (special deputy) and would not easily defer to his direct superior in the field, Yoshitsune.

The passage above shows Kagetoki’s awareness of his roles and Yoritomo’s appreciation of it. Whereas other commanders merely reported on the victory and failed to provide many other details, Kagetoki sent a list of enemy casualties-and, though not mentioned, probably a report on his fellow commanders as well.

On the previous day Yoritomo had received from Goshirakawa an imperial command to destroy the Taira clan.

Twenty-ninth day, first month. The two generals of Kant [Noriyori and Yoshitsune] left for the Western region with soldiers to subjugate the Taira clan. It is reported that all of them left Kyoto today.

First day, second month. Master Noriyori received his lordship’s expression of ire. This is because during last winter,⁸ while he was heading toward Kyoto to subjugate Kiso [Yoshinaka], at the ferry of Sunomata, Owari Province, he competed with his lordship’s direct vassals (gokenin) to reach the other shore and as a result fell into a brawl with them. Hearing about this incident today, his lordship said, “It is extremely disquieting that anyone should mindlessly engage in personal squabbles before conquering the imperial enemy.”⁹

Seventh day. It snowed. Around four in the morning, Master Kur arrived at the hill in the rear of Ichinotani [called Bulbul’s Passage] with the seventy-odd particularly brave warriors he had selected and set aside from the rest.

Separately, Kumagae no Jir Naozane and Hirayama no Mushadokoro Sueshige, both residents of Musashi Province, secretly turned around, got out on the road in front of Ichinotani, and vied with each other in assaulting the fortress from the sea side, loudly calling out that they were spearheading the Minamoto forces. In response, Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, Hida no Sabur Kagetsuna, Etch no Jir Moritsugu, of the Middle Palace Guards, Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Kazusa no Gor Tadamitsu, and Akushitsu Kagekiyo, of the Middle Palace Guards, leading twenty to thirty horsemen, opened the wooden gate and fought them. Kumagae no Kojir Naoie was wounded,¹⁰ and Sueshige’s soldier met a premature death.

Following this, Noriyori, along with men from Ashikaga, Chichibu, Miura, and Kamakura, hurriedly arrived. The warriors of the Minamoto and Taira were thrown into chaos, and their white banners and red banners mixing, they battled, making the mountains resound and the ground shake. Their momentum was such that even Fan K’uai, and Chang Liang wouldn’t have been able to easily defeat them.

Furthermore, the castle and the boulders soared so high that horses found them impassable, and the valley was so deep that no human being had visited it for a long time. Master Kur, accompanied by the warriors under the command of Miura no Jr Yoshitsura, attacked from Bulbul’s Passage [this mountain is so rugged that nothing passes over it except wild boars, deer, rabbits, and foxes]; the Taira forces lost their composure and retreated in defeat, some running out of Fort Ichinotani whipping their horses, some in boats heading for the island of Shikoku plying poles.

In the process the Middle captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Third Rank [Taira no Shigehira], was captured on Akashi Bay by Kagetoki and Iekuni. The Governor of Echizen, Third Rank [Michimori], was killed near the Minato River by Gensan Toshitsuna. Including him, a total of seven—Satsuma Governor Tadanori¹¹, Wakasa Governor Tsunetoshi, Musashi Governor Tomoaki, Atsumori, of Fifth Rank, Narimori, former Etch Governor Moritoshi—were seized and killed by the forces of Noriyori and Yoshitsune. Former Tajima Governor Tsunemasa, Noto Governor Noritsune, and Bitch Governor Moromori were seized by Ttmi Governor Yoshisada.

Yoshitune’s assault on Ichinotani where the Taira forces had regrouped and built a castle-fortress is famous for its daring. Situated on the border of Settsu and Harima provinces (just west of present-day Kobe), and facing the Inland Sea in front and steeply rising hills in back, Ichinotani was ideal for defense. Noriyori, commanding 50,000 troops, attacked the Taira from the east along the coastal road; Yoshitsune, commanding 10,000, did so from the north, coming through a mountainous region.

Yoshitsune moved fast. He traversed in a single day a distance that normally would take two days: from Kyoto to the eastern edge of Mt. Mikasa where the three provinces of Tamba, Settsu, and Harima meet. On the fifth, after nightfall, he received a report that a Taira force of 3,000 troops was encamped about eight miles southwest. He quickly decided to attack, rather than rest for the night, and, torching everything in sight along the way, trounced the Taira force in no time. For the rest, we will turn to the Heike Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike).

At daybreak of the sixth, Kur Onzshi¹² divided his 10,000 horsemen into two groups and first sent forth Toi no Jir Sanehira, with 7,000, toward the west side of Ichinotani. He himself wanted to ride down with 3,000 behind Ichinotani, from Bulbul’s Passage, and took Tamba Route for a rear attack.

A number of soldiers said, “We hear this is a dangerous place. We don’t mind getting killed fighting the enemy but don’t want to get killed falling into a dangerous place. Dammit, isn’t there a guide to these mountains?”

Hirayama no Mushadokoro, a resident of Musashi Province, stepped forward and said, “Sir, I, Sueshige, know how to guide you.”

Kur said, “You were brought up in the Eastern region and have seen these mountains in the Western region for the first time today, yet you say you can guide us. That doesn’t strike me as terribly credible.”

Hirayama said further, “I can’t believe those are your words, sir. A poet knows about the blossoms of Yoshino and Hatsuse, a tough warrior knows how to guide men into the rear of a castle the enemies have shut themselves in.”¹³

That, too, sounded impertinent and rude.

Again, a young man who had just turned eighteen, by the name of Beppu no Kotar, another resident of Musashi Province, stepped forward and said, “Sir, Monk Yoshishige, my late father, used to tell me, ‘Whether because you were attacked by an enemy or while hunting in the mountains, if you’re lost in mountain depths, toss the reins on an old horse and drive him ahead of you. You’re bound to come out on a path.’”

Kur said, “Well said! Come to think of it, there’s a saying, ‘Snow may cover the whole field, but an old horse knows how to find his way.’”¹⁴

So he put a gold-rimmed saddle and a bit polished white on an old whitish roan, tied the reins and tossed them over him, and, driving him ahead, went into the deep mountains he knew nothing about. Because it was the second month, the snow on the peaks had faded, mottled, looking like cherry blossoms in some places. In other places bush-warblers came up from the valleys to visit, wandering in the haze. As the men climbed up, white clouds soared, gleaming; as they climbed down, green mountains became rugged with steep cliffs. The snow on the pines had yet to fade, and the narrow mossy path barely existed. As the snow scattered in occasional gusts, they almost mistook it for plum flowers. As they whipped their horses along to the east and to the west, the sun sank beyond the mountain path, so everyone dismounted for encampment.

Musashib Benkei¹⁵ brought an old man to Kur.

“Who’s this?” Kur asked.

“He’s a hunter on these mountains.”

“Well then, you’ve got to know this area well,” he said to the man. “Tell us exactly what it’s like.”

“I’d be a darn fool if I didn’t know this area, sir.”

“I’d like to ride down to the Taira castle-fortress in Ichinotani. What do you say about that?”

“That’s absolutely impossible, sir,” said the man. “Places like Ninety-Yard Precipice and Forty-Five-Yard Ledge are not passable, I think, for human beings. Much less so for the horses, I must say. Besides, within the castle they’ve dug pitfalls and have two-pronged spears implanted in them.”

“Well, do deer go through them?”

“Yes, sir, deer do go through them,” said the man. “When the world gets warm, the deer in Harima cross over to Tamba seeking to lie in deeper grasses; when the world gets cold, the deer in Tamba go over to Inamino, in Harima, seeking to graze where the snow is shallow.”

“That sounds like a veritable riding-ground!” said Kur. “If deer go through them, why can’t horses? Take us there at once.”

“I’m too old for that, sir,” said the man.

“Don’t you have a son?”

“Yes, sir, I do.” The man then brought a young man by the name of Kuma, who was eighteen years old, and gave him to Kur. At once he was given a manhood rite, and because his father called himself Washio no Shji Takehisa, he was to call himself Washio no Sabur Yoshihisa. Then Kur had him ride ahead as guide….

At daybreak of the seventh, Kur, who had circled to the enemy’s rear, rode up to Bulbul’s Passage in back of Ichinotani and was about to ride down, when, surprised perhaps by his forces, two large stags and one doe scampered down to the Taira’s castle-fortress in Ichinotani. Some warriors in the castle saw them and anxiously said among themselves, “Even the deer near a village are afraid of us and stay deep in the mountains. But these deer have rushed right into our midst. This is a sure sign that the Minamoto forces are riding down upon us from the top of the mountain!”

Takechino Mushadokoro Kiyonori, a resident of Iyo Province, stepped forward and said, “Who cares about that? These animals have come out from the enemy and there’s no reason to let them by.” He then shot the two stags dead and let the doe go by without shooting her. The former governor of Etch¹⁶ restrained him, saying, “What a thing to do, sir, shooting deer! Each one of those arrows could have defended us from ten enemies! You’ve committed a sin and wasted your arrows.”¹⁷

Kur for a while surveyed the castle-fortress far below and said, “Let’s have horses run down to see what happens.” Saddled horses were chased down. Some of them broke their legs and tumbled down; others ran down without any trouble. Three of the saddled horses gathered to the mountainside of Etch Senji’s shack¹⁸ and stood there trembling.

Having watched this, Kur said, “Ride down carefully and you won’t injure your horses. Let’s go down! Make me your model!”

First, with about thirty horsemen, himself at their head, he dashed down. A large crowd followed. It was such that the stirrups of those riding down behind hit the armor and helmets of those ahead. The slope was sand mixed with pebbles, and the men slithered down in a rush for about two hundred yards, then stopped at a table-like spot. Below that, though, was a huge moss-covered boulder dropping straight down for forty-five yards or so. The warriors were neither able to turn back nor seemed to think it possible to ride down farther. Bewildered and unable to move, they said among themselves, “This is the end of it!”

At that moment Sahara no Jr Yoshitsura came forward and said, “In Miura, just to chase a single bird, we race about in places like this mornings and evenings. This would be just a riding-ground in Miura!” With that he dashed down, and all the warriors followed suit.

As they went down, they encouraged their horses with muffled “Go, now, go!” It was so terrifying they kept their eyes closed as they went down. On the whole it didn’t seem like a human feat but like a demon’s or a deity’s act.

Even before all of them reached the bottom, they raised a battle cry. It was three thousand horsemen shouting, but the echoes from the mountains made them sound like a hundred thousand.

Paddy Officer Murakami no Motokuni’s men started the torching and burned down all the Taira’s shacks and temporary huts. A fierce wind happened to be blowing, and as black smoke pressed down, the Taira warriors and soldiers panicked. Many rushed into the sea in front hoping to save themselves. There were a number of rescue boats at the water’s edge, but as the men vied to get on them and four to five hundred, even a thousand, armored men crowded into each, it simply didn’t work. When the boats were pushed out only about three hundred yards from the shore, three large ones sank in a matter of a few moments.

After this it was decreed, “Let the nobles on board, but not the lesser ones,” and the lesser ones who tried to board were slashed with swords and halberds. Knowing what to expect fully well, they nonetheless clutched and grabbed at the boats that rejected them. As a result, some had their arms cut off, others their elbows lopped off, and lay covered with blood at the water’s edge of Ichinotani.

Noto Governor Noritsune,¹⁹ who had not once lost in many battles, we don’t know what his thoughts were this time, mounted a horse called Dusky Black and fled west. He then got on a boat on Akashi Bay in Harima and crossed over to Yashima, in Sanuki.

Because of Yoshitsune’s rapid advance and daring, the battle at Ichinotani ended in a complete rout for the Taira: More than 1,000 soldiers were killed, among them nine generals, and those who were not killed or captured escaped across the Inland Sea to regroup in Yashima, on Shikoku Island.

Express messengers from Yoshitsune and Noriyori, sent to report on battle results, arrived in Kyoto the following day, the eighth, and in Kamakura on the fifteenth. Yoshitsune and Noriyori themselves arrived in Kyoto on the ninth, accompanied by only a few troops, with the rest of their armies to follow. They explained their hurry by saying that they wanted to know if the imperial court would allow them to march the full length of the main boulevard carrying the heads of the Taira generals they had killed. Retired Emperor Goshirakawa solicited opinions from his chief courtiers, and the Ministers of the Left, the Right, and the Center, as well as the Major Counselor, all advised that permission not be given. They argued that these Taira men had for a long time served the court in ranking positions and were even related to the imperial household. However, Noriyori and Yoshitsune argued that they were the enemies of their father and grandfather and that, furthermore, unless the march with the heads were allowed, there would be no incentive for the Minamoto to pursue and destroy the remaining “enemies of the court.” In the end Goshirakawa had to yield to the generals’ insistence.

Thirteenth day, second month. The heads of the Taira men were brought together in Master Kur’s house in Rokuj Muromachi. They were the heads of Lord Michimori, Tadanori, Tsunemasa, Noritsune, Atsumori, Moromori, Tomoakira, Tsunetoshi, and Moritoshi. Then all these were carried to Hachij Kawara. Imperial Police Lieutenant [Minamoto no] Nakayori and others accepted them, attached each to a halberd, attached also red tabs [each denoting a Taira man], and hung all of them from a tree facing the gallows. The crowds who came to watch them are said to have turned the place into a veritable market.

Fifteenth day. Around eight in the morning, the express messengers of Noriyori and Yoshitsune arrived in Kamakura from Settsu Province and presented his lordship with reports of the battles. The reports said, in sum: “Earlier, on the seventh, there were battles at Ichinotani. Many of the Taira clan lost their lives. The former Minister of the Center [Munemori] and others escaped by sea and headed toward Shikoku. The Middle captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Third Rank, was captured. Also, Lord Michimori, Tadanori, Tsunetoshi [these three were killed by Noriyori], Tsunemasa, Moromori, Noritsune [these three were killed by Ttmi Governor Yoshisada], Atsumori, Tomoakira, Narimori, Moritoshi [these four were killed by Yoshitsune], and a thousand others were beheaded. On the whole, each of the soldiers from Musashi, Sagami, and Shimotsuke did great work. Detailed reports will be orally given later.”

Tenth day, fourth month. Kur’s messenger arrived from Kyoto. He said: “On the twenty-seventh of the previous month a session was held for official appointments²⁰ and the commander was appointed senior fourth rank. It was a reward for the destruction of Yoshinaka.”

Twentieth day, sixth month. Earlier, on the fifth, an emergency appointment session was held. The list of appointments arrived today. The appointees suggested by the commander were accepted without exception. These were Acting Major Counselor Taira no Yorimori, Chamberlain Taira no Mitsumori, Governor of Kawachi Taira no Yasunari, Governor of Sanuki To no Yoshiyasu, Governor of Mikawa Minamoto no Noriyori, Governor of Suruga Minamoto no Hirotsuna, and Governor of Musashi Minamoto no Yoshinobu.

Twenty-first day. The commander gathered together Noriyori, Yoshinobu, and Hirotsuna, and toasted them. He then touched on their appointments by the court. Each one must have been overjoyed. In particular, Master Kur had strongly expressed his wish for a recommendation for a government position, but the commander had somehow refused to accommodate it. Instead, he said, he had recommended Noriyori first, a special consideration which immensely pleased the latter.

Third day, seventh month. The commander told the Imperial Palace to dispatch Master Kur to the Saikai for the destruction of the former Minister of the Center [Taira no Munemori] and other Taira men.²¹

Fifth day. uchi no Kanja Koreyoshi’s express messenger arrived. He said: “Earlier, on the seventh [of the sixth month], in Iga Province, Koreyoshi was assaulted by members of the Taira clan and a great many of the retainers he had counted on were killed.” At this news various people turned up in a hurry and Kamakura was thrown into an uproar.

Second day, eighth month. It rained. Another express messenger from uchi Kanja arrived. He said: “Earlier, on the nineteenth [of the seventh month], around six in the afternoon, Koreyoshi engaged in battle with the remaining men of the Taira clan. The rebels were defeated, but more than ninety men escaped. Among them were … former Governor of Dewa [Taira no] Nobukane’s sons…. Koreyoshi had already vindicated himself. Could he expect a special reward?”

Third day. It rained. The commander summoned uchi Kanja’s messenger and gave him a letter detailing his response. In the main, it said: “It was most commendable that you attacked and defeated the rebels. Except that your asking if you did not deserve a special reward does not follow the logic of things. The reason is that one is appointed constable of a province (shugo), as you were, for the purpose of putting down criminal elements. Nevertheless, you allowed yourself to be attacked by bandits and your retainers were killed. This happened because you had not prepared yourself well. It was your own fault….”

The commander also dispatched a messenger to Kyoto. “The recent military actions in Iga Province must have been plotted by Governor of Dewa [Taira no] Nobukane’s sons. These men nonetheless broke out of the encircling force, and their whereabouts are said to be unknown. We are certain that they are hiding in Kyoto. Find them out at once and kill them without hesitation.” This message was to be delivered to Master Kur. Adachi Shinzabur departed as express messenger.

Sixth day. The commander summoned Governor of Mikawa [Noriyori], Ashikaga Kurdo, and Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Takeda. Also Tsunetane and other principal vassals came in response to his summons. These men were going to the Saikai to destroy the Taira clan, so they came for a farewell session. A banquet was held all day. As the time for them to leave came, each was presented with a horse. Among those given, the one for the Governor [Noriyori] was a horse his lordship had especially prized. On top of that Yoritomo accompanied the gift with a set of armor.

Eighth day. Clear. Governor of Mikawa Noriyori left for the Saikai as the commander’s emissary for destroying the Taira clan. He marched out around noon. A flag carrier [the flag was rolled] and a bow carrier, side by side, went first. Next was the Governor of Mikawa [clad in a jacket dyed in shades of indigo, lightly armored, mounted on a chestnut]; next were a thousand-odd horsemen under his direct command, along with splendid horses, followed by Hj Koshir, Ashikaga Kurdo Yoshikane….²² The commander had a viewing stand made near the Inase River and watched the departing men.

Seventeenth day. Kur’s messenger arrived. He said that earlier, on the sixth, Kur was appointed Lieutenant of the Headquarters of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, and commanded to serve on the Imperial Police as well. These appointments were not something he had asked for, but word was that the court was unable to ignore his various exploits and that some imperial honors were due; therefore, it was not possible for him to decline the honors firmly, Kur said.

The news terribly angered the commander. Noriyori and Yoshinobu’s receiving court appointments was something his lordship himself had thought of and recommended. Kur’s was something he had adamantly not permitted for some private reasons. Now it appears, his lordship suspected, that Kur had acted on his own and asked for it. It seems that this was not the first time Kur went against his wishes. Because of this, his lordship said, he would delay for a while naming him emissary for the destruction of the Taira clan.

The entry on this important incident may be a good occasion to explain Yoshitsune’s changing titles. In the next (original) entry on him, which follows, and thereafter, Yoshitsune will often be referred to as teii, here translated “captain.” Teii is a Chinese name (pronounced the Japanese way) for the second or third ranking officer (suke or j) of the Imperial Police, so it may be assumed that for the chronicler Yoshitsune’s presence on the police force had greater prestige.²³

There are, at any rate, some discrepancies in Yoshitsune’s court ranks and government posts. After his appointment to the lieutenancy of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, and a position in the Imperial Police, Yoshitsune also begins to be referred to as taifu and hgan. Taifu is another name of “a gentleman of fifth rank,” and hgan, “judge,” another name of the jo of the Imperial Police, a position to which someone of sixth rank was appointed. Regardless, to avoid confusion Yoshitsune will be called “captain” when he is referred to as teii or hgan, even though his title in the Outer Palace Guards is shj, lieutenant.

It must also be borne in mind that loose military titles given to men on actual combat duty, such as s-daish and saburai daish, were different from the titles given by the court to men holding specific positions.

Twenty-sixth day. The captain’s [Yoshitsune’s] express messenger arrived. Earlier, on the tenth, he had invited [Taira no] Nobukane’s sons, Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, Kanehira, as well as Jir Nobuhira and Sabur Kanetoki, to his house and killed them and on the eleventh the court sent an envoy to Nobukane to relieve him of his post.²⁴

Ninth day, ninth month. The commander sent a letter saying that the captain should place under his jurisdiction the lands in Kyoto belonging to Former Dewa Governor Nobukane and his family members.

Twelfth day. The messenger Mikawa Governor Noriyori had dispatched on the first arrived today and presented his lordship with a letter. It said that he arrived in Kyoto on the twenty-seventh of the previous month, that on the twenty-ninth he was given a government order to be the emissary for a punitive force, and that today [on the first of the ninth month] he left for the Saikai.

Fourteenth day. Kawagoshi Tar Shigeyori’s daughter left for Kyoto. She was to marry the captain. There was a previous promise and consent at the commander’s suggestion. She departed accompanied by two of Shigeyori’s sons, along with thirty-odd men.

Twelfth day, tenth month. The Governor of Mikawa, in Aki Province, gave rewards to men with achievements. This was done in accordance with the commander’s order. Among them, Yamagata no Suke Tametsuna, a resident of the same province, received a special reward. It was because his military loyalty was particularly outstanding.

Twenty-fourth day. Governor of Inaba [e no] Hiromoto [appointed on the eighteenth of the ninth month] said that earlier, on the eighteenth of the previous month, the captain was promoted to a higher rank while remaining in the same post. On the fifteenth of this month he was permitted to enter the court. On that occasion he rode a cart whose cover was decorated with an eight-leaf design and was accompanied by three men from the Palace Guards under his command and twenty attendant samurai [each mounted]. He danced in the garden, removed his sword and ceremonial scepter, and went into the palace proper.

Sixth day, first month [1185]. For some time the news was that the Eastern warriors who were in the Saikai for destroying the Taira clan had no means of engaging in battle because they had no boats and they had run out of provisions. Accordingly, some time back his lordship had ordered construction of boats and the sending of rice to the provinces of the West. When he was about to send to the Saikai a message to this effect, an express messenger that Mikawa Governor Noriyori [who had left Kyoto on the second of the ninth month of the previous year] had dispatched on the fourteenth of the eleventh month of the previous year arrived today. His letter said that because of lack of provisions there was no strong agreement to fight among the soldiers, each thinking of his homeland, most wanting to get out and go home. Other than this the governor detailed matters in Kysh. He also asked for riding horses.

This letter dispelled some of his lordship’s suspicions, but he still sent runners Sadat, Nobukata, and Munemitsu. Of these, Sadat and Nobukata were in Kyoto. So Munemitsu was told to pick them up in Kyoto. He carried with him detailed letters from his lordship….²⁵

He also sent a letter to his own vassals in Kysh [commanding them to follow the orders of the Governor of Mikawa and announcing that he] was going to send Captain Kur to Shikoku….

Twelfth day. The Governor of Mikawa moved from Su Province to Akamagaseki²⁶ and wanted to cross the sea from there to attack the Taira clan, but having run out of food and with no boats, ended up staying there for several days against his wishes. The men from the East became extremely bored and many thought of their homelands. Even someone like Wada Kotar Yoshimori²⁷ became intent on returning secretly to Kamakura. In the circumstances what else could we have expected of other men?

But there had been rumor for some time that Usuki Jir Koretaka, a resident of Bungo Province, and his brother, Ogata Sabur Koresaka, wanted to be on the Minamoto side; so it was decided by agreement that boats would be summoned from these brothers to cross to Bungo Province, from there to break into the port of Hakata. Accordingly, the governor returned to Su Province.

Twenty-sixth day. Koretaka and Koresaka, understanding the Mikawa Governor’s wishes, offered a total of eighty-two naval boats. Also, Usanagi Kamishichi Ttaka, a resident of Su Province, offered provisions. As a result, the governor untied the moorings to cross over to Bungo Province.

First day, second month. The Governor of Mikawa reached Bungo Province….

Fourteenth day. While the Governor of Mikawa was still in Su Province, the commander had sent him a message: “Have Toi Jir and Kajiwara Heiz talk to the men of the nine provinces [that make up Kysh] to make them join us. If as a result they appeared to yield to our side, enter Kysh. If not, entertain no thought of doing battle in that land. Cross to Shikoku at once and attack the Taira clan.”

But now the governor, wanting to go to Kysh but without boats, was unable to advance. He happened to cross to Nagato Province, but with food running out, had to retreat back to Su Province. The warriors were finally changing their minds, and among them there was no strong agreement to fight, or so the governor lamented. An express messenger bearing this news arrived in Izu Province today.

Accordingly, his lordship sent letters to the governor and some of his own vassals saying: “Should you return to Kyoto without carrying out the battles to the end, what would you have to make yourselves proud? We are sending you provisions: You must wait with patience. The Taira men are out of their homeland and are traveling, but they manage to maintain their military readiness. In contrast, you are my emissaries to destroy them. How can you not get special courage out of yourselves?”

Sixteenth day. The warriors of the Kant left for Sanuki Province to destroy the Taira clan. Captain Yoshitsune led the van. Today, around six in the afternoon, he untied the moorings.

Since yesterday Minister of the Treasury [Takahashi] Yasutsune had been staying in the captain’s inn with the pretext of looking at his armor. His intention was elsewhere, however, for he tried to restrain him by saying, “Sir, I don’t know much about military matters, but, as far as I know, a general of the army has not once raced to be in the van. Shouldn’t you first send out your second in command?”

The captain replied, “I have a special thought on that. I want to give up my life in the vanguard.”²⁸ With this he went ahead and departed. His were crack troops.

The Taira clan had set up camps in two places. The former Minister of the Center [Munenori] had made a castle-fortress out of Yashima, in Sanuki Province, while the new Middle Counselor Tomonori had fortified the Barrier of Moji with government soldiers of the nine provinces, installing his headquarters on Hiko Island; thus they awaited the punitive forces….

Eighteenth day. Yesterday the captain tried to cross the sea from Watanabe, but a storm suddenly arose, and many of the boats were damaged. So all the boats for the soldiers remained moored without a single exception. The captain saw this and said, “As a punitive force to destroy the Imperial enemy, we won’t be able to avoid retribution if we tarry here even for a moment. Don’t give a passing thought to the winds and waves!”

Around two in the morning he set out with the first group of five boats and around six arrived in Tsubaki Bay, in Awa Province [normally the route takes three days]. He landed, leading 150 horsemen, summoned Kondshichi Chikaie, a resident of the province, to serve him as guide, and departed for Yashima. On his way, at Katsura Bay, he attacked Sakuraniwa no Suke Yoshit [Sanni Nariyoshi’s younger brother], and the latter bolted from his castle and disappeared.

The Heike Monogatari presents Yoshitsune’s decision at Watanabe with far more color and drama.

In Watanabe the great and small lords who had assembled tried to assess the situation: “We have never trained ourselves in boat battles. What shall we do?”

Kajiwara [Kagetoki] said: “How about building ‘reverse oars’ in the boats for this battle?”

The captain: “What are ‘reverse oars’?”

“When running a horse,” Kajiwara said, “it’s easy to turn him round to the left or to the right. But with a boat it’s hard to turn it back quickly. So I suggest we build oars both at bow and stern, and add rudders to the sides, so we may go easily any which way.”

“In battle,” the captain declared, “even when you’re determined not to retreat a single step, you often end up doing that when things get bad. What good is there in planning to run from the outset? This is a bad thing to hear when we’re setting out. Whether reverse oars or upside down oars, gentlemen, you may build a hundred or a thousand of them on your boats. For me, the oars as they are will do just fine.”

“A great general,” Kajiwara insisted, “is someone who attacks where he should attack and retreats where he should retreat, so that he may preserve himself until he destroys his enemy. Someone who goes only one way is called a wild-boar warrior, and no one thinks him good.”

“I don’t give a damn whether it’s a wild boar or a wild deer,” the captain said. “In battle I feel good only if I attack flat out and win.”

The warriors were afraid of Kajiwara and didn’t laugh out loud, but, eyes batting and noses twitching, they giggled among themselves. The captain and Kajiwara, though on the same side, would fight with each other, they babbled among themselves.

Finally, when the sun set and night came, the captain declared, “Your boats have been repaired and they’re as good as new. Congratulate yourselves with a bite to eat and a bottle to drink, gentlemen.”

Making the pretense of doing that himself, he put arms in the boats, loaded them with rice, and lined up horses in them. He then said, “Hurry up and launch them!”

The sailors and helmsmen protested, “Sir, there sure is a tail wind, but it isn’t normal. Offshore it must be blowing quite hard. We can’t launch them, sir!”

The captain became furious.

“Whether you die in a corner of a field or a mountain or you lose your life drowned in the sea or a river,” he said, “that’s all fate determined by your previous life. Why should you worry that the wind may be strong out there on the sea?

“If I told you to go out into the head wind, I might be acting wrongly, but this is a tail wind. Simply because it’s a bit stronger than usual, how can you refuse to go out on an important mission like this?”

He then ordered, “Shoot every one of them dead if they refuse to launch the boats!”

Sat Sabur Tsugunobu of sh, of the Middle Palace Guards,²⁹ and Ise no Sabur Yoshimori stepped forward with arrow on bow and said, “What are you quibbling for? This is his order. Hurry up and launch them! If you don’t launch the boats, we’ll shoot each one of you dead!”

Some sailors and helmsmen heard this and said, “If we’re going to be shot dead, fellows, we might as well rush to our death in the dread wind!”

So five out of the 200-odd boats raced out. All the other boats stayed behind either because their crews were afraid of the wind or scared of Kajiwara.

“You shouldn’t remain because others don’t come out,” the captain said. “When things are normal, your enemy will be on the alert. You can beat your enemy by attacking him unexpectedly–as in these stormy winds and waves!”

The five boats were: one of the captain, one of Tashiro no Kanja, one of Got, of the Middle Palace Guards, and his son, one of the Kaneko brothers, and one of Gnai Tadatoshi of Yodo, who was a boat magistrate.

The captain said, “Don’t light the watch-fires on everyone’s boat. Make mine the main boat and keep an eye on my watch-fires at bow and stern. If the enemy sees a lot of lights, he’ll become suspicious and alert.”

They raced through the night and covered in several hours the distance that normally took three days. They left Watanabe and Fukushima about two in the morning, on the sixteenth of the second month, and were blown to the land of Awa around six the next morning.

Nineteenth day. All through last night the captain crossed Nakayama on the border between Awa and Sanuki provinces, and today, around eight in the morning, he reached the bay facing the Imperial Palace at Yashima and burned the houses in Mure and Takamatsu. As a result, the former emperor³⁰ left the palace. The former Minister of the Center [Munemori] led the members of his clan in getting out to the sea.

The captain [clad in a jacket made of brocade with red background and a suit of armor with its scarlet shaded darker toward the lower hem and mounting a black horse], accompanied by Tashiro no Kanja Nobutsuna, Kaneko no Jr Ietada, Kaneko no Yoichi Chikanori, and Ise no Sabur Yoshimori, galloped to the water’s edge. They then exchanged arrows and stones with the Taira men plying poles on their boats. In the meantime, Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Sat Sabur Tsugunobu, Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Sat Shir Tadanobu, Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Got Sanemoto and his adopted son, new Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Motokiyo, burned down the palace as well as the Minister of the Center’s headquarters and houses. Black smoke soared into heaven, covering the bright sun.

At that juncture Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Moritsugu, of Etch, and Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Gor Tadamitsu, of Kazusa, [both Taira retainers] got off the boats and took up a position in front of the shrine to fight. In the ensuing battle the captain’s retainer, Tsugunobu, was killed.³¹ The captain was deeply grieved by this. He wrapped him in a robe and buried him in a Thousand-Pine wood. He also presented the monk who was to offer prayers for him with the splendid horse he had especially prized [named Taifukuro;³² originally a horse in the retired emperor’s stables; when he went on an imperial excursion as an attendant, the emperor presented it to him; he mounted it whenever he went into a battle-held]. This was his way of soothing his warriors. There was no one who did not speak of this act as marvelous.³³

Twenty-first day. The Taira clan secluded itself in Shido Dj, in Sanuki Province. The captain, leading a troop of eighty horsemen, reached it. A Taira retainer, Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, Dennai, surrendered to him. Also Kawano no Shir Michinobu joined him with thirty naval boats. By then Master Yoshitsune had crossed over to Awa Province….

Twenty-second day. Kajiwara Heiz Kagetoki and other warriors of the East reached the shore of Yashima in 140-odd boats.³⁴

First day, third month. After nightfall an express messenger from Saigoku³⁵ arrived. Since people were busy speculating on the outcome of battle, a number of people gathered in a hurry to hear the news.

Second day. The express messenger last night turned out to be one from Shibuya Shji Shigekuni. He said that earlier, in the first month, when the Governor of Mikawa crossed from Su Province to Bungo Province, Shigekuni crossed the sea at the head of the troops and killed [Harada] Tanenao.

Eighth day. The captain’s express messenger arrived from the Saigoku. He said that on the seventeenth of the previous month the captain, leading a troop of only 150 horsemen, untied the moorings at Watanabe, braving a stormy wind. Around six the next morning he arrived in Awa Province and fought some battles. The soldiers following the Taira clan either were killed or ran away. So on the nineteenth the captain headed for Yashima. This messenger left the scene without waiting for the outcome there. However, when he looked back from Harima Province there was black smoke soaring into heaven in the direction of Yashima. He had no doubt that the battle was already over and the palace and other buildings were burned down.

Ninth day. The Governor of Mikawa sent a letter to the commander from the Saikai in which he said: “Because there were a number of Taira strongholds there we approached Bungo Province in a state of readiness. But all the people had fled, so we had no means of acquiring provisions. As a result, several samurai, including Wada Tar [Yoshimori] and his brother, tawa Jir, and Kud Ichir, wanted strongly to return home. It was by imposing my will that I restrained them and crossed the sea with them. I wish you would tell them something.

“Also I hear that Tanz, Superintendant of the Kumano Shrines,³⁶ agreed, through the captain’s suasion, to join the punitive forces and some time back crossed to Sanuki Province and is now thinking of coming into the nine provinces. I understood that you put Yoshitsune in charge of Shikoku and me, Noriyori, in charge of Kysh. If you further select a man like that, it’s not only that I’m bound to lose face, but also it is as if there were no other courageous man. I’m embarrassed to think what people think of this.”

Eleventh day. The commander sent a reply to the Governor of Mikawa. He wrote that there was no truth in the rumor that Tanz had crossed the sea. …

Twenty-first day. It poured. The captain wanted to head for Dannoura to attack the Taira clan but postponed it because of the rain.³⁷ In the meantime Gor Masatoshi at the local government boat agency of Su Province, being the boat magistrate of the province, presented him with fifty to sixty boats. In response Yoshitsune gave Masatoshi a letter. It said that he was now Lord Kamakura’s direct vassal.

Twenty-second day. The captain untied the moorings of fifty to sixty naval boats and urged them on toward Dannoura. Since yesterday he had been gathering vessels and devising strategies. Miura no Suke Yoshizumi heard about this and came to meet him at the port of shima, of the same province. The captain said to him, “You have already seen the Barrier of Moji. You should be our guide and lead us.”

Following this order Yoshizumi went ahead and reached the shore of Okitsu, of Dannoura [a distance of about 3,000 yards from the Taira camps]. When they heard this, the Taira troops left Hiko Island plying their poles, passed Akamagaseki, and were now at Tanoura.

The Heike Monogatari describes another dangerous confrontation between Yoshitsune and Kajiwara no Kagetoki-this one just before the final battle of this civil war.

Kajiwara said, “Sir, allow me to be the first to go into battle today.”

The captain: “If I weren’t here.”

“That isn’t fair, sir. You realize you are the general of the army.”

The captain declared, “The thought never occurred to me. Lord Kamakura is the general of the army. I’ve merely been asked to serve as his deputy and I’m no different from you.”

Kajiwara, unable to get through his wish to be the first to go into battle, mumbled, “This man isn’t born to be a leader of samurai.”

The captain heard this. “You’re the stupidest man in all Japan!” he said and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“I have no master other than Lord Kamakura!” Kajiwara spat out and also put his hand on the hilt of his sword….

Although the two men were restrained by their aides, the Heike tells us, this confrontation, no less than the argument on “reverse oars,” motivated Kagetoki to slander Yoshitsune later on. Slander Yoshitsune Kagetoki did, as we shall see, yet the confrontation, if it did take place, may be noted for something else also: Yoshitsune’s acute sense that he was no more than a pawn on Yoritomo’s chess board. In addition, at least in Kagetoki’s eyes, he was becoming a dangerous pawn.

Yoshitsune was dangerous to Yoritomo because he, unlike Noriyori, was an exceptionally able military commander. Noriyori was ineffectual, didn’t know what he was doing, and failed to win loyalty from his subordinates, of whom he perpetually complained. So, to Yoritomo he was safe. Yoshitsune, on the other hand, was effectiveness incarnate. A medieval practitioner of blitzkrieg, he knew delayed action could be fatal. He always put himself at the forefront of any military action, thereby winning fierce loyalty from his men, if not from fellow commanders. He might usurp Yoritomo as leader of the Minamoto clan.

Twenty-fourth day. On the sea off Dannoura at Akamagaseki, in Nagato Province, the Minamoto and Taira faced off. They rowed their boats and ships toward each other from three hundred yards apart. The Taira clan divided their five hundred vessels into three groups and, with Yamaga no Hydji Hidet and the Matsura Group as commanders in chief, they challenged and fought the Minamoto generals and commanders. Around noon the Taira were finally beaten into submission….

Fourth day, fourth month. With the word that all the Taira had been annihilated, the captain’s messenger hurriedly reached Kyoto….

Eleventh day. Around two in the afternoon there was a pillar-raising ceremony for the South Holy Hall. The commander attended it. Meanwhile an express messenger from the Saikai had arrived to tell of the annihilation of the Taira clan. The captain had provided a scroll of registration³⁸ [Nakahara Nobuyasu is said to have written it]….

T no Hgan-dai [Fujiwara no Kunimichi] knelt before the commander and read the registration aloud. The Governor of Inaba [e no Hiromoto], along with [Fujiwara no] Toshikane and Chikuzen Sabur [Koremune Takahisa], was standing by. The commander took the registration and unrolled it himself, and, as he held it in his hands facing toward Tsurugaoka,³⁹ he was unable to say a word….

Twenty-first day. Kajiwara Heiz Kagetoki’s express messenger arrived from the West. He had a relative of his present a letter. In the first part he described the battles and toward the end complained about the captain’s disloyalty….

The Lord Captain, as your deputy, accompanied by your vassals, carried out the battles to the end. Nevertheless, he seems to think he alone should get all the credit even though, I submit, the victories were the result of the cooperation of many people. As I see it, many people strove to work together not because they thought of the captain, but because they held Your Lordship in awe. And yet, after the annihilation of the Taira clan his behavior has become even more excessive. All the soldiers are terrified of him, but he shows no inclination to be accommodating. Above all, I, Kagetoki, as Your Lordship’s close aide and knowing Your Lordship’s strict order, point out to him, whenever I see his misbehavior, that it may go against Your Lordship’s wishes. But my words are turned against me, and I am even in danger of being penalized. Now that the battles are over and there is nothing to do, I see no reason to continue to serve him. I would like to be relieved of my duty as soon as possible and return home.

Twenty-sixth day. Today when the former Minister of the Center [Taira no Munemori] and other people who were captured alive entered Kyoto by the summons, the retired emperor secretly set out on his cart at Roku Bj to watch them…. All of them were taken to the captain’s mansion at Rokuj Muromachi.

Twenty-ninth day. Runner Yoshieda left for the Saikai as the commander’s messenger. The purpose was to deliver his letter to Tashiro no Kanja Nobutsuna. The letter said: I sent the captain as my emissary to the Saikai, having my vassals accompany him, but I hear that he acts as if he thinks he has authority on all matters. The warriors privately think they want to serve me, and resent him in various matters. Therefore, secretly circulate the word that henceforth those who want to be loyal to me may not obey him.

Fourth day, fifth month. Kajiwara Heiz Kagetoki’s messenger returned to the West. Accordingly, the commander made him carry a letter in which he rebuked the captain. Do not obey his orders anymore….

Seventh day. The captain’s messenger [by the name of Kamei Rokur] arrived from Kyoto. He presented the commander with the captain’s letter vowing that he had no rebellious thoughts. The former Governor of Inaba [e no] Hiromoto relayed it. The Governor of Mikawa [Noriyori] had sent a series of express messengers from the Saikai to give detailed reports. He had not acted freely in anything, so the commander had kindly thoughts for him. The captain tended to act on his own authority. Now that he had heard about the commander’s displeasure, he did something like this for the first time. It was not something the commander could tolerate, and it merely provided fodder for furthering his fury.

Eleventh day. As a reward for capturing and presenting the former Minister of the Center [Munemori], the commander had been appointed Junior Second Rank on the twenty-seventh of the previous month. The letter of appointment arrived today….

Fifteenth day. The captain’s messenger [Hori Kagemitsu] arrived. He said that the captain was bringing with him the former minister of the center and his son. He had left Kyoto on the seventh and was expected to arrive at Sakawa Station tonight. He planned to enter Kamakura tomorrow. The lord of second rank [Yoritomo]⁴⁰ had Lord Hj [Tokimasa] head for Sakawa Station as his messenger. The purpose was to welcome and receive the former minister of the center. He had Mushadokoro [Maki] Munechika and Kud Kojir Yukimitsu accompany him. His word to be conveyed was: The captain may absolutely not come into Kamakura; he must stay near there for a while until he is summoned. Koyama Shichir Asatomo was to be the envoy for this.

Twenty-fourth day. The captain had subjugated the imperial enemies as planned. In addition, he had brought with him the former minister of the center for the lord of second rank. He had not doubted that he would be rewarded for these deeds, but because there were recently rumors of his disloyalty, he suddenly became the subject of the lord of second rank’s ire and was not allowed to enter Kamakura. He had already spent days idly at Koshigoe Station and grown so worried and depressed that he presented a plea⁴¹ through the former Governor of Inaba [e no] Hiromoto. Hiromoto showed it to the commander, but there was no clear word, except that in time there would be some instructions….

Ninth day, sixth month. The captain, who had stayed near Sakawa for a while, returned to Kyoto today, taking the former Minister of the Center with him. The lord of second rank appointed Tachibana Umamitsu [Kiminaga], As Shji [Munenobu], Usami Heiji [Sanemasa], and other stout men to go with the prisoner. The captain’s thought for some time had been that if he came to Kant he would be asked in detail about the process of subjugating the Taira clan. Also, he would be rewarded for his great exploits and his ambition fulfilled. That’s what he had expected, but he was suddenly made to realize that this was not so. Worse, he was unable even to have an audience and had to return to Kyoto empty-handed….

Thirteenth day. His lordship stripped the captain of all the twenty-four lands confiscated from the Taira clan and allotted to him….

Twenty-ninth day, eighth month. Earlier, on the sixteenth, there was an emergency appointment session. The list of the appointments arrived today. Many members of the Minamoto clan received imperial consideration. These were [Yamana] Yoshinori, Governor of Izu; [uchi] Koreyoshi, Governor of Sagami; [Ashikaga] Yoshikane, Governor of Kzuke; [Kagami] Tmitsu, Governor of Shinano; [Yasuda] Yoshisuke, Governor of Echigo; and Yoshitsune, Governor of Iyo.⁴² As for Yoshitsune receiving a government position, the lord of second rank had previously steadfastly rejected any such move, but when it comes to the present governorship of Iyo, he had privately made the request to Courtier Yasutsune earlier, in the fourth month. Since then disloyalty and other matters had been revealed, but he was no longer able to withdraw the request and so had left the whole matter to imperial judgment….

Second day, ninth month. Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, Kajiwara Genta Kagesue and Yoshikatsub Jjin left for Kyoto as envoys…. Calling themselves his lordship’s messengers, they were to visit Governor of Iyo Yoshitsune at his house and tell him to find out the whereabouts of the former Governor of Bizen [Minamoto no] Yukiie⁴³ and kill him. They were to see how the Governor of Iyo would react to this, Kagesue was told. Earlier, on the twentieth of the fifth month, the former Major Counselor [Taira no] Tokitada,⁴⁴ along with some others, were given a government notice of exile. But he was still in Kyoto, which infuriated his lordship; nevertheless the Governor of Iyo, as the said counselor’s son-in-law, wanted to be considerate to him and allowed him to stay. Even worse, there was a rumor that he was intent on persuading the former Governor of Bizen Yukiie to join him in a revolt against Kant….

Twelfth day. Kagesue and Jjin entered Kyoto. They spoke of the people to be exiled.

Sixth day, tenth month. Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, Kajiwara Genta Kagesue returned from Kyoto. In his lordship’s presence he said: “I went to visit the Governor of Iyo at his house and said I was Your Lordship’s messenger, but he refused to meet me on the ground that he was ill. The secret message I had was not something I could convey through another messenger, so I went back to my inn [at Rokuj Aburanokji]. Two days later I went to visit again, and he met me, leaning on an armrest. He looked extraordinarily emaciated. He had several moxa marks.

“I brought up the subject of pursuing and destroying Yukiie. In response he said, ‘I am not feigning this illness. I, Yoshitsune, would immediately bring to justice even a common criminal like a robber. Is there anything that needs to be said of Yukiie? He is not a member of another clan, but is, like me, a descendant of Rokuson’ [Minamoto no Tsunemoto]⁴⁵ who handles the bow and horse. You can’t rank him with an ordinary man. I can’t just send my retainers and simply make him surrender. I intend to treat my illness as soon as possible and, once cured, will devise ways. Tell this to his Lordship.’“

The lord of second rank declared, “Because he sympathizes with Yukiie he decided to pretend an illness. That’s so obvious.”

Upon hearing this, Kagetoki said, “The first day my son went he couldn’t have a direct meeting with him, but two days later he had a meeting. When you think how he worked out the whole thing, if you don’t eat for a whole day and don’t sleep one whole night, you’re bound to get tired. As for moxa marks, you can put any number of them on in an instant. And he had a couple of days to work on them! My guess is that he worked these things out in those two days. You shouldn’t doubt for a single moment, sir, that the two of them share the same thought and are ready.”

Ninth day. His lordship had an intense council for a few days on killing Iyo Governor Yoshitsune. Finally it was decided to dispatch Tosanob Masatoshi. This mission was something that a great many people were in the mood to decline, but Masatoshi volunteered to sign a letter of acceptance and won his lordship’s special word of gratitude. Just before his departure he came to his lordship, said that he had an old mother and infants in Shimotsuke Province, and asked for his lordship’s compassion for them. The lord of second rank agreed on the spot and gave him Nakaizumi Village in Shimotsuke Province. Masatoshi was accompanied by eighty-three horsemen. These were Mikami Yaroku Iesue [Masatoshi’s younger brother], Nishigori Sabur, Kadoma Tar, Aisawa Jir, and others. His travel time was determined to be nine days.

Thirteenth day. Earlier, on the eleventh, and today, Governor of Iyo, Fifth Rank, Lieutenant Yoshitsune secretly went to the Imperial Palace and pleaded his case, saying: “The former Governor of Bizen Yukiie has turned against Kant and intends to revolt. This is because the order of the lord of second rank, of Kamakura, to kill him had reached his ear, and Yukiie had become resentful as he wondered why the lord of second rank wanted to kill his own innocent uncle – for what error or neglect? I, Yoshitsune, tried hard to restrain him, but in vain.

“In the meantime I, Yoshitsune, repulsed the heinous crimes of the Taira clan and brought the world back to peace and quiet. One would think these are great achievements. But the lord of second rank never thought of rewarding me but even stripped me of all the lands he had happened to allot to me. Worse, I now hear that he is plotting to kill me. In order to avoid this predicament I have already agreed to work with Yukiie. In the circumstances I must have a government order to pursue and destroy Yoritomo. Without imperial permission both of us intend to commit suicide.”

The imperial reply was, “Try hard to placate Yukiie’s resentment and fury.”

Seventeenth day. Tosanob Masatoshi, carrying the strict order from Kant issued earlier and accompanied by Mizuotani Jr and sixty other horsemen, attacked the house of Governor of Iyo, Fifth Rank, Lieutenant Yoshitsune at Rokuj Muromachi. It happened that most of the governor’s strong men were wandering near Nishikawa and only a few retainers were staying in his house. But accompanying Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Sat Shir Tadanobu and others, the governor himself opened the gate, dashed out, and fought. Yukiie heard about this, came and joined them from the rear, and fought for the governor. As a result, after a short while Masatoshi beat a retreat. The governor’s retainers scattered in all directions to hunt him and his men. The governor hurried to the Imperial Palace to report that he was safe.

Eighteenth day. As regards Yoshitsune’s request, a council was held yesterday in the Imperial Palace to determine whether or not to grant imperial permission. It happened that at the time there was no one to command the police force other than Yoshitsune. If he didn’t receive imperial permission and resorted to violence, who did they have to order for their defense?

In order to avoid this predicament for the time being, it was decided that first an imperial command would be issued, then details would be explained to Kant. If this were done, the lord of second rank was unlikely to be much offended.

Accordingly, the imperial command was issued. The presiding officer was the Minister of the Left [Fujiwara no Munetsune].

Eighteenth Day, Tenth Month, First Year of Bunji [1185]

Imperial Command:

Lord Minamoto no Yoritomo, Junior Second Rank, has single-handedly displayed his military prowess, but has already forgotten the imperial law. Therefore, we hereby order Former Governor of Bizen Minamoto no Yukiie and Lieutenant of the Palace Guards, Left Division, Minamoto no Yoshitsune to pursue and destroy his lordship.

Submitted by

Head of the Treasury

Major Controller of the Right

Assistant Director of the Office of the Empress’s Household

Fujiwara no Mitsumasa

Twenty-third day. Yamanouchi Takiguchi Sabur Tsunetoshi’s servant hurried from Ise Province and reported: “Saying that they were under the Iyo governor’s order, people were recruiting soldiers. In the meantime, earlier, on the nineteenth, they surrounded the constable’s office to kill him. Probably he couldn’t get away. …”

Twenty-fourth day. After returning to his quarters,⁴⁶ his lordship summoned [Wada] Yoshimori and [Kajiwara] Kagetoki and ordered: “Go to Kyoto tomorrow. Gather the soldiers and register them; separately submit a list of those who ought to depart at dawn tomorrow.” By midnight those vassals who gathered totaled 2,096, among them [Chiba] Tsunetane and other important ones, of which those who ought to go to Kyoto were fifty-eight, including [Koyama] Tomomasa and [Yki] Tomomitsu.

Twenty-fifth day. At dawn today those brave warriors who agreed were named and made to depart for Kyoto. His lordship told them: “First, when you get to Owari and Mino, tell the residents of those provinces to fortify the ferries at Ajika, Sunomata, and other places. Next, as soon as you get into Kyoto, kill Yukiie and Yoshitsune. Show no mercy whatsoever. If they happen not to be in Kyoto, wait until I arrive. …”

Twenty-sixth day. Tosanob Masatoshi and three of his party were hunted down and brought out of the depths of Mt. Kurama by the Iyo governor’s retainers and beheaded today on Rokuj Kawara.

Twenty-ninth day. In order to suppress the revolt of the Governor of Iyo and the Governor of Bizen, the lord of second rank left for Kyoto today….

Second day, eleventh month. The Governor of Iyo already planned to move to the West. In order to arrange vessels for that purpose, he first dispatched Captain of the Imperial Police [Fujiwara no] Tomozane….

Third day. Former Governor of Bizen Yukiie [armor made of cherry-decorated leather] and Governor of Iyo Yoshitsune [jacket made of brocade against red background, armor made of pale-blue fabric] departed for the Saikai. First they sent a messenger to the Imperial Palace to say: “In order to avoid Kamakura’s censure we are escaping to Kysh. We are aware that we should come to pay respects to Your Majesty, but we are not in proper attire, so we have already left.”

Accompanying them were former Middle Captain [Taira no] Tokisane; Gentleman-in-Waiting [Ichij] Yoshinari [Yoshitsune’s half brother; Minister of the Treasury Ichij Naganari’s son]; Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Right Division, [Minamoto no] Izu Aritsuna; Hori Yatar Kagemitsu, Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Sat Shiro Tadanobu; Ise no Sabur Yoshimori; Kataoka Hachir Hirotsune; Monk Benkei; and others. The entire force is said to have consisted of about two hundred horsemen.

Fifth day. The direct vassals dispatched from Kant entered Kyoto. They first conveyed the lord of second rank’s fury to the Minister of the Left [Fujiwara no Tsunemune].

Today, when the Governor of Iyo reached Kawajiri, members of the Minamoto clan of Settsu Province, Chamberlain Tada Yukitsuna and Toyoshima Kanja, blocked his way and shot some arrows and stones. The governor galloped into them, and they were unable to put up a fight. Nevertheless, many on the governor’s force dropped away, and not many remained with him.

Sixth day. Yukiie and Yoshitsune boarded their vessels on the beach of Daimotsu, but a gale arose suddenly and fierce waves capsized their vessels, so they had to abandon their plan to cross the sea. Many of their group scattered and only four chose to stay with the Governor of Iyo: These were Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards Izu, Hori Yatar, Musashib Benkei, and the governor’s mistress [called Shizuka]. They spent this night near Tenn Temple and then fled to some place.

Today an imperial command ordering capture and return of these two men was sent to various provinces.⁴⁷

Seventh day. The lord of second rank stayed at an inn in Kisegawa so that he might gather together the warriors and hear what was going on in Kyoto. He was told that earlier, on the third, Yukiie and Yoshitsune had fled from Chgoku toward the Saikai. The only thing was that the two men had been equipped with the Retired Emperor [Goshirakawa]’s command that the residents of Shikoku and Kysh obey their orders…. The lord of second rank was extremely depressed that the retired emperor had trampled upon his many achievements. Nonetheless he was greatly pleased when he heard the rumor that during the deliberations on whether or not to issue the said imperial command the Minister of the Right [Kuj Kanezane] had strongly supported him.

Today Yoshitsune was relieved of his present posts [said to be the Governorship of Iyo and the position in the Imperial Police].

Kuj Kanezane (1149-1207), a wily courtier who had already established communications with Yoritomo, heard, on the same day, that Yukiie and Yoshitsune had perished a few days earlier. He jotted down his thoughts on the matter in his diary Gyokuy:

If the news were true, it would no longer be possible to recompense them for their services. This is to be regretted but it is a matter of great joy to the world. If they had positioned themselves in Kysh, the provinces along the routes to the island would have suffered and declined further because of the warriors sent to pursue and destroy them. In the provinces of the Kant, too, because of the ensuing disturbances Yoritomo would not have been able to carry out his plans. As a result, both the high and the low in Kyoto would not have found any means of survival.⁴⁸ Therefore, their deaths before achieving what they wanted to do can only be a great boon to the nation.

Yoshitsune has left great achievements; about this there is nothing to argue. In bravery, benevolence, and justice, he is bound to leave a great name to posterity. In this he can only be admired and praised. The only thing is that he decided to rebel against Yoritomo. This was a great traitorous crime. It must be because of this that Heaven meted out to him this punishing accident.

Eighth day. Because they [Yukiie and Yoshitsune] had already fled Kyoto, his lordship [Yoritomo] canceled his plan to go to Kyoto and left to return to Kamakura today.

Seventeenth day. There was rumor that the Governor of lyo⁴⁹ was hiding in Mt. Yoshino, in Yamato Province, so the temple administrator, with the help of tough warrior monks, had been looking for him among the hills and woods for some days, but to no avail. However, around eight in the evening today, the governor’s mistress, Shizuka, came down the Fujio Slope of this mountain and reached Gi Hall. She looked extraordinarily strange. Some warrior monks spotted her and took her to the temple administrator’s office.

When questioned in detail, Shizuka said: “I am a mistress of Captain Kur, Fifth Rank [the present Governor of Iyo]. From the beach of Daimotsu he came to this mountain and stayed here for five days, but hearing the rumor that the warrior monks had revolted against him, he disguised himself as an itinerant mountain monk and disappeared. At the time he gave me a great deal of such things as gold and silver and sent me off toward Kyoto with several servants. But these men soon stripped me of the valuables, and abandoned me in the deep snow of the mountain. That’s why I wandered down here.”

Eighteenth day. Following what Shizuka had said, warrior monks of Yoshino again went into the hills and valleys to hunt the Governor of Iyo. The temple administrator greatly pitied Shizuka and said that after taking good care of her for some time he would send her to Kamakura.

Twenty-second day. The Governor of Iyo braved the deep snow of Mt. Yoshino and secretly headed for Tafu Peak. He said it was to offer prayers to the soul of the Taishokkan.⁵⁰ He reached the Fujimuro quarter of the South Hall of the shrine, whose resident monk, a tough warrior monk calling himself Jjib, admired the governor.

Twenty-fifth day. Today Lord Hj [Tokimasa]⁵¹ entered Kyoto. Through the Governor-General of the Dazaifu and Middle Counselor [Yoshida Tsunefusa] he conveyed in detail to his majesty the lord of second rank’s depression in regard to Yukiie and Yoshitsune’s rebellion. Accordingly, today his majesty passed down his instructions, issuing an imperial command to hunt the two down without fail.⁵²

Twenty-ninth day. Jjib, of Tafu Peak, spoke to the Governor of Iyo and said: “This temple isn’t big, and there aren’t many monks living here, either, so it will be difficult for you to hide yourselves here for a long time. I’d like to send you to a place near the Totsu River. It’s so deep in the mountains that people and horses can’t easily get to it.”

The governor agreed, so the monk was overjoyed and sent the governor off along with eight tough warrior monks.

Fifteenth day, twelfth month. Lord Hj’s express messenger arrived from Kyoto. He brought a detailed report on the goings-on in Kyoto. Lord Hj first confiscated the houses of the rebels. He made strategic arrangements so that those who were sympathetic to their evil acts, in particular those whose intentions had been revealed, would not be able to flee…. Next, the Iyo Governor’s mistress was brought to him. Questioned, she said that when the Governor of Iyo left the capital, trying to go to the Saikai, he took her as far as the beach of Daimotsu….

Eighteenth day, second month [1186]. There was rumor that the Governor of Iyo was living in hiding on Tafu Peak. This means, his lordship [Yoritomo] suspected, that the Governor’s teachers, Tkb Ajari, of Kurama, and Su Tokug [Shk], of Nara, are sympathetic to him. He ordered that they be brought to Kamakura.

First day, third month. Today, the Governor of Iyo’s mistress, Shizuka, summoned, arrived in Kamakura from Kyoto…. Her mother, Iso no Zenji, accompanied her….

Sixth day. Shizuka was summoned and questioned about the Governor of Iyo by Toshikane and [Taira no] Moritoki. She said that earlier she had spent some days on Mt. Yoshino. When told that her story could hardly be believed, she said, “It was not on the mountain but in a monastery there. But hearing that the warrior monks had revolted, the governor disguised himself as an itinerant mountain monk and left, saying he intended to enter the Great Peak.⁵³ The monk of the monastery accompanied him. In love with him, I went as far as the First Torii, but the same monk scolded me, saying ‘Women aren’t allowed to enter the Peak.’ So I headed toward Kyoto. But the servants who accompanied me took my valuables and disappeared. So I wandered down to Gi Hall.”

Further asked the name of the monk, she said she had forgotten. On the whole, what she had said in Kyoto and what she described now were different to a great extent….

Fifteenth day. Former Governor of Iyo Yoshitsune, who had brazenly appeared in a number of places, offered prayers at the Grand Shrine [of Ise]. Saying it was for the fulfillment of his prayers, he donated a gold-decorated sword. It was the sword he had worn in various battles.

Eighth day, fourth month. The lord of second rank and his ladyship⁵⁴ paid their respects at Tsurugaoka Shrine. Next they summoned Shizuka to the colonnade. The purpose was to have her offer a dance to the shrine. Orders had been issued earlier, but she had not presented herself, using the pretext of illness.

“She is in unfortunate circumstances and in no position to make any excuse, but as the Governor of Iyo’s mistress it would be extremely shameful to appear in a public place so soon, she says, and is very reluctant [to respond to your order]. Still,” her ladyship said, urging, “she is a great dancer known to the whole land. We happen to have come to the shrine and she lives near here. We would regret it if we didn’t see her perform.”

Consequently, his lordship summoned Shizuka. His order was that her performance be to praise the benevolence of the Great Boddhisattva.

When she faced the stage, however, Shizuka continued to decline firmly, saying she had been terribly distressed in recent days and that, furthermore, she did not know how to dance. Nonetheless, when his lordship’s order was repeated a few more times, she diffidently put her snow-white sleeves around her body and started the Song of the Yellow Bamboo. Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division [Kudo] Suketsune played the drum. Even though he was born to a family that had produced outstanding warriors for several generations and he himself had lived in the dust arising from shield and halberd, he had done a chief’s duties⁵⁵ and he himself sang and played music; that must be why he served in that role. Hatakeyama Jir Shigetada did the rhythmic part.

Shizuka began by chanting a song:

Yoshino-yama mine no shirayuki fumiwakete

irinishi hito no ato zo koishiki

Treading on the white snow of the peak of Mt. Yoshino

he went away. How I miss him!

She then sang a song from the “farewell” category of music and again chanted a song:

Shizu ya shizu shizu no odamaki kurikaeshi

mukashi o ima ni nasu yoshi mo gana

Shizu oh shizu! Like the shizu spool, if only I could

repeat the past and bring it back!⁵⁶

Truly it was such a splendid spectacle in front of the shrine that dust on the beams surely must have trembled!⁵⁷ Both the high and the low were deeply moved.

However, the lord of second rank said, “Anyone who shows his performing skill before the treasure hall of Hachiman Shrine must praise the glorious future of Kant above all, but ignoring what I told her, she expressed her longing for the traitorous Yoshitsune and sang farewell songs. This is outrageous!”

His ladyship responded by saying, “While you were exiled and lived in Izu Province, you pledged your love to me. But my father, Lord Hj, fearful of the timing and the circumstances, secretly shut me up. Nevertheless, I responded to your call, wandered out into the darkness of night, and ignored the downpour to come to your place. Again, while you were out on the battlefield at Ishibashi, I, left alone on Mt. Izu, did not know whether you were dead or alive, almost fainting with anxiety day and night. If you speak of my distress then, it was exactly the way Shizuka must feel now. If she forgot the governor’s love for many years and did not miss him or long for him, she would hardly be called a woman of fidelity. She simply used this opportunity to perform publicly and revealed her innermost feelings. This is most wonderful. You must bend over backwards to compliment her.”

As a result of these words, his lordship contained his anger. In a while he had a robe [u no hana kasane]⁵⁸ pushed outside the blind as a reward for her performance.⁵⁹

Twentieth day. Today there was rumor that Yukiie and Yoshitsune were still in Kyoto, scheming with warrior monks of Mt. Hiei. His lordship [Yoritomo] was asked if he should issue some instructions. Accordingly, he sent a message to the Governor-General of the Dazaifu and Middle Counselor [Yoshida Tsunefusa], asking him to have some of those brave warriors⁶⁰ climb the mountain and find the warrior monks.

Twenty-fifth day, fifth month. Express messengers from [Ichij] Noriyasu, Military Aide Heiroku Tokisada, and Hitachib Masaaki arrived. They brought the head of former Governor of Bizen Yukiie….

Twenty-second day, sixth month. The express messenger from the Chief of the Imperial Stables of the Left [Ichij Noriyasu] came from Kyoto. There was a report that the Governor of Iyo was living in hiding near Ninna Temple and Iwakura, so Secretary of the Criminal Bureau [Kajiwara] Tomokage, Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards [Got] Motokiyo, and other brave warriors were dispatched, but they found nothing. In the meantime there was rumor that some warrior monks on Mt. Hiei were taking care of him.

Tenth day, intercalary seventh month. An express messenger from the Chief of the Imperial Stables of the Left came. His letter said that the former Iyo governor’s boy servant, Gormaru, had been arrested and questioned in detail; he said that the former governor had been hiding on the mountain until about the twentieth of the sixth month. If his confession were true, it would mean that Shuns, Shi, and Chky, all warrior monks of Mt. Hiei, had been sympathetic to and supportive of him. Accordingly, the matter was brought to the attention of the head [of Enryaku Temple: Zengen] and the religious counselor to his majesty.⁶¹ This was something of which his majesty, too, had been informed.

Also, Yoshitsune had the same name as his excellency, the Middle Captain of the Third Rank, so it was changed to Yoshiyuki.

“His excellency” here is Fujiwara no Yoshitsune (1169-1206), the second son of Kuj Kanezane. The two Yoshitsunes used different Chinese characters for their names, but one was an important aristocrat, the other a criminal: hence, the arbitrary change.

Who proposed the name change is a matter of speculation, but it may well have been Yoritomo. There is little doubt that he enjoyed ingratiating himself with Kanezane, a ranking aristocrat of the day. Four months earlier his recommendation had been accepted and Kanezane had become regent. Proposing to change his own brother’s name because it sounded the same as that of a son of his admired friend would have been another nice gesture.

As Yoritomo’s irritation at the failure of anyone to capture his elusive brother grew, along with his suspicions of Kyoto people, a man by the name of Miyoshi Yoshinobu thought of pointing out – so the entry on the fifth of the eleventh month tells us-that Yoshitsune’s new name, Yoshiyuki, could be interpreted to mean “going away without any mishap” and, therefore, “to be able to hide himself well.” That was why, he said, Yoshitsune could not be captured. He brought the matter to Regent Kanezane, and Yoshitsune regained his original name – all in his absence.⁶²

Twenty-sixth day, intercalary seventh month. A letter from the chief of the Imperial Stables of the Left came. In accordance with Gormaru’s confession, the request was delivered to the head of the mountain [Zengen] that the monks sympathetic to the Governor of Iyo be lined up and handed over; thereupon, the head said that the fellow in question had already escaped…. Nevertheless, three were lined up and handed over as related to the fellow who had escaped, so these were given over to the Imperial Police….

Twenty-second day, ninth month. Kasuya Tta Arisue, in Kyoto, captured the Iyo governor’s retainer, Hori Yatar Kagemitsu [who had been hiding in Kyoto]. Also, at the Nakamikado Higashi no Tin, he killed his retainer [Sato] Tadanobu. When Arisue raced to the place, Tadanobu, being naturally a tough soldier, fought back and could not be easily subdued. But the attack was made with a great number of people, so that in the end Tadanobu and his two servants killed themselves.

It is said that Tadanobu, who was with the Governor of Iyo for a number of years, had some time back parted with him near Uji, returned to Kyoto, visited a common married woman whom he used to meet secretly, and given her a letter. The woman showed the said letter to her husband at the time. The husband told this to Arisue, who, as a result, went to get the man.

Tadanobu used to be a close aide of General of the Eastern Pacification Headquarters [Fujiwara no] Hidehira. Back in the fourth year of Jish [1180], when the Governor of Iyo left for Kant, Hidehira had selected him along with Tsugunobu from among his warriors known for their bravery and offered them to him.

Tenth day, second month [1187]. Former Governor of Iyo Yoshitsune managed to live in hiding in various places for some time and to escape time and again the punishing hands of his pursuers. Finally, after going through such provinces as Ise and Mino he reached sh. This he did because he counted on the power and influence of Governor of Mutsu and Lay Priest [Fujiwara no] Hidehira. It is said that as he went, taking his wife, son, and daughter with him, all were either in the guise of itinerant mountain monk or child.

Fifth day, third month. Because various people’s reports agreed that the Governor of Iyo was in Mutsu Province and that this was something Lay Priest Hidehira had arranged, his lordship had earlier told Kyoto to look into the matter closely. The commander of the Outer Palace Guards, Right Division [Noriyasu], said that, as a result, his majesty took some steps.

Eighth day. The Reverend Su Shk, of Nara, had come in response to his lordship’s summons. This is because he was the Iyo governor’s teacher. For some days he had been in the custody of Koyama Shichir Tomomitsu. Today the lord of second rank interviewed him and at once began questioning him. He said: “The Governor of Iyo is a criminal who wants to disturb our land. Accordingly, after he disappeared out of sight, his majesty has time and again commanded that he be hunted down in the mountains and valleys of all provinces and be killed. So everyone under heaven, high or low, has turned against him. Nonetheless, I have heard, Reverend, that you, alone, have not only offered prayers for him but also conspired to make arrangements for him. Would you explain to me what you mean by all this?”

Shk said in reply: “When the governor departed as Your Lordship’s emissary to subjugate the Taira clan, I firmly agreed with him to pray that all his battles be completed without mishap. This I did with special concentration for some years. That was for the good of the country, was it not?

“When the governor had to hide himself because, he said, he was censured by Kant, he came to Nara remembering our master-disciple relationship. At that time I gently advised him to be careful and remove himself from harm’s way for the moment, so that he might have a chance to apologize to Your Lordship. I provided him with servant monks and sent him off to Iga Province. I have heard absolutely nothing from him since then.

“I did pray, yes, but not for rebellion; I did advise, but to placate his rebellious mind. Why should this be termed conspiracy?

“When you think of it, Your Excellency, the peace of Kant is the result of the governor’s military exploits, is it not? And yet you accepted slander, instantly forgot the services he had rendered, and took back the lands you had given him as a reward. Was it not natural for him, as a human being, to have rebellious thoughts?

“May I suggest, sir, that you reverse your attitude at once, decide to be reconciled with him, and call him back, so that the two of you may live like fish in the water? That is the correct way of ruling our nation. This I say not to defend myself, but because I seek some way of achieving national peace and quiet.”

When he heard this, the lord of second rank understood the reverend’s true intentions and asked him to become the resident monk of the Shchju-in⁶³ and concentrate on prayers for the prosperity of Kant.

Fourth day, ninth month. Earlier, the lord of second rank had appealed to the court that Lay Priest Hidehira was protecting the former Governor of Iyo and contemplating rebellion. In response, the Office of the Retired Emperor had sent a letter of inquiry to Mutsu Province. At the same time, a runner had been sent from Kant; he returned today. The word from Kyoto was that Hidehira had no designs to rebel. But the runner said that it appeared that he was already making preparations. Accordingly, the same runner was dispatched to Kyoto. He was to report what was happening in sh.

Twenty-ninth day, tenth month. Today Lay Priest Hidehira died in his mansion in Hiraizumi, Mutsu Province. For some days he had been suffering from a serious disease. At the time of his death he left a will telling Yasuhira and his other sons to have the former Governor of Iyo succeed him as general and govern the province.⁶⁴

Twenty-ninth day, second month [1188]. The commander of the Outer Palace Guards sent word that imperial messenger Shish Kunimitsu and Officer of the Office of the Retired Emperor Kagehiro were going to be sent to Yasuhira, of sh, concerning the former Governor of Iyo.

Ninth day, fourth month. Officer Shish Kunimitsu and Officer of the Office of the Retired Emperor Kagehiro left Kyoto on the twenty-second of the previous month. Their purpose was to order Yasuhira to arrest and hand over the Governor of Iyo. The two of them arrived in Kamakura today, carrying an imperial command and other documents from the Office of the Retired Emperor.

Twenty-second day, second month [1189]. His lordship dispatched to Kyoto a messenger [runner Tokizawa]. Since the Governor of Iyo had disappeared, the imperial handling of the matter had been lax and accommodating, so the man had been intent on criminal activities. His lordship said that the matter should be taken care of with urgency.

Twenty-fifth day. His lordship sent a messenger [runner Satonaga] to sh. The purpose was to spy on Yasuhira’s moves.

Twenty-second day, third month. Temple Administrator of Sei-sh-ji Hky Shkan came to Kyoto as a messenger. He presented his lordship’s letter to the Governor-General of the Dazaifu and middle counselor. In it his lordship repeated his earlier request that Yasuhira’s plea of innocence be accepted and that an Imperial command for pursuing and destroying him be issued immediately.

Twenty-second day, fourth month. The matter concerning the pursuit and destruction of the men of sh was decided upon in the Imperial Palace earlier, on the ninth, with the assistant minister of the Treasury as presiding officer, even though the retired emperor was at Tenn Temple.

Thirtieth day, intercalary fourth month. Today, in Mutsu Province, Yasuhira attacked the Governor of Iyo. This he did in response to the imperial decision and the lord of second rank’s order. The governor was in Secretary of Popular Affairs [Fujiwara no] Motonari’s mansion at Koromogawa. Yasuhira, leading several hundred horsemen, raced to the place and fought. The governor’s retainers tried to defend themselves, but all were killed. The governor went into the Buddhist Altar Hall, first killed his wife [twenty-two years old] and child [girl, four years old], and next committed suicide.

Thirteenth day, sixth month. Yasuhira’s messenger, Nitta Kanja Takahira, brought the Iyo governor’s head to the bay of Koshigoe and sent in a report. Accordingly, his lordship sent Wada Tar Yoshimori and Kajiwara Heiz Kagetoki to the place for inspection. Each man wore a jacket and armor and was accompanied by twenty armored horsemen. The governor’s head was placed in a tub lacquered black, immersed in excellent sake, and carried on the shoulders of two of Takahira’s servants. Long ago, Lord Su even carried his own provisions himself; now Takahira had his men carry the governor’s head. All those who watched this are said to have wiped their tears, soaking their sleeves.