Japan's history, social structure and socio-cultural background, compared to Europe, seen and experienced through the eyes of a Daimyo Lord family for more than 2,650+ years
The family history; Daimyo Sheriff Yamana-Itotani History: The Gempei War 1180-1185
In August, 1180, Seiwa no Minamoto Yoritomo raised the banner of rebellion and officially assumed the post of clan leader after his father, after 11 years of being vacant and empty.
It also meant that the official leadership of Seiwa Minamoto was, to say the least, lukewarmly received by the Bunke side branches.
His father's brother; Minamoto no Yukiie (died June 1, 1186) and Yoritomo's cousin; Minamoto no Yoshinaka (1154 – February 21, 1184) himself believed that they were the true Seiwa Minamoto clan leaders, as Yoritomo had renounced this post at the age of 11 while he was a hostage on Izu.
But of course, had Yoritomo not done this, he would have been killed instantly. Politics can be deadly dirty.
The province of Izu is today part of Tokyo, or Edo as the city was called during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1868), and is considered "sacred" within the Seiwa Minamoto family.
That is why Edo, i.e. Tokyo, also became the capital of Japan since 1603, when the government of the Tokugawa Shogunate was located here.
Kyoto was the Emperor's from 1333-1868 and after 1868; Tokyo, which was the new name for Edo, which the emperor could not be associated with, since he had just officially overthrown the Tokugawa Shogunate, which founded Tokyo, no sorry Edo 😊
In the first period of the Kamakura Shogunate with the first three Seiwa no Minamoto Shoguns 1185-1219, it was also characteristic of Japan's and the Shogun's closest top people that the greatest honor and status was to be appointed as Izu no Kami – Daimyo Count of Izu, although it was more one district and one honor.
It happened to both Seiwa Minamoto Yoshinori, as his younger brother Seiwa Minamoto Yoshitoshi, and their cousin Ashikaga, as Yoritomo's brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori.
They were all appointed in 1185 by the first Imperial Japanese Seitai Shogun: Seiwa Minamoto Yoritomo.
Kyoto
But this appointment did not include Shogun Yoritomo's two brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori, as they were the most successful generals of the Gempei War - and Yoritomo's wife Hojo hated both brothers as the greatest threat to her husband and sons.
As now official Seiwa Minamoto Bunke lines to the main Seiwa Minamoto Shogun Honke line, their genealogy was therefore changed to; Seiwa Minamoto Yamana Yoshinori and younger brother of Seiwa Minamoto Satomi Yoshitoshi.
This appointment as Honke Bunke by Seiwa Minamoto also did not include Yoshinori and Yoshitoshi's father Nitta Yoshishige and their brothers, as Yoritomo was rather angry and mad at them.
You get that story now
But it does create a huge problem that two sons of the Shogun are ordered and rewarded as a statue against all other Seiwa Minamoto's, including their own father and brothers, by an official Shogun dictated establishment of their own clan, and as officially recognized Seiwa Minamoto Bunke clan heads for respectively Yamana and Satomi.
What a few family dinners that could come out of it. Well, back to the start of the gempei war.
In August 1180, Yoritomo, as official clan head of Seiwa, called the Minamoto to arms in Izu.
Kozuke province, which was Seiwa Minamoto Nitta's, was with a little good will "next door" to Izu, and Seiwa Minamoto Yamana Yoshinori, like his younger brother Seiwa Minamoto Satomi Yoshitoshi, immediately decided to answer the call.
Their very powerful father, Yoshishige did not. Fonly after long conversations and months.
This is the explanation that Yoritomo was rather angry with both of the four remaining main Bunke clans of the Seiwa Minamoto after the genealogy; The senior line Seiwa Minamoto Nitta and the junior lines Seiwa Minamoto Hosogawa, Ashikaga and Takeda.
Nitta clan territories 1185
This is of course speculation and perhaps dubious sources support it. But there must have been a family meeting with Nitta Yoshishige and all his sons about whether they should "throw all the eggs in one basket" as an all or nothing solution, or just look at the time and throw "Two eggs in the basket" and save the rest for when really hungry.
Within the Seiwa no Minamoto no Nitta no Yamana-Itotani family, the final solution is what was decided and what appears in the family papers.
The genealogy with senior and junior head Bunke lines within the Seiwa Minamoto was also the reason why, according to the genealogy, the Nitta should have been the Honke clan leaders of the Seiwa Minamoto, after the Seiwa Minamoto main line died out with the last Seiwa Minamoto Shogun in 1219, Sanetomo, who was killed by his uncle.
Therefore, there was a "show down" between Nitta and Ashikaga during the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate in the years 1333-1336, when Nitta rightly considered their lineage as senior compared to Ashikaga.
Yamana-Itotani-Provinces-1336
But Ashikaga Takauji won power and the Shogun title, with the support of Uncle Yamana Masauji and his son Cousin Tokiuji.
Uncle and cousin of Takauji, and two main Bunke lineages of Seiwa Minamoto, where Yamana is genealogically second only to Nitta and therefore in principle also senior to Ashikaga.
Seiwa Genji (Minamoto) Soryo clan chief's call to arms, was not really answered by very many and therefore Yoritomo could only ride from Izu and towards the pass in the Hakone mountains (a few hours north of Tokyo) with a start-up army of 300 samurai, which was of the finest burden and thus top-trained.
But there weren't many and Taira Kiyomori was a shrewd politician and general.
On September 14, 1180, the Taira general intercepted Yoritomo's small army in Hakone, near Kamakura, and it became the Battle of Ishibashiyama.
Under the cover of night, 3,300 Taira samurai attacked Yoritomo's camp from two sides and only the many sympathizers in the Taira army prevented the entire Minamoto army from being killed, but able to escape.
The Nitta brothers fled with Yoritomo to Awa Province, where he quickly gathered a new army and secretly sent Hojo Tokimasa to first Nitta of Kozuke and then Takeda of Kai to gather the largest of the Seiwa Minamoto clan forces.
It finally succeeded and Yoritomo marched his army to an agreed rendezvous with the Minamoto Nitta and Minamoto Takeda armies. Along the way he received intelligence that the Taira army was again trying to do the same to him as at Ishibashiyama.
Despite a much smaller strength of approx. 5,000 samurai, Yoritomo decided to carry out a night attack on the Taira army camp which housed 30,000 samurai.
Yamana Provinces in 1390
The leaders were high from the Ishibashiyama victory and therefore they had relaxed the security.
At the same time, he also sent word to Minamoto Nitta Yoshishige and Minamoto Takeda to hurry and what his plans were.
Yoritomo did not know that Minamoto Nitta Yoshishige and Minamoto Takeda Nobuyoshi with a combined 25,000 samurai were already nearby and already scouting the Taira army like the two very experienced warlords they both were.
The evening attack on October 20, 1180, began at dusk, but the Taira army with Taira Kiyomori's grandson; Taira no Koremori (1160 – c. 1184) was warned by some startled flocks of birds.
So from the beginning, things were already going wrong for Yoritomo's army, and they were just about to be slaughtered, until the assembled newly arrived Minamoto army took part in the battle with two flank attacks.
The Taira army collapsed and it became a total slaughter, which meant that the Taira lost control over all of Kanto's eight provinces, after the subsequent clean-up action.
As a revenge reaction, Kiyomori burned down the first capital Nara as he wanted revenge on the monks who supported the Seiwa Minamoto faction.
Nitta clan territories 1477
Both Nitta brothers survived the battle, and I wonder if there was a huge reunion and family celebration between father Yoshishige and almost all his sons.
Nitta Yoshikane was still in Kozuke, where he was responsible for the possessions of the Nitta clan and defended the home staff if things went wrong.
Taira Koremori succeeded his grandfather as clan leader of the Taira in 1181, but in late 1184 chose to become a monk instead.
That did not save him from death, as Yoritomo had learned from Taira's mistake and he therefore ordered Koremori killed.
Yoritomo just forgot his nephew Taira no Chikazane (1260-1290), who became the last Taira clan leader until Yoritomo also killed him in 1290, which meant that the Taira clan as Honke mainline became extinct.
However, that did not prevent Oda Nobunaga, the first of Japan's "Unifiers" from claiming that Chikazane was the ancestor of the Oda clan, and his direct descendants were the first to take the Oda name in 1435 after the approval of their Daimyo Count Seiwa Minamoto Shiba the clan.
Power struggles in the Oda clan also exterminated the Shiba clan in 1554 by killing the last Shiba Daimyo sheriff of the province of Owari; Shiba Yoshimune (1513 – August 10, 1554).
Yamana-Itotani areas 1563
The great Seiwa Minamoto victory at the Battle of Fujikawa helped support Yoritomo as the resurrected supreme clan leader of the Seiwa Minamoto, and skeptical family supporters now began to pour in.
Had it not been for a famine, which actually lasted for two years in 1180-1181, and put a damper on the civil war between the Taira and Minamoto, Yoritomo might have already ended it all after this battle.
His father's brother knew that; Minamoto no Yukiie (died June 1, 1186) and Yoritomo's cousin; Minamoto no Yoshinaka (1154 – February 21, 1184) excelled, so they were busy excelling and thus fighting for the job of Seiwa Minamoto's supreme clan head, which took place at a "family council" that had not taken place officially yet, they themselves thought.
Uncle Yukiie and cousin Yoshinaka's battles and major battles at the end of 1181 to 1183 were "two steps forward and two steps back", i.e. they both won and lost.
But it was enough for them both to openly challenge Yoritomo's post as supreme clan leader, which was not very wise and good with internal Seiwa Minamoto discord and fights.
Yamana-Itotani Provinces 1564-73
Especially not when they were fighting against a mortally dangerous enemy clan, like the Taira, who, a little more than 20 years earlier, had almost wiped out the entire Seiwa Minamoto clan.
Yoshinaka and Yukiie could well see the problem, so they convinced Yoritomo of a temporary internal standstill on the rift within Seiwa Minamoto.
But Yoritomo knew that this was only a matter of time, and therefore simply sent the brothers Nitta Yamana and Nitta Satomi off with 300 elite samurai warriors who were to fight under the leadership of their great uncle and great cousin.
On June 2, 1183, the Battle of Kurikara Pass was fought, which was a major turning point in the Gempei War in favor of the Seiwa Minamoto.
The Seiwa Minamoto army consisted of just 5,000 against 40,000 Taira under Taira Koremori and Michimori.
The battle is legendary in Japanese history for several reasons
The main reason is, of course, that 5,000 beat 40,000 and that strategically was the decisive turning point in the Gempei war.
The second was that the brothers Nitta Yamana and Nitta Satomi with their 300 elite samurai warriors were not the only ones with a contingent of 300 elite warriors wreaking havoc on the battlefield.
So did Yoshinaka's wife!
Tomoe Gozen (c. 1157 – 1247) was an Onna-bugei – female noble samurai warrior, who was the general of a mixed contingent of elite samurai warriors of both sexes, and she challenged and defeated many renowned samurai warriors and lords.
There are many examples of this in Japan's history as previously mentioned, such as Tomoe Gozen, Nakano Takeko, and Hōjō Masako.
The difference between Europe, Asia and Japan was that everyone in a noble family was trained as a samurai.
It also happened to the lower samurai classes after rank 5.
However, the norm was that it was the men who fought the battles, but the women defended the home and the children - if things went wrong for the men or if robbers came by.
The women had the same Bujutsu teachers as the men, but due to the purpose, they were especially trained in Naginata (agile Japanese version of Halbard) and short swords (Tanto and kotachi), - but of course also in all other armed and unarmed weapon forms!
A well-known example was when Yamana Toyokuni and his family were on the run from Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi after the battles of Inaba, Hoki and Tajima, which Yamana lost and therefore had to flee with killer Ninja's and Samurai hunter forces on their heels in the period 1582- 1584.
In order to hide and lie low, they took the name Itotani (Mountain Valley), which means the opposite of Yamana (Mountaintop - "that is, the man - the family on top of the mountain").
One night their hideout was attacked by 30-40 Ninja's and Samurai Hunter forces.
To buy time for her husband, Toyokuni's wife, Tsugi, threw "clothes bundles, pots and pans" at the attackers, so the security guards were alerted and her husband could start his work.
She continued in a supporting but very deadly effective role.
When the bodyguard samurai security guards finally reached the hall, there were already 15-20 dead ninja's and Samurai hunter forces, as Yamana Toyokuni was an extremely feared bujutsu grandmaster, but so was his wife!
Battle of Kurikara
The security guards quickly took care of those remaining in the attack.
Similar attacks happened at least three more times and it is said that this "struggle for survival under the same roof as the family" created a sympathetic invisible bond from the beginning, between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Yamana Toyokuni in 1586.
This because Ieyasu and his family had been exposed to exactly the same thing - and survived.
The Battle of Shinohara was won by a three-front attack and a huge herd of frightened bulls with torches tied to their horns ran through the Taira army from the rear, smashing everything in their path in the narrow passes.
A similar tactic was also used by Oda Nobunaga against Imagawa in 1560.
The clean-up afterwards was therefore relatively easy at Shinohara, as the Taira samurai had lost their fighting spirit and believed they were being attacked by a superior force at least as large as their own.
Shinohara is also known for archery, artillery duels and competitive challenges.
Cousin Yoshinaka now believed that his position was so strong after winning two battles that he captured Kyoto and kidnapped the Emperor to install himself on the warrior-king throne as Japan's first total Shogun.
There were, of course, protests against that - that is, deadly protests, and he ended up having to flee Kyoto with the Emperor Go-Shirakawa tied to a horse's back! What a sight.
Overview of the battles in the Gempei War (1180-1185)
It could only come to the ultimate confrontation between the Seiwa Minamoto factions, as Yoshinaka had now kidnapped the Emperor, which had stirred the minds of all Japan.
This forced Yoritomo to clean up himself "within his own ranks in the family".
On February 19, 1184, Yoritomo's two brothers: Yoshitsune and Noriyuki, intercepted their cousin's army just outside Kyoto on the Uji River.
Noriyuki (1150 – September 14, 1193) pressed from behind. While Yoshitsune's cavalry army, together with the brothers Nitta Yamana and Nitta Satomi crossed the river at a ford and attacked Yoshinaka's bridge crossing army head-on.
The emperor was freed and Yoshinaka's army defeated.
However, many chose not to fight as they were sympathetic to Yoshitsune's reputation and status as a samurai general and human being.
The emperor was therefore quite happy to be freed, which would later cost both Yoshitsune and his brother Noriyuki their lives.
Here the brothers Nitta Yamana and Nitta Satomi knew their visitation well and in the end stuck with Yoritomo, despite the fact that they were both also generals during many of Yoshitsune's battles.
Eyes on the ball
On February 21, 1184, Yoshinaka was intercepted by Yoshitsune's and Noriyuki's superior army, and Yoshinaka was hit by an arrow in the eye while on horseback in the middle of a rice field and that is what he died of.
There was then no more doubt as to who was the supreme leader of the Seiwa Minamoto clan: It was Yoritomo.
The romantic parting between Yoshinaka and his wife Tomoe Gozen is very famous.
When all was lost, he ordered his wife to flee and take care of their children.
Another western version is that he wanted to die with his foster brother and he should not suffer the shame of dying in front of a woman.
But here we know better! Women and men were equal! Just read this from "Heike Mongatari";
“Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a mighty bow; and she performed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors”.
— The Tale of the Heike
On March 20, 1184, one of the most famous battles of the Gempei War unfolded; The Battle of Ichi-NoTani, just outside Kobe.
3,000 Minamoto Samurai under Noriyuki and Yoshitsune, attacked 5,000 Taira samurai who had entrenched themselves in a mountain castle, which was however challenging to defend.
Noriyuki attacked head-on, while Yoshitsune, with just a hundred samurai horsemen, attacked from the rear in a pincer maneuver.
Yoshitsune's faithful warrior monk Benkei (1155–1189) and the brothers Nitta Yamana and Nitta Satomi were included as cavalry generals among Yoshitsune's chosen cavalry samurai.
On the Taira side, all the most prominent were from the Taira clan.
The battle is also famous because of the individual duels that also took place during the battle.
Taira no Atsumori's death at the hands of Kumagai no Naozane is undoubtedly the most famous and celebrated duel in Japanese history.
The Battle of Ichi-NoTani
Only 3,000 of the Taira army survived the battle and had to constantly fight against attacking Minamoto army contingents until they reached the Yashima fortress on Shikoku island.
On March 22, 1185, Yoshitsune attacked, with the brothers Nitta Yamana and Nitta Satomi also participating.
It was another Minamoto victory, but most of the Taira army escaped as the Minamoto army could not stop them.
Incidentally, the battle was half sea battle and half land battle.
But the battle is probably also most famous for Nasu no Yoichi (c. 1169 – c. 1232), who shot down a war fan with a single arrow shot when a beautiful Taira noblewoman challenged to an archery duel between the Taira and Minamoto.
In 1185, Nasu no Yoichi became the first Minamoto general to become Daimyo of Tottori Castle in Inaba, which was ancient Taira land.
Today, Yamana-Itotani Inaba Soryo Daimyo Duke and Marki's family head, is called Yoichi in honor of Nasu no Yoichi.
On April 25, 1185, the last and decisive battle was fought between the Taira and the Minamoto.
Nasu no Yoichi
It was a big naval battle with 800 ships, – 300 Minamoto divided among six armies and 500 Taira.
The two Seiwa Minamoto armies were led by respectively Nitta brothers Nitta Yamana and Nitta Satomi.
The battle became known as Dan-no-Ura, which is the strait between the southern of the main islands of Honshu and Kyushu.
Yoshitsune and his Seiwa Minamoto generals won a great victory, which meant the annihilation of the entire Taira clan and the 81st Emperor Antoku, who drowned during the battle along with most of the crown regalia.
Seiwa Minamoto was now Japan's absolute strongest and leading clan.
In December 1185, Emperor Go-Shirawa appointed Seiwa no Minamoto no Yoritomo as Japan's first Seitai Shogun – warrior king of all Japan.
As mentioned, this post was previously divided into two: North and South. and limited in time.
Now the Shogun title was unified and only inheritable within the Seiwa Minamoto family and it has been that way ever since.
Battle of Dan-no-Ura
