It is 2am on a mid-winter night in the year 1160, and all is quiet at the Sanjo palace In the Japanese capital of Heian-kyo.
The Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa is asleep in his chamber, but he is suddenly awakened by noises coming from courtyard.
As he gets to his feet, he hears scuffling in the corridor and armed guards burst into his chamber
“Your Majesty, You are to come with us.”
“On whose orders?”
“On the orders of Yoshitomo of the Minamoto clan”
‘I am not going anywhere. This is an outrage.”
“I am sorry, you majesty. You are to be taken to imperial palace. For your own safety”
The men surround the Emperor and escort him out to the courtyard, where a carriage awaits him.
As the carriage is sped away, the retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa looks back to see warriors surrounding gates, and hears voices shouting ‘Quick, set the fires!’
Within minutes, flames soar aloft from the Sanjo, swept by strong winds. Senior noblemen rush to escape the fire.
Through the central gate strides the Genji leader Yoshitomo.
His deputy Masakiyo rushes up to him: “We have the Retired Emperor and he is on his way to…”
“Yes, but where is the Chief Advisor?“
“We cannot find him my lord.”
“Keep looking. If we cannot find him this will all be for nothing. Find him!”
As the Sanjo palace burns, Yoshitomo’s voice thunders across the courtyard.
“Shinzei…!”
A few weeks earlier, Minamoto no Yoritomo – a 12-year-old boy who will one day become the First Shogun of Japan – receives a mysterious letter from a messenger arriving from the Imperial Court. “Pass this to your father,” the messenger tells him. ‘Do not show anyone else.”
The boy’s father, Yoshitomo, the head of the Genji samurai clan, opens the letter and finds an invitation to dinner from a nobleman named Fujiwara no Nobuyori.
The samurai Yoshitomo knows that Nobuyori is an aristocrat who had been rising fast through the ranks and is now one of the most influential men in the Imperial court. He is also known to be one of the only rivals to the retired emperor’s chief advisor Shinzei. And for that reason, Yoshitomo is intrigued - but wary - to hear what he has to say.
The two men meet in secret, ensuring no one can overhear them. But let us imagine now that we can eavesdrop on their conversation.
As an increasingly drunk Nobuyori pours another drink for Yoshitomo, he begins to tell his dinner companion his views on the Emperor’s advisor.
“Shinzei has full control of every affair in the realm,” he says “A word from him gives his sons offices and promotion. The longer he lives, the more likely he is to throw this land into chaos. I believe the retired emperor agrees with me, but for lack of a suitable occasion he has not yet told him so…. What is your view, Yoshitomo?”
Yoshitomo puts down his cup of sake. “I think you know my feelings about Shinzei. They have not changed since after the Hogen Rebellion”
Noboyori nods in sympathy. “Well, that is understandable. It was Go-Shirakawa’s decree but we all know it was surely Shinzei’s hand that forced you to execute your own father and brothers. And yet despite your loyalty to the Emperor, you have been continually overlooked for promotion, while the Heike have become the most powerful samurai clan in the land.”
Yoshitomo says nothing.
“The strain on your family must have been very great,” says Nobuyori, “ and I assume contributed to the death of your wife…”
Yoshitomo finally looks up. “So what is your point?”
“My point, my dear Yoshitomo, is that we both have reasons to hate Shinzei. So we should act together to remove him.”
“Hm. Shinzei is well protected,” says Yoshitomo. “It would be impossible to get near him. Not only the emperor’s guard, he also he is protected by the Heike.”
Nobuyori reclines on his sofa, with a satisfied smile, and places his hands over his prodigious stomach.
“Would it interest you to know that Lord Kiyomori and most of his Heike entourage will be going away, on a pilgrimage to Kumano. They will leave on the 4th of next month. At that time the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa will be residing at the Sanjo Palace.
“And…?” says Yoshitomo
“While they are absent, I propose that we kidnap the retired emperor – place him under guard in the palace with his son the Emperor Nijo, for their own protection, of course – and, uh, we kill Shinzei, before Kiyomori even hears of what is happening.”
Yoshitomo looks around then rises to leave. “This is treasonous talk.”
“Give it some thought, Yoshitomo. Oh, by the way, I have left you a present outside - fifty of my finest horses.”
As Nobuyori foretold, Lord Kiyomori does leave for pilgrimage to Kumano, and with him most of his Heike samurai, which leaves the capital open and vulnerable.
And so the attack goes ahead just as Noboyori had planned it.
At the hour of the ox – 2am - samurai forces under Yoshitomo pour into the Sanjo palace, kidnap the Retired Emperor, and place him under house arrest in Imp Palace library, together with his teenage son Nijo the reigning Emperor.
The Emperor’s advisor Shinzei, however, is not to be found. In fact, he received secret word of the impending night attack and, accompanied by four retainers, has fled to Uji south of the capital. He soon hears word that the imperial family have been taken captive, and that Yoshitomo and Nobuyori are hunting for him.
Shinzei decides that his best plan is to hide, so he orders his retainers to dig a pit in the ground, line it with planks, and place him in it. He asks them to pass him a dagger – if the enemy discovers his position, he will kill himself. He remains in this pit for three days until one of Yoshitomo’s men notices freshly disturbed earth. The pit is discovered and inside the body of a man. Determined not to be taken alive, Shinzei has managed to stab himself to death.
The samurai severs Shinzei’s head and takes it back to the capital where Yoshitomo orders that it be paraded through the streets before being hung from a tree before the prison gate.
For the first time in more than five years Yoshitomo of the Genji now holds cards – he has achieved revenge for the execution order that led to the deaths of his father and brothers; he controls palace, controls the court and both the reigning and the retired Emperors, who he has left under the command of Nobuyori. Crucially he also has possession of the three imperial treasures – the sacred sword, the jewel and the mirror – mythical artifacts that have been in the possession of the imperial family since ancient times.
The question now is, can Yoshitomo keep his advantage – and with Kiyomori racing back to capital, what will happen when he finally has to face the might of the Heike clan…?
One night about two weeks later, Yoshitomo’s deputy Masakiyo, dressed in armour and carrying sword and bow, is patrolling the west aisle of the Imperial Palace, when he notices a servant carrying out a heavy box.
“What is that?’ Masakiyo demands.
“Uh, it is the sacred mirror,” says the servant. “I was instructed to bring it here.”
“The Mirror?”
“Yes, by order of the Emperor. Should I open it to show you…?”
“What, no! Do not open it – fool! You know what is said. No one may gaze upon the mirror except the Emperor. Take it back,” orders Masakiyo, and the servant scurries back inside the palace.
Puzzled, Masakiyo looks up and sees that a carriage is approaching the north gate.
Over at the gate, a guardsman on duty orders the carriage to stop for inspection. He takes a quick look inside and instructs the carriage to pass.
“Wait!” calls Masakiyo. ‘Who is in that carriage?”
“Just some gentlewoman,” says the guard. The guard raises his torch, and Masakiyo lifts the blind with the tip of his bow.
Inside he sees a seated figure with a pretty face, colorfully dressed.
Masakiyo apologizes and lets the carriage through.
The carriage riders pass through the gate without looking back.
Inside the carriage sitting at the front is a man named Ito Kagetsuna. Just three years earlier, during the Hogen Rebellion, he had been the first Heike samurai to reach the south gate of Sutoko’s mansion, where he had challenged the giant warrior Tametomo, and had narrowly survived the Genji archer’s fearsome arrows. Now Kagetsuna is wearing a servant’s costume over armor laced with black silk, with a smuggled 2-foot sword at his waist.
Anxiously he turns to the pretty-faced figure in the back of the carriage.
“Your majesty?” he asks.
The Emperor Nijo, who is still just 17 years old and with a face that still has fresh beauty of youth, looks back at the gate they have just passed.
“What about the Mirror?”
‘We will retrieve the mirror later, your Majesty,” says Kagetsuna. “The most important thing is that we have you.”
The carriage speeds eastward along Tsuchimikado road, where it is joined by a group of 50 riders
An imposing tall young samurai approaches “I am Shigemori, eldest son of Taira no Kiyomori. You are safe now, your Majesty. Well done, Kagetsuna.”
After crossing the Kamo river, the Emperor’s carriage draws up to Rokuhara the stronghold of the Heike clan, where a throng of warriors are gathered.
At the entrance, the boy-Emperor is greeted by the Heike leader, Lord Kiyomori, who towers over him.
“Welcome to Rokuhara, your Majesty”
“What of my father?” asks the Emperor.
“The Retired Emperor, too, has escaped the clutches of the Genji, and is now secure at Ninnaji temple.”
Kiyomori looks up to address the warriors at the gate.
“The Emperor is safe! Rokuhara is now the imperial palace,” he declares. “Pass on this message: All who wish to avoid being branded enemies of the court, must immediately gather here!”
Kiyomori turns to his son Shigemori, and smiles.
“Let’s see what Yoshitomo does now that the tables have turned.”
At dawn the following morning, in the inner compound of the Imperial Palace, Fujiwara no Nobuyori is, as usual, completely drunk and being entertained by his three of his courtesans.
A nobleman named Narichika hammers on his door, “Lord Nobuyori!”
Nobuyori hurries to throw on some garments and opens the door. “What?”
“The Emperor!”
“What about him?”
“He is missing! As is the Retired Emperor!
Nobuyori becomes pale. “What, but.. how? Where have they
Nobuyori surges out to Imperial library – where he finds that the retired Emperor has vanished; then he hurries to the imperial chamber where the boy-emperor Nijo is nowhere to be found.
“Alright. Whatever you do, Narichika, make sure no one finds out!”
“You fool, Nobuyori,” says Narichika, “everyone already knows. Yoshitomo is already outside preparing for battle. Kiyomori has the emperor now, - his warriors are marching from Rokuhara.”
“Oh no, no, no…” Nobuyori starts to panic. “My armor, my armor,”
Nobuyori’s assistants help him to don his armor, purple-laced plates, with a horned helmet studded with silver stars, and gold-trimmed sword hanging at his side. Carefully he steps outside,
In the inner courtyard, he sees Yoshitomo’s tall figure mounted on his horse, wearing black-laced armor. Yoshitomo looks back and casts Nobuyori a withering glance, then turns back to his troops.
Lined up next to their father are Yoshitomo’s three sons – his eldest Akugenda, 19-years-old, his middle son Tomonaga – 16, and Yoritomo, the future Shogun of Japan who is just 12-years old and – like Nobuyori – is feeling terrified about joining his first battle. Beside them, Yoritomo’s father has 200 men - many, like Masakiyo, had fought with him three years earlier during the Hogen Rebellion.
Reports arrive that there are more than 1000 Heike troops now gathered in front on Omiya street lining the east side of palace – half are led by the Heike Lord’s younger brother Yorimori, and the rest by Kiyomori’s eldest son Shigemori
The Heike warriors’ battle cries ring out from Omiya.
Nobuyori becomes pale. Slowly he comes down the Shishiden steps at the front of the palace, but his knees are shaking so badly he can hardly walk. At the foot of the stairway he attempts to mount his horse, gets one foot in stirrup, but the clattering of his armor plates makes such a noise he begins trembling uncontrollably. An assistant arrives to hoist him into his saddle, but the rotund Lord lurches straight over the saddle and crashes head-first to the ground on the other side. The servant rushes to help Nobuyori to his feet, blood pouring from his nose.
Yoshitomo sees the fear in Nobuyori’s eyes. There are some chuckles from some of his men, but they are cut off by Yoshitomo’s icy stare.
Nobuyori wipes blood from his nose, soil from his face, and gets into saddle. He heads with 300 men heads to central Taiken gate.
Yoshitomo realizes it is an ominous start to the battle. He orders his 200 riders to defend the south gate. Another 300 are sent to secure the north gate.
It is the Hour of the Serpent, 10am – [sfx] and now there is the first exchange of arrows
Shigemori’s Heike riders break through Taiken gate, his 500 men overwhelming Nobuyori’s panicked riders, forcing them to retreat to the inner court
Yoshitomo sees Nobuyori losing the central ground, and orders his eldest son to attack .
Akugenda leads a band of 17 riders and focuses his attack at Shigemori himself.
It is now Akugenda vs Shigemori – the eldest sons of the two great samurai clan leaders - Genji and Heike –face-to-face.
Shigemori is shocked by Akugenda’s assault, and orders his men back
Yoshitomo sees the Heike retreat and now 200 Genji riders stand ready to storm the south gate.
Charge!
Masakiyo, Yoshitomo’s deputy, leads the attack and sees Lord Yorimori among the fleeing Heike.
He rides close to Kiyomori’s younger brother, and throws a grappling hook that catches in Yorimori’s helmet. He tugs at it yelling “I have you now!”
In one quick movement, Yorimori rises in his stirrups, holds the pommel of his saddle with one hand, and with his other draws his sword and severs the grappling hook handle.
With the line cut, Masakiyo tumbles backward from his horse. All he can do is watch as Yorimori rides away, the hook still caught in his helmet.
As the Heike retreat, Yoshitomo stops to plan his next move. The Genji have won the battle at Taiken gate but they have not yet secured victory.
Should he push his advantage and attack Rokuhara? Or pause to consider his options.
He decides to attack.
Yoshitomo has his men Line up near Gojo bridge on the Kamo river.
Masakiyo brings reports that Nobuyori has fled in panic.
“Let him go, he’d only get in the way. Besides I am more concerned about Yorimasa and his 300 men.” Yoshitomo turns to his eldest son. “Akugenda, what is Yorimasa planning?”
“I can’t make out what he’s up to” says Akugenda. They watch Yorimasa’s troops move toward the river – then they sees his men move to Rokuhara. ”That miserable Yorimasa is a turncoat!”
With Nobuyori gone, betrayed by Yorimasa, and with his forces still reeling from Shigemori’s assault, Yoshitomo’s forces are down to just a few remaining warriors.
He now knows this will be their final battle.
Despite the overwhelming odds, Yoshitimo leads his vanguard of just 20 men toward the river and orders his archers to attack Rokuhara’s west gate.
Kiyomori sees Yoshitomo approach but before he has time to react a shower of arrows thuds into doors behind him, narrowly missing him. Although he does not know it, it is the closest the Heike leader will ever get to being hit by a Genji arrow.
Enraged, Kiyomori ties on his helmet, leaps on horse and, accompanied by 30 foot soldiers, bursts from the west gate, where he is joined by the turncoat Yorimasa.
On the other side of the river, Yoshitomo pulls his troops back to the edge of the west bank; the Heike pause on east bank.
Genji and Heike face each other. The Red banners of the Heike far outnumber the white banners of the Genji
‘Yorimasa!” shouts Yoshitomo. “Why do you side with the Heike? Your treachery dishonours our house!”
“Supporting our sovereign has nothing to do with treachery,” Yorimasa retorts. “Your support for Nobuyori - the biggest fool in Japan - is what shames our house!”
Before Yoshitomo can reply, Masakiyo sees Ito Kagetsuna heading north up the river bank with 500 men. “My Lord, look they intend to surround us, we must withdraw.”
“Ha, and if we retreat where would we go? Our only choice is to die in battle.”
Yoshitomo realizes he has been outwitted by Kiyomori – the Heike intended all along to draw us from the palace, he thinks. I was a fool.
Masakiyo urges him to escape but Yoshitomo throws him aside. It is only when his youngest son, Yoritomo, urges him to stay alive, to fight another day, to stay alive, that he agrees to retreat.
Yoshitomo flees north up the river, pursed by the Heike, flushed with victory and showering the Genji with arrows, yelling ‘Turn and face us!’ The pursuit appears hopeless for Yoshitomo
But then one warrior stops and turns around to challenge their pursuers
“I am Minamoto no Yoshinobu from Shinano. Any with a heart to fight, come and test yourself against me!”
At this sight, another of Yoshitomo’s men paused to take a stand: “I am Katagiri Kageshige”
Then another “I am Saito Sanemori!” T
One by one the Genji retainers charge headlong into the Heike men. Their heroic but hopeless rear-guard action gives Yoshitomo the opportunity he needs to escape into the mountains of east.
Now with only a few surviving men, Yoshitomo flees across the foothills of Mount Hiei, heading to Ohara, then northward up the Yase river
His surviving men cross the mountains for days through deep drifts, lashed by rain and driving snow, to the point of utter exhaustion. Until finally they enter the forests of Mount Kagami
As they pass through the dense forest, the boy Yoritomo falls asleep in saddle, and without knowing it he starts to fall behind.
Suddenly he hears loud voices and opens his eyes. Around him he sees approaching a group of 40 men. One of the men seizes his horse’s bridle, but Yoritomo draws his sword and swings at the man’s head. The tip of the sword breaks with the impact, but it slices open the man’s neck who crashes to the ground. The sword flash startles his horse which bolts forward and knocks three men to the ground. He breaks through the men and races through the forest, eluding his pursuers.
Finally Yoritomo is reunited with his father who, when he hears what has happened, looks fondly on his son. “You did well, Yoritomo. Even a full-grown man would have struggled to do that much, and you are still a boy. Well done! But, you will need a new sword.”
Yoshitsune goes back to his tent and then presents a scabbard to his son. “Yoritomo, I want you to have this”
“But, father, this is Higekiri.”
“It belongs to you now.”
Before Yoritomo can reply, Masakiyo arrives
“The road ahead is blocked by Heike men,” he says.
Yoshitomo decides he must turn into the mountains, along unfamiliar trails.
As they progress up the path, the snow becomes so deep that they have to dismount and leave their horses. To get through the steepest, most dangerous parts, they have to hanging onto trees as they clamber along narrow ledges.
In the thickening blizzard, the young Yoritomo again struggles to keep pace with his companions, and falls so far behind that he can no longer see them.
When Yoshitomo realizes that his son is no longer with them, he calls out his name again and again – Yoritomo! - but in the howling wind he receives no answer.
Struggling through the storm, Yoritomo wanders for days, clinging to his sword and his few remaining rations, until finally he finds shelter at a mountain temple. The priest takes pity on him and agrees to hide him. After a few days, Yoritomo moves on once again when he hears that his pursuers are close by. He continues heading east, hoping to rejoin his companions – but is intercepted by a band of Heike warriors.
They tie the boy up and take him back to the capital, to be presented as a trophy to the Heike Lord.
Kept alone in captivity for weeks at the Heike stronghold of Rokuhara, Yoritomo is finally brought out to meet the Heike warlord.
Yoritomo is ordered to kneel before the Heike Lord in the reception hall at Rokuhara. Aside from two Heike bodyguards, he and Kiyomori are alone together.
Kiyomori examines his captive. “Do you wish to know how your father died?” he asks
Yoritomo stares at the floor.
“Well, I will tell you. He actually managed to flee as far as Utsumi in the district of Owari – it’s quite impressive that he managed to get so far. He had hardly any men left though. Your brother, Tomonaga, by the way, took an arrow in his knee, and died on the way.”
“In the end, your father was betrayed by his own retainer – a man named Osada Tadamune – you may want to remember that name. Naturally your father trusted the man, he had apparently been in your father’s household for many years. Anyway, he offered your father sanctuary and invited him to … And then Tadamune with six men attacked your father while he was taking a bath. An ignominious end for such a brave samurai.”
Yoritomo holds back his tears as Kiyomori goes on.
“As for your eldest brother, he made it all the way back to the capital, and disguised as a servant, managed to sneak his way even to the gates here at Rokuhara. As his final desperate act, he intended to assassinate me. Luckily my men detected him before he could do so, and I had him taken out the riverbank where he was beheaded.”
“He was a brave warrior, your brother – like your father. In fact, your father and I are very much alike,
“You are nothing like my father” says Yoritomo
“Ah you do speak!” Kiyomori smiles. “Well, I disagree. There was a time when he and I shared the same ideals. Samurai were once no more than imperial dogs – warhounds to do the bidding of the imperial court and the Fujiwara toads who serve them. We both wanted to break that tradition.
We just had different methods.”
Yoritomo stares at the patterns in the wooden floor, and says nothing.
For a moment, Kiyomori’s voice becomes softer.
“If your father hadn’t been so blinded by his hatred for Shinzei, who knows – perhaps things would have turned out differently. For him and for you.”
But now Yoritomo sense Kiyomori’s mood has changed again, and he has picked up the sword Higekiri and is balancing it in his palm.
“You know, my first choice was to execute you. Like your brother. But I have been persuaded by my step-mother, who believes you look very much like her son Iemori. Now I don’t recall my brother having that much of a resemblance to you - he did die some years ago – but it was enough for the Lady Ike. Her appeals on your behalf have become extremely tiresome – and she has even refused to eat because of her concern over you. And I do not want her death on my conscious on account of you, a Genji child.”
“So since you have no allies, no family, and no money – I think it is safe enough to send you into exile. You will be sent to Izu, where you will be monitored day and night. After all, the Genji no longer present any threat to the Heike, so I can afford to be generous.”
Yoritomo continues to look down. Kiyomori now approaches him and looks down at his captive.
“You are of course aware that you are not the only surviving member of your family. You have younger half-brothers – I have scouts looking for them as we speak, and their mother.
Kiyomori crouches to whisper in Yoritomo’s ear.
“I hear she is the most beautiful woman in the capital.”
“My mother is dead,” says Yoritomo. “I have never spoken with the Lady Tokiwa.”
“Mm,” says Kiyomori, standing up again. “Well I wish to meet her. Perhaps your father’s mistress will be a good companion for me, do you think? As for your little brothers,” Yoritomo can sense the tip of Higekiri hovering by his head- “I will decide what to do with them.”
Yoritomo licks his lips and forces himself to say nothing. Instead he hears his mother’s voice urging him:
“You must promise me, Yoritomo, more important than anything, you must stay alive.”
The Heiji rebellion of 1160 marked the start of the rise to power of the Heike clan, and almost led to the complete destruction of the Genji
The now 13-year-old Yoritomo was fortunate not to lose his life, and now faces a life in exile
Meanwhile, to the south of the capital, a young woman flees with two young infants across a snowy landscape. In her arms she carries a baby, just a few months old, Yoritomo’s youngest brother.
This baby is destined to become the greatest general in Japan’s history, a household name throughout modern Japan.
His name is Yoshitsune.
In the next episode, we trace the rise of Yoritomo’s brother the legendary samurai Yoshitsune, who will one day lead the Genji forces in their war against the Heike.