It is the start of summer in the year 1180, and in the city of Heian-kyo there is an atmosphere of panic and alarm.
For the capital of Japan - an entire city - is moving
The Heike warlord Taira no Kiyomori, after achieving an unprecedented position of power for a samurai, has ordered that the capital be moved from its current site – present-day Kyoto - to a place some 50 miles to the south west. There he intends to establish a new capital on the coast created in his image, and built to his design.
The relocation is a huge feat of engineering and planning – the timbers of the old capital’s houses are transported onto rafts that are loaded with equipment, furniture and building materials. These are sent down the Katsura and Kamo rivers, to the south where they are hauled to the new site, which will be known as Fukuhara. As the old capital’s inhabitants evacuate, the once-brilliant city of Heian-kyo, for centuries the country’s centre of government, culture and refinement, is set to become a wasteland.
Before fleeing the capital, one of the citizens scrawls a poem on a wall at the abandoned imperial palace. It reads:
No fewer, by now, than four times one hundred years have passed since the days that saw this city’s founding: Must it now fall to ruin?
Farewell to flowers blossoming in Heian-kyo, and off on the wind we blow to Fukuhara, eyes out for peril ahead.
One man who is especially unhappy about the move is the Retired Emperor, Go-Shirakawa, who finds himself confined to a small house in Fukuhara surrounded by a high fence with a single guarded entrance. His new lodging becomes known as the “caged palace”.
One afternoon in mid-autumn, Kiyomori tours the new city, admires the construction work as his capital rises, and thinks of how far he himself has risen. In just a few years, he has been awarded the title of Chancellor, imprisoned the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa, exiled the regent, and placed his own grandson on the throne.
He has also crushed anyone who stands in his way. Those who conspire against the Heike have been executed or exiled. An uprising led by Go-Shirakawa’s son Prince Mochihito and a band of warrior monks was quickly destroyed by Kiyomori’s forces at Uji Bridge. The prince had dared to send out a call to arms for opponents to the Heike; Kiyomori responded by killing the prince and burning the monk’s temple to the ground. It was a warning to any who might even think of opposing the Heike.
Now the unstoppable Kiyomori has begun his greatest project – the creation of a new capital, will enable him to neutralise his last few rivals - the court nobles of the old capital and the warrior monks of the nearby temple of Mount Hiei.
But he also has other ambitions.
Kiyomori turns to gaze out to sea and imagines the future. He foresees the wealth that will come to him when this new city on the coast - which will one day be known as Kobe - becomes the greatest port in the country. The riches from China and beyond, he is sure, will give him the power he needs to rule the whole country.
The Heike Lord’s dreams are cut short when a courier arrives on the beach and hands him a message.
“My Lord” the courier bows nervously and hands him the note. “It is a message from Izu, from Oba Kagechika”
Kiyomori glowers at the courier as he unwraps the message and begins to read.
This past eighth month, writes Kagechika, on the seventeenth, Yoritomo, the Izu exile, sent his father-in-law, Hojo Tokimasa, to strike under cover of darkness the province’s deputy governor, Izumi Kanetaka, at his home…
Kiyomori continues to read and as he does so his face reddens with anger.
Kiyomori finishes reading the message and crunches it up in his fist
Yoritomo – I should have killed you when I had the chance!
Now heaven’s wrath will be upon you!
Some days earlier, and some 300 miles to the east, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the heir to the Genji clan, attends a secret meeting with just two other people – his wife, Masako, and her father, Hojo Tokimasa. Just a few days earlier, Tokimasa, who is now in his mid-40s and a renowned swordsman, had brought to Yoritomo a message from the capital – Prince Mochihito’s call to arms. Now, after considering his options, Yoritomo has decided it is time to act.
Tokimasa enters and sits before Yoritomo and his wife Masako, and spreads out on the floor a sketch map. It shows the layout of a large villa, with each of the entrances and rooms clearly marked.
“My scout, Kunimichi, has spent many days gathering this information,” says Tokimasa, ‘ at great risk to his life, I should add. But we now know everything we need as to its defenses.”
Yoritomo examines the sketch, ‘So… this is the whole of Taira Kanetaka’s residence. Well done.”
“As you can see,” says Tokimasa. “There is one main entrance here, and another smaller one at the rear. If our main force can distract him at the front, perhaps one or two men can enter from behind, assassinate Kanetaka, and set fire to the villa. If we are to strike back at the Heike, then this is our best first target. As Kiyomori’s governor, Kanetaka has been a thorn in our side for many years.”
“Yes,” says Yoritomo. “Few people in Izu will lament if we remove him.“
Masako looks to her husband, then to her father. “But his residence will be well guarded. Do we have the means to break him?”
“It won’t be easy,” admits her father. “And what’s more, to the north is the mansion of Kanetaka’s vice governor Tsutsumi Nobuto. Kanetaka himself may not be a great warrior, but Nobuto is. If we do not kill him first, he will be a great problem for us.”
“So, we have two targets,” says Yoritomo
“Yes, says Tokimasa, “and we need to strike both at the same time,”
There is a silence as they ponder their options.
“We need the Miura clan,“ says Masako.
‘Yes,” says Yoritomo, “but they have not replied to my appeal”
Tokimasa sighs, “Then we cannot attack yet.”
“No, there is a chance” says Yoritomo. “I received word from Sasaki Hideyoshi – he promises allegiance. He served my father well for 20 years - at Hogen and Heiji – and he has paid a heavy price for his loyalty to us. All this time he has refused to bow to Kiyomori, and lost his land as a result.”
Tokimasa looks skeptical. “Hideyoshi’s valor is well known but he is an old man now.”
‘Yes,” says Yoritomo, “but he will send his sons – four of them – they have all achieved renown for their bravery.”
‘And they will aid us?” asks Masako
“Yes. Hideyoshi says his sons will arrive on the of 16th “
Tokimasa nods, “Right, well if the Sasaki brothers can take out Nobuto – I can deal with Kanetaka.”
“Yes, but I will lead the troops,” says Yoritomo
Tokimasa looks aghast “What? No, Yoritomo – you must stay.’ He glances at his daughter for support.
“My father is right,” she urges. “Yoritomo, you are too valuable, we cannot risk losing you, especially now on this first day, otherwise it will all be for nothing.”
Yoritomo sees that they right. In his head, he can hear his late mother urging him, “the most important thing Yoritomo is, you must stay alive”
“Very well then,” he sighs. “All that remains is to set the day. The 18th is inauspicious, it is a sacred day in the calendar, we cannot launch an attack then.”
Masako nods: “Then it must be the 17th“
“Yes,” says Yoritomo, “the 17th it is.” He looks at Tokimasa, “Launch an attack in the early morning, at 3 am”
Hojo Tokimasa nods “Have no fear, Yoritomo, I will bring you Kanetaka’s head.”
As Tokimasa leaves to prepares for battle, Masako turns to her husband.
“What are our chances of victory?”
“Well, we have a chance. Kanetaka may not be expecting this. It all depends on the Sasaki brothers - can they reach us in time…?”
It is now the 16th day of the 8th month and as they approach the hour set for the attack there is still no sign of the Sasaki brothers. As the hours and minutes tick by, Yoritomo is eventually forced to postpone the attack. Have the Sasaki clan betrayed him, he wonders?
Finally, at 1pm the following day, the 17th, after hours of continuous rainfall, four men arrive at the gate – two are riding injured horses, two are on foot. They look bedraggled and explain that high flood waters delayed their arrival. Then one by one they introduce themselves - Moristuna, Takatsuna, Tsunetaka, Sadatsuna – each one pledging their allegiance. Yoritomo is moved to tears at the sight - here at last are the famed Sasaki brothers.
They quickly prepare for battle, but then in the early evening Yoritomo receives more disturbing news: a traitor has been discovered in their kitchen – a spy working for the Heike governor Kanetaka. Realizing that the spy has probably warned Kanetaka that men are gathering, Yoritomo decides they cannot wait.
“We must launch a night attack,” he tells his band of supporters “Remember, this is an act that will affect your entire lives.”
Two of the Sasaki brothers Takatsuna and Sadatsuna volunteer to lead the attack on the vice governor. At 11pm, under a bright full moon, they stop at a rice field in front of Nobuto’s residence.
Slowly, Sasaki Takatsuna moves up to the edge of Nobuto’s courtyard and then… he releases an arrow.
According to the record of the time, the Tale of the Heike, it was this arrow that started the war between the Genji and the Heike.
Nobuto’s warriors spot the attackers and send out a volley of arrows, while Nobuto himself emerges holding a long sword to confront Takatsuna.
Takatsuna discards his bow, grasps his sword, and the two adversaries clash.
Takatsuna is about to strike down Nobuto but then is struck in the leg by an arrow.
Nobuto realizes he can seize his chance, but at that instant Takatsuna’s brother Sadatsuna rushes up to protect his brother, and he cuts Nobuto down.
Meanwhile a few miles away Lord Hojo has advanced to a hillside facing Kanetaka’s main entrance. He orders his men to release their arrows.
The governor’s warriors begin to pour out of the residence, like ants from an anthill, but they face a barrage of arrows. Tokimasa orders his men to advance, then signals to one of the Sasaki brothers, Moritsuna – who quietly heads in a different direction with another samurai Kato Kagekado, who carries a naginata – a single-edged blade attached to a long pole. Together the two warriors secretly make their way around to the back of the mansion, where they silently dispatch a pair of guards who are standing by the rear entrance. Then they enter the villa.
Moving quietly room to room, they creep through the mansion until they see a figure silhouetted by the moonlight against a sliding door – it is the Heike Governor Kanetaka. Kato takes off his helmet and carefully places it at the top of naginata. He gestures silently to Moristuna, who nods in understanding, holding his sword ready. Kato raises the naginata, and dangles the helmet close to the paper screen.
Suddenly the figure on the other side notices the helmet, and turns and slashes his sword through the sliding door. Immediately, Moristuna steps forward and with a single movement brings down his sword, slicing through the governor’s neck.
Within minutes, the mansion is set alight, and the two stealth warriors make their way out of the burning villa, carrying their trophy.
Meanwhile, back at the Hojo residence, Yoritomo is waiting anxiously in the early morning light. Finally, he sees smoke rising from the direction of Kanetaka’s mansion. When Lord Hojo’s party returns, Yoritomo steps onto the porch to greet them as they gather in the courtyard.
Lord Hojo comes forward to present him a gift – Yoritomo opens the box and finds the head of the Heike governor, neatly severed at the hand of Moritsuna Sasaki.
In the opening exchange of the Gempei War, first blood goes to the Genji.
Three days after the attack on Kanetaka’s mansion, Yoritomo leads his small band of supporters east from Izu province across a narrow peninsula toward neighboring Sagami. Over the next few days he receives a few pledges of support, most importantly from the 89-year-old Yoshiaki, leader of the Miura clan, who says he will send men.
Eventually his small band of fighters arrive at Ishibashi, a narrow valley surrounded by mountains just north of Izu peninsula. Here they establish their base and raise their standard with Prince Mochihito’s proclamation. But now Yoritomo’s scouts report that forces are pursuing him, led by the samurai Oba Kagechika.
As a young man twenty years earlier, Kagechika had fought under Yoritomo’s father Yoshitomo. Together with his brother, Kagechika had been among the first to face the giant warrior Tametomo during the Hogen rebellion. Kagechika’s brother had been shot by Tametomo’s arrow and then crushed by his own horse, but Kagechika had managed to drag his brother away from the battle.
In the years since, Kagechika has sworn allegiance to the Heike. Now he leads a large group of battle-hardened samurai, freshly returned from their victory at the Battle of Uji, in pursuit of their quarry – the Genji rebel Yoritomo.
On a dark night of torrential rain and gale-force winds, Kagechika finally catches up with Yoritomo at Mt Ishibashi, and he establishes a line of attack.
At this point, Yoritomo has just 300 horsemen as Yoshiaki Miura’s forces have not yet reached him - but he can see that Kagechika has more than ten times that number. What’s more Kagechika has sent a second smaller force behind Yoritomo’s line to cut off their retreat.
For Yoritomo, the situation may seem bleak, but it is actually much worse than he thinks.
For 300 miles to the west, in Kiyomori’s new capital of Fukuhara, an entire army is on the move. After receiving word of Yoritomo’s stealth attack, Lord Kiyomori has authorized the departure of a massive military force – his orders are simple: to seek out and destroy the uprising before it can gain support, to capture and execute Yoritomo, and to wipe out anyone who might dare to support the Genji cause.
The force that Kiyomori sends is over 30,000 strong – more than a hundred times the number of men that currently stand by Yoritomo.
This time the Heike Lord is taking no chances.
In the next episode, Kiyomori’s army heads out to wipe out the Genji, while Yoritomo races against time to gain enough support to stand against them.