Minamoto no
Yoritomo
(1147-1199)
By J.
Gilbert
Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first Seii Taishôgun and while his
personal dynasty would not last long the system of government and the way of
life he founded would endure until the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
Yoritomo was born a scion of one of the ancient houses. Minamoto no Yoritomo
was born in 1147, the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Fujiwara no
Saneori, in the capital of Kyoto. Yoshitomo was the heir of the Seiwa
Genji branch of the Minamoto Clan, and Saneori was a daughter of the powerful
Fujiwara regents. When Yoritomo was still young (in 1156) a civil war broke out
between the members of the Imperial Clan of Yamato. On one side were Retired
Emperor Toba and his son Emperor Go-Shirakawa, supported by Fujiwara no
Tadamichi and Taira no Kiyomori, on the other was Retired Emperor Sutoku,
supported by Fujiwara no Yorinaga. This civil war is known as the Hôgen
Disturbance. Unfortunately the entire Minamoto Clan split on whom to side
with, even down to the Seiwa Genji. Yoritomo’s grandfather and the leader of the
Seiwa Genji, Minamoto no Tameyoshi, sided with Retired Emperor Sutoku. But
Yoshitomo sided with Retired Emperor Toba and Go-Shirakawa. In the end it was
Go-Shirakawa’s faction that won the civil war and his
champion, Taira no Kiyomori, rewarded all supporters handsomely. This included
Yoritomo’s father, who got the leadership of the Seiwa Genji upon Tameyoshi’s
execution. In 1158 at the age of 12 Yoritomo was given his first Imperial Court
title, on the basis of his Imperial blood (the Seiwa Genji could trace their
lineage to Emperor Seiwa, 858-876 AD) and his mother’s family political
maneuvering. But things soon took a turn for the worse when in 1159 another
civil war broke out, called the Heiji Disturbance. In this war was newly
crowned Emperor Nijo, supported by Taira no Kiyomori and Fujiwara no Nobuyori on
one side. On the other side was Nijo’s father, Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa,
supported by Minamoto Yoshitomo and Fujiwara no Tadamichi. This war went badly
for the Minamoto clan and all supporters of Go-Shirakawa were hunted down and
executed, including Yoritomo’s father. In 1160 Taira no Kiyomori had the now 13
year old Yoritomo exiled to Izu in the Kanto Plains, then under the control of
the Hojo Clan. Kiyomori also had Yoritomo’s two half brothers, Noriyori and
Yoshitune exiled, the rest of the Seiwa Genji who sided
with Yoshitomo perished. Yoritomo and his brothers would not return to
Kyoto for 20
years.
Now in exile the Taira watched Yoritomo’s every move. Upon reaching Izu
Yoritomo was forced to adapt and grow up in an environment which was rustic and
very rugged. However Yoritomo would not spend his entire time in Izu, for before
long it was discovered he had gotten his jailer’s, Ito Sukechika, daughter
pregnant and the indignant father ran him out of Izu. Yoritomo was forced to
wander and eventually came upon Hojo Tokimasa, the lord of the Kanto Plains.
Tokimasa, who had no love for the Taira and was constantly looking for ways to
undermine them, took in Yoritomo with open arms. In 1179 it was discovered that
Yoritomo had been carrying on an affair with Hojo Masako, Tokimasa’s daughter.
But Tokimasa was not indignant, but had been looking to forge stronger ties with
Yoritomo. In 1180 he had Masako’s current fiancé, a staunchly pro-Taira governor
assassinated and Yoritomo wed Masako. Meanwhile things were beginning to shake
up in Kyoto.
Tired of the abuses of Taira no Kiyomori, the Imperial Court
looked for a champion. While Yoritomo forged a strong alliance with the Hojo
relations between Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Taira no Kiyomori had reached
the boiling point. The action responsible for this was Taira no Kiyomori’s
blatant abuse of power when he placed his one year old grandson Tokihito on the
Imperial Throne as Emperor Antoku. For Prince Mochihito and his father Retired
Emperor Go-Shirakawa this was the last straw. Mochihito issued a nation wide
call to arms against the Taira clan, and it was the Minamoto who were first to
answer. Before long Minamoto Yorimasa, a distant relative of Yoritomo, joined
with Prince Mochihito and together they marched towards Kyoto. The two are killed
and their forces defeated at the battle of Uji in June, 1180. This event marks
the beginning of the five year long Gempei War .By September word had
reached Yoritomo of the revolt and he rose in revolt himself from his center of
power at Izu. All over the Kanto Plains war breaks out as the clans of the Kanto
divide over who to support. Then in February 1181 Taira no Kiyomori dies, and
his son Taira no Munemori takes command, it is the beginning of the end for the
Taira. By the spring of 1181 most of the great families of the Kanto have
aligned behind Yoritomo, despite his defeat at the hands of Oba Kagechika late
the previous year. Following this Yoritomo sets up his base of power at
Kamakura (10 miles south of modern Tokyo) and contents himself with consolidating his power in the Kanto. Meanwhile
the death of Yorimasa had thrown the leadership of the Minamoto into chaos and
Yoritomo makes a bid for control. He finally does establish a measure of control
by founding a Samurai-Dokoro (English: Board of Retainers) but not all of his
relatives agree with him. In mid 1181 Yoritomo offers peace to the Taira in
exchange for recognized control of the Eastern Provinces. The reason for this
offer has been debated by historians ever since the event, since Yoritomo was
secure from Taira attack in the Kanto, it is commonly believed that the actions
of Yoritomo’s wild cousin Minamoto “Kiso” (so called because of the region of
Shinano Province from which he was born) no Yoshinaka had something to do with
it. In any case Taira no Munemori rejects the offer out of hand. During harvest
season the yield is so low that all hostilities cease for the entire year of
1182. In 1183 hostilities resume and Minamoto no Yoshinaka in a brilliant
campaign captures Kyoto on August 17, 1183. The news shocks Yoritomo, and
then news comes that Yoshinaka has been lobbying for control of the Minamoto. At
first Yoritomo takes the news calmly and he sends envoys to the gain the support
of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who readily gives it. Once secure in the
Emperor’s favor Yoritomo dispatches his best generals, his half brothers
Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitune, who had rejoined their brother
at an unknown date. In February, 1184 Yoshitune, the nominal commander in chief,
launches the first of a series of brilliant campaigns and casts wild Yoshinaka
out of Kyoto,
Yoshinaka would later commit seppuku. When Yoritomo arrives in Kyoto his first action is
to enthrone the half brother of Antoku, Prince Takahira, as Emperor Go-Toba.
After the dust settles Yoritomo, with Imperial blessing, gives his brothers a
mandate to destroy the Taira Clan. Yoshitune proves to be a brilliant strategist
and wins a great victory at Ichi-no-Tani in March, 1184. Yoritomo however is
worried about the strength of the Taira and orders a halt to their activies,
this lasts for six months. During this time Yoritomo consolidates his control
over the land, to this end he uses an Imperial edict (which was unfortunately
lost) that gives Yoritomo control over all the lands he controls, with the
understanding that he would return those lands to Imperial control. However
Yoritomo manages to manipulate the wording of the edict to make himself, for all
intents and purpose, supreme military dictator of Japan.
Using this now found power Yoritomo creates the Kumonjo (English: Board of
Public Papers) and Monchujo (English: Board of Questioning) and places them in
Kamakura. In
October Yoritomo, feeling secure enough to risk it, sends out Noriyori to pacify
Kyushu. Yoritomo keeps Yoshitune in Kyoto and makes him his
deputy; this is made official in early 1185. As deputy Yoshitune makes great
progress in keeping the peace within Minamoto lands and generally keeping
everything neat and clean. However a rift soon formed between brothers. Yoritomo
refused to allow Yoshitune to assume any Court titles, Yoshitune often
questioned this decision, and Yoritomo explained it as simply keeping his little
brother out of court politics. Yoshitune refused to believe this as the real
reason (and he was probably right) and this would set the stage for what would
come. Yoritomo would send out Yoshitune in March, 1185 and he won a great
victory at Yashima. With the Taira on the run Yoritomo would send his brother,
men and ships (Yoshitune was operating on water) to boost his numbers. On
April 24, 1185
Yoshitune would win his greatest victory of all time in the naval battle of
Dan-no-ura. In this battle the entire Taira leadership was either killed or
drowned, and the false Emperor Antoku with them. With this great victory the
last great obstacle to Minamoto supremacy was destroyed, and now Yoritomo would
face the threat from within.
With the Taira destroyed Minamoto no Yoritomo would turn towards his own
family and then greater power. Yoritomo was ecstatic with the final victory over
the Taira, but his joy was short lived when he learned that Retired Emperor
Go-Shirakawa and Yoshitune were conspiring together to limit his power. The
reason for this was that Yoritomo had created two new posts shugo
(military provincial administrator) and jito (estate manager) and had
forced the Emperor Go-Toba to accept them. Yoritomo was furious and, flying into
a rage, drove his brother out of Kyoto. Yoshitune found refuge with his old
protector during his Taira imposed exile, Fujiwara no Hidehira in Mutsu Province. However Hidehira’s son Fujiwara
no Yasuhira was afraid of the retribution of Yoritomo, so he had Yoshitune
killed in 1189 (In many Japanese dramas and operas Yoshitune commits
seppuku). Yoritomo hears of this and flies into another rage, in which he
destroys the Oshu Fujiwara (the branch of the family that protected Yoshitune).
The death of Yoshitune and destruction of the Oshu Fujiwara sends shockwaves
throughout Japan. Following this Retired Emperor
Go-Shirakawa reconciles with Yoritomo. In 1192 there is two versions of what
happened next, one has Go-Shirakawa on his deathbed bestowing the title of
Seii Taishôgun (English: Great General who crushes Barbarians) on
Yoritomo. The second version had Yoritomo taking the title for himself after
Go-Shirakawa’s death, since no one could stop him. In any case in 1192 Minamoto
no Yoritomo became Japan’s first Shôgun. In order to be
free from all of the ritual and politics of Kyoto Yoritomo chose his old HQ of
Kamakura to be the capital of his Shôgunate (Japanese: Bakufu)
government. Due to Yoritomo’s actions in the Gempei War and the creation of the
shugo and jito titles all of the real power in Japan was not in
the hands of the Imperial courtiers but in the hands of the feudal lords, who in
turn owed their allegiance to the Shôgun in Kamakura (and later Muromachi during
the Ashikaga, then Edo during the Tokugawa), this system would last until the
Meiji Restoration. For the next seven years Yoritomo ruled
Japan from Kamakura, spending most of
time easing relations between the feudal lords, Imperial courtiers, and Buddhist
sects. Thanks to the most part Yoritomo’s great political skills coupled with
the shûgo and jito relations between the Bakufu in
Kamakura and the Emperor in Kyoto were stable and
friendly, for the most part. In 1198 for reasons unknown Yoritomo forced Emperor
Go-Toba to retire; in his place Yoritomo put Prince Tanehito on the throne as
Emperor Tsuchmikado. In 1199 at the age of 52 Minamoto no Yoritomo passed away
after suffering from a serious illness, his second son Minamoto no Yori’ie
succeeded him to the title of Shôgun.
In conclusion Minamoto no Yoritomo was one of the greatest men in Japanese
history. While charged with being unnecessarily cruel for driving his cousin to
seppuku and being indirectly responsible for the death of his brother
modern historians have classified him with Oda Nobunaga as being cruel because
of the times in which he lived.
Return to History of Kamakura l Return to Gempei War