Minamoto no Yoshitomo

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Minamoto no Yoshitomo
源義朝
Head of Kawachi Genji
Preceded byMinamoto no Tameyoshi
Succeeded byMinamoto no Yoritomo
Personal details
Born1123
DiedFebruary 11, 1160
NationalityJapanese
Spouse(s)Yura Gozen
RelationsTokiwa Gozen (concubine)
Children
Parents
Military service
AllegianceMinamoto clan
Branch/serviceMinamoto clan
Former Hiraji battle warfare Yoshimasa Shirakawa night view. It features Minamoto no Yoshitomo.

Minamoto no Yoshitomo (源 義朝) (1123 – 11 February 1160) was the head of the

shōgun and founded the Kamakura shogunate, the first shogunate in the history of Japan
.

His Dharma name was Shōjō Juin (勝定寿院).

Hōgen Rebellion

With the outbreak of the

Taira samurai clans were called into the conflict. Yoshitomo and Taira no Kiyomori both threw their support behind Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Fujiwara no Tadamichi, while Yoshitomo's father, Minamoto no Tameyoshi, sided with the retired Emperor Sutoku and Fujiwara no Yorinaga. Yoshitomo, defeating his father and the forces of Sutoku and Yorinaga, became head of the Minamoto clan and established himself as the main political power in the capital of Kyoto. However, despite attempts to have his father pardoned, Tameyoshi was executed. In the aftermath of the rebellion, the Taira and Minamoto became two of the strongest and most influential clans in Japan, which turned the two clans into bitter rivals.[1]

Heiji Rebellion

In the first months of 1160 while

Heiji rebellion. The civil war wasn't to go on for very long as Kiyomori declared his support for the Emperor and rapidly defeated the rebel forces within the span of a month.[1]
: 255–258 

While making his escape from Kyoto, Yoshitomo was forced to sacrifice his son Tomonaga to buy time. Even so, Yoshitomo was eventually betrayed and murdered while taking a bath. Three of his surviving sons, Yoritomo, Yoshitsune and Noriyori, were spared execution and exiled by the victorious Kiyomori. However, Yoshitomo's allies Yoshihira and Nobuyori were both executed.[2]

His grave in

bokuto
), as by legend his last words were "If only I'd had a bokuto...".

Family

Yoshitomo fathered five sons in total. His two sons,

Heiji Rebellion in 1160. At the time of the outbreak of the Genpei War in 1180, Minamoto no Yoritomo was his eldest surviving son. His other two surviving sons were Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitsune
.

See also

References

Bibliography

  • Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & Co. page 60.