Minamoto no Yoritomo

was a samurai, daimyo and the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first shogun in the history of Japan to hold de-facto power over Japan. He was married to Hōjō Masako, who acted as regent (shikken) after his death.

Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After successfully maneuvering himself to the position of rightful heir of the Minamoto clan, he led his clan against the Taira from his capital in Kamakura, beginning the Genpei War in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate (bakufu) which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 19th century.

Early life

Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and his official wife, Yura-Gozen, daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, High Priest of Atsuta Shrine and a member of the powerful Fujiwara clan. Yoritomo was born in the family villa, on the western side of Atsuta Shrine, in Atsuta, Nagoya, Owari Province (present-day Seigan-ji). At the time, his grandfather Minamoto no Tameyoshi was the head of the Minamoto clan. His childhood name was Oniwakamaru . He was a descendant of Emperor Seiwa.

Yoritomo and the Minamoto clan descended from the imperial family on his father's side. Nonetheless, in Kyoto, the Taira clan, now under the leadership of Kiyomori, and the Minamoto clan, under the leadership of Yoshitomo, began to factionalize again.

In December 1159, Kiyomori left Heian-kyō on a pilgrimage. Seeing an opportunity, Minamoto gathered hundreds of men, attacked Sanjō Palace, and kidnapped Ex-Emperor Go-Shirakawa and current Emperor Nijō. Next the Minamoto attacked Shinzei's mansion. Shinzei was able to escape, but was captured and decapitated shortly thereafter. Kiyomori returned, freed both the retired and current Emperor, and defeated the Minamoto at the Battle at Rokuhara. Yoshitomo fled the capital but was later betrayed and executed by a retainer.

Only Yoritomo and his younger brothers were spared on account of their young age, though they were exiled to temples to become monks. Taira no Kiyomori and the Taira clan were now the undisputed leaders of Japan.

Family Parents Father: Minamoto no Yoshitomo (1123 – February 11, 1160) Mother: Yura Gozen (, d. 1159), daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori

Consorts and issues Possible Wife: Yaehime , daughter of Itō Sukechika Chizurumaru , possible first son Wife: Hōjō Masako (1156 – August 16, 1225), daughter of Hōjō Tokimasa Ohime (, 1178 – August 28, 1197), Fiance of Minamoto no Yoshitaka , first daughter Minamoto no Yoriie (September 11, 1182 – August 14, 1204), first son Concubine: Kame no Mae Concubine: Daishin no Tsubone , daughter of Date Tomomune Jōgyō (, March 18, 1186 – May 27, 1231), also known as Kamamura Hōin , second son

Call to arms and the Genpei War (1180–1185)

Seated wooden statue of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Tokyo National Museum. In 1180, Prince Mochihito, a son of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa, made a national call to arms of the Minamoto clan all over Japan to rebel against the Taira. Yoritomo took part in this, especially after tensions escalated between the Taira and Minamoto after the death of Minamoto no Yorimasa and Prince Mochihito himself. After his defeat in Mt. Ishibashiyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into the Hakone mountains, stayed in Yugawara, then escaped from Manazuru-Iwa to Awa (south of present-day Chiba). Yoritomo spent the next six months raising a new army.

Later years and death

As he rose to a position of power, Yoritomo began to defy and undermine the authority of Emperor Go-Shirakawa by appointing his own jitō (district stewards) and shugo (constables), thus eroding the central government's local administrative power.

In the summer of 1189, Yoritomo invaded and subjugated the northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, razing the northern Fujiwara capital of Hiraizumi. The city rivaled Kyoto in population, size and splendor and was located near Japan's only significant gold mines. In December 1190 Yoritomo took up residence in his Rokuhara mansion at the capital, the former headquarters of the Taira clan. When his old rival, Emperor Go-Shirakawa died in the spring of 1192, there was no longer anyone standing in the way of his ultimate ambition. Thus, Yoritomo gave himself the title of Sei-i Tai Shōgun (Barbarian-quelling Generalissimo) which formally placed all the feudal lords and both the jitō and shugo under his direct control. Thus creating a new feudal state organized around Kamakura while Kyoto was relegated to the role of "national ceremony and ritual".

The Revenge of the Soga Brothers took place on May 28 of the same year at the Fuji no Makigari hunting event. The brothers Soga Sukenari and Soga Tokimune murdered the killer of their father, Kudō Suketsune. The brothers managed to kill 10 other participants until Nitta Tadatsune killed Sukenari. Then, Tokimune raided Yoritomo's mansion attempting to attack Yoritomo, but was finally taken down by Gosho no Gorōmaru, thus saving Yoritomo from a possible assassination attempt and ending the massacre. After this, Yoritomo took Tokimune in for questioning and had him executed later.

Yoritomo was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1199 and left his home. He received the Buddhist name Bukōshōgendaizenmon . He died two days later at the age of 51.

Appearance and personality According to The Tale of Heiji, Yoritomo was "more adult-like than others of his age", and the figure of a young warrior Yoritomo appears in the picture scroll of The Tale of Heiji. Genpei Jōsuiki describes Yoritomo saying "his face is large and appearance is beautiful." The imperial messenger Nakahara no Yasusada, who met Yoritomo in Kamakura in August 1183, said that "he is short and his face is large, his appearance is graceful and language is civilized."

Kujō Kanezane writes in his diary Tamaha that "Yoritomo's body is of rigorous power, and his fierce nature is accompanied with a clear distinction and firm resolution of the judgement of right and wrong." Yoritomo practiced shudō with Yoshinao, a member of the Imperial Guard.

Historian Hideo Kuroda organized and examined the portraits and statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo and has concluded as follows. When comparing the statues of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Higashihirozo and Hōjō Tokiyori in Kenchō-ji, from the facial expression to size, they are almost identical, and there is evidence that the kariginu was remodeled into a sokutai, the formal dress of the shogun, by adding a hirao and sekitai. Kuroda argues that the statue was originally a statue of Hōjō Tokiyori sculpted in Kamakura in the 14th century, but after the original statue of Yoritomo was lost, an altered statue of Tokiyori was used as a replacement. On the other hand, he considers the inscription on the statue of Minamoto no Yoritomo in Kai Province, Zenkō-ji to be the name of the repairer instead of the name of the sculptor, and that it was made at the request of Hōjō Masako in the first quarter of the 13th century. Thus, Kuroda concludes that this statue is the only accurate depiction of Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Legacy

In the words of George Bailey Sansom, "Yoritomo was a truly great man … his foresight was remarkable, but so was his practical good sense in setting up machinery to match his own expanding power."

The stone pagoda traditionally believed to be his grave is still maintained today, adjacent to Shirahata Shrine, a short distance from the spot believed to be the site of the so-called Ōkura Bakufu, his shogunate's administrative-governmental offices.

Cultural references He appears as a hero unit in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, Total War: Shogun 2 and Lords of the Rising Sun.

A character named "Yoritomo" appears in Book 6: "The Lords of the Rising Sun" in the Fabled Lands adventure gamebook series, where Yoritomo is the self-proclaimed shōgun and on the verge of war with "Lord Kiyomori".

He appears as the final boss in Genpei Toma Den, an arcade game created by Namco in which the player character is Taira no Kagekiyo, another Japanese historical figure.

He also appears as a prominent character in the 2021 anime series The Heike Story. He makes an appearance in Nioh 3.

Eras of Yoritomo's bakufu The years in which Yoritomo was shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō. Kenkyū (1190–1199) Shōji (1199–1201)