Editing Minamoto no Yoritomo (section)

==Call to arms and the Genpei War (1180–1185)==
[[File:Minamoto no Yoritomo hanging scroll painting 14th century.jpg|thumb|Minamoto no Yoritomo scroll painting, late 14th century]]

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.<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|278–281, 291}}

Yoritomo established himself as the rightful heir of the [[Minamoto]] clan and set up a capital in [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]] to the east. Not all Minamoto thought of Yoritomo as rightful heir, however. His uncle, [[Minamoto no Yukiie]], and his cousin [[Minamoto no Yoshinaka]], conspired against him.<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|296}}

In September 1180, Yoritomo was defeated at the [[Battle of Ishibashiyama]], his first major battle, when [[Ōba Kagechika]] led a rapid night attack.<ref name=Turnbull2>{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |title=The Samurai Sourcebook |publisher=Cassell & Co. |year=1998 |isbn=1854095234 |page=200}}</ref> After his defeat in Mt. Ishibashiyama, Minamoto no Yoritomo fled into the Hakone mountains, stayed in [[Yugawara]], then escaped from [[Manazuru]]-Iwa to [[Awa District, Chiba|Awa]] (south of present-day [[Chiba, Chiba|Chiba]]). Yoritomo spent the next six months raising a new army.<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|289–291}}

[[Taira no Kiyomori]] died in 1181 and the Taira clan was now led by [[Taira no Munemori]].<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|287}} Munemori took a much more aggressive policy against the Minamoto and attacked Minamoto bases from [[Kyoto]] in the [[Genpei War]]. Nonetheless, Yoritomo was well protected in [[Kamakura]].

His brothers [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune]] and [[Minamoto no Noriyori]] defeated the Taira in several battles, but they could not stop [[Minamoto no Yoshinaka]], Yoritomo's rival, from entering [[Kyoto]] in 1183 and chasing the Taira south. The Taira took [[Emperor Antoku]] with them.<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|289–305}} In 1184, the Minamoto replaced Antoku with [[Emperor Go-Toba]].<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|319}}

From 1181 to 1184, a de facto truce with the Taira-dominated court allowed Yoritomo the time to build an administration of his own, centered on his military headquarters in Kamakura. In the end he triumphed over his rival cousins, who sought to steal control of the clan from him, and over the [[Taira]], who suffered a terrible defeat at the [[Battle of Dan-no-ura]] in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the [[samurai]] caste and the first shogunate ([[bakufu]]) at Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1438/feudalism-in-medieval-japan/ | title=Feudalism in Medieval Japan }}</ref>