Editing Taira no Kiyomori (section)

==Cultural references==

Taira no Kiyomori is the main character in the [[Kamakura period]] epic, the ''[[Tale of Heike]]''.

The [[Daiei Film]] production of [[Kenji Mizoguchi]]'s 1955 film ''[[Shin Heike Monogatari (film)|Shin Heike Monogatari]]'' (variously translated as ''[[Taira clan|Taira Clan]] Saga, Tales of the Taira Clan'', and ''The Sacrilegious Hero'') credits its story as "from the novel by [[Yoshikawa Eiji]]", which in turn is a 1950 retelling of the 14th-century epic ''[[The Tale of the Heike]]''. The opening introduction to the film, in its English subtitles, is
{{quote|Japan, in the Tenth and Eleventh centuries, was virtually controlled by the [[Fujiwara clan]]. But in the Twelfth century, Fujiwara influence began to wane, partly due to the double-monarchy. An Emperor would abdicate but continue to rule from behind the scenes. Thus there was an Imperial Court and an ex-Emperor's Cloister Court, both emperors being descended from the Sun Goddess. Inevitably, there was conflict between the courts. Both began to depend on the warriors, the [[samurai]]. Until then, Fujiwara rule had involved little bloodshed. Some monasteries also had their own armies. The monasteries used them to intimidate both courts. Big landowners paid no taxes. Piracy and banditry increased. The Cloister Court attempted to restore order using the warriors of the samurai Taira Clan. Thus were sown the seeds of military governments which dominated Japan for 700 years ''[i.e., [[Meiji period|until 1868]]]''. This story begins in 1137, in Kyoto, ancient capital of Japan.}}
Unlike most other tellings, Mizoguchi's film includes only the story of Taira no Kiyomori's youth, depicting him as a [[Hero|heroic character]], particularly in breaking the power of the tyrannical armed monks and their [[Palanquin#Japan|palanquin shrines]], where he says at his father's grave "Father, with two arrows from my bow I destroyed a superstition that gripped men for centuries. The courtiers and priests have tried to have me for blasphemy. But others have supported me, more than I expected. Some of them are lords, too. Father, a greater battle lies ahead. But I remain undaunted. No matter how I am beaten, I shall rise again". The film then ends with Kiyomori approaching an alfresco Fujiwara dance, vowing to himself, "Dance, my Lords, dance. Your end is near. Tomorrow will be ours!"<ref>DVD ''Le héros sacrilège'', Films sans Frontières 2004</ref>

Taira no Kiyomori was featured by 19th-century [[Woodblock printing in Japan|woodblock print artists]] as an exemplar of guilt and retribution, see the accompanying print by [[Yoshitoshi]]. The famous print generally known as ''The Vision of Kiyomori'' by [[Utagawa Hiroshige]] depicts the actor [[Nakamura Utayemon IV]] in the character of Kiyomori, confronted by the horrific vision of his snow-filled garden transformed into the heaped bones and skulls of his slaughtered enemies.

In video games, Kiyomori appears in ''[[Warriors Orochi 2]]'', ''[[Warriors Orochi 3|3]]'' and ''[[Warriors Orochi 4|4]]'' fighting for Orochi's army and using prayer beads as weapons. He also makes an appearance in ''[[Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce|Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce]]'', as a boss in one of the game's Crossover Missions.  Additionally, he is the main antagonist in ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3|Harukanaru Toki no Naka De 3]]''.

Kiyomori also features prominently as a sympathetic villain in [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s [[Phoenix (manga)|Phoenix series]] in the first half of the ninth volume, ''Turbulent Times'' (retitled ''Civil War'' in English), another [[Genpei War]] epic. Like most villains in the series he desires the titular bird for its immortality granting blood, due to his desire to continue to lead and protect the Taira clan and lack of confidence in his successors, but winds up being tricked into buying an imported [[peacock]] instead.

A character named Lord Kiyomori appears in Book 6, "The Lords of the Rising Sun" in the [[Fabled Lands]] adventure gamebook series, where he is portrayed as the Imperial Sovereign Takakura's chancellor, and on the verge of war with the self-proclaimed shogun by the name of "Yoritomo".

The 2012 NHK [[Taiga drama]] was about him.<ref>{{Cite news|title=大河ドラマ「平清盛」：語り部は敵方・源頼朝 イケメンをキャスティング予定|work=まんたんウェブ|publisher=毎日新聞デジタル|date=2011-05-12|url=http://mantan-web.jp/2011/05/12/20110512dog00m200011000c.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513031118/http://mantan-web.jp/2011/05/12/20110512dog00m200011000c.html|archive-date=2011-05-13 |access-date=2021-01-27}}</ref>