Editing Minamoto no Yoshinaka

{{Short description|Japanese samurai lord (1154–1184)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Minamoto no Yoshinaka <br> 源 義仲
| image              = Minamoto no Yoshinaka.jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Yoshinaka
| birth_date         = 1154
| birth_place        = 
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1184|02|21|1154|df=y}}
| death_place        = 
| nationality        = [[Japanese people|Japanese]]
| occupation         = [[Samurai]] lord
| father             = [[Minamoto no Yoshikata]]
| family             = [[Minamoto clan]]
}}
{{Nihongo|'''Minamoto no Yoshinaka'''|源 義仲||{{IPA|ja|mʲi.na.mo.to no (<nowiki>|</nowiki>) jo.ɕiꜜ.na.ka}},<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:新明解日本語アクセント辞典|edition=2nd|editor-last=Kindaichi|editor-first=Haruhiko|editor-link=Haruhiko Kindaichi|editor-last2=Akinaga|editor-first2=Kazue|publisher=[[Sanseidō]]|date=10 March 2025|lang=ja}}</ref> 1154 – February 21, 1184}}, also known as {{nihongo|'''Kiso Yoshinaka'''|木曾 義仲}}, was a Japanese [[samurai]] lord mentioned in the epic poem ''[[The Tale of the Heike]].'' A member of the [[Minamoto clan]], he was a cousin and later rival of ''[[shogun]]'' [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] during the [[Genpei War]] between the Minamoto and the [[Taira]] clans in the late [[Heian period]].

== Early life ==
Yoshinaka was born in [[Musashi Province]]. His father, Minamoto no Yoshikata, was killed by [[Minamoto no Yoshihira]] in 1155. Yoshihira also sought to kill Yoshinaka who escaped to [[Shinano Province]].<ref name="Sato">{{Cite book |last=Sato |first=Hiroaki |title=Legends of the Samurai |publisher=Overlook Duckworth |year=1995 |ISBN=9781590207307 |page=114}}</ref><ref name="Turnbull" />{{rp|11}} He was raised by Nakahara no Kanetō, the father of Imai Kanehira, together with his [[Milk kinship|milk-brother]] [[Imai Kanehira]], who would later become his best friend and most loyal retainer. Yoshinaka later changed his name from Minamoto to {{nihongo|Kiso|木曾}}, to reflect the [[Kiso Mountains]] where he was raised.<ref name="Turnbull3">{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |title=The Samurai, A Military History |publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. |year=1977 |ISBN=0026205408 |page=55}}</ref>

== Genpei War ==
[[File:Dai_Nihon_Rokujūyoshō%2C_Shinano_Asahishōgun_Minamoto_no_Yoshinaka_by_Yoshitora.jpg|thumb|Shinano, Asahishōgun Minamoto no Yoshinaka, from the series Sixty-odd Famous Generals of Japan, woodblock print|upright]]
Yoshinaka accepted [[Prince Mochihito]]'s call to the [[Minamoto]] clan to rise against the [[Taira clan|Taira]] in 1181. He entered the [[Genpei War]] by raising an army and invading [[Echigo Province]]. He then defeated a Taira force sent to pacify the area.<ref name="Sansom">{{Cite book |last=Sansom |first=George |title=A History of Japan to 1334 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1958 |ISBN=0804705232 |page=291, 293}}</ref>

The Taira army captured the fortress of [[Siege of Hiuchi|Hiuchi]] in 1183.<ref name="Turnbull2">{{Cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Stephen|title=The Samurai Sourcebook|publisher=Cassell & Co.|year=1998|ISBN=1854095234|page=201}}</ref> Yoshinaka later that year was confronted by his cousin, [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]], whose army had entered Shinano. They reconciled and resolved to unite against the Taira. Yoshinaka to seal the agreement sent [[Shimizu no kanja Yoshitaka|his son Yoshitaka (or Yoshimoto)]] to [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]] as a hostage.<ref name="Turnbull">{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |title=Battles of the Samurai |publisher=Arms and Armour Press |year=1987 |ISBN=0853688265 |pages=14–15}}</ref> However, having been shamed by the process, Yoshinaka was now determined to beat Yoritomo to [[Kyoto]], defeat the Taira on his own, and take control of the Minamoto clan.

Yoshinaka defeated the army of [[Taira no Koremori]] at the [[Battle of Kurikara|Battle of Kurikara Pass]] and marched to Kyoto.  The Taira retreated out of the capital, taking the child [[Emperor Antoku]] with them. Yoshinaka's army entered the capital with the cloistered [[Emperor Go-Shirakawa]] who issued a mandate for Yoshinaka to join with [[Minamoto no Yukiie|Yukiiye]] in "destroying Munemori and his army".<ref name="Sansom" />{{rp|293–294}} The emperor also bestowed upon Yoshinaka the title of ''Asahi [[Shōgun]]'' ({{lang|ja|旭将軍}}).

Yoshinaka plotted with Yukiie in "setting up a government in their own northern province". Learning Go-Shirakawa had sought help from his cousin Yoritomo, Yoshinaka seized the cloistered emperor and burned his palace. Yoritomo ordered his brothers [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] and [[Minamoto no Noriyori|Noriyori]] to destroy Yoshinaka.<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|296}}

He was subsequently driven out of Kyoto and killed by his cousins at the [[Battle of Awazu]] in [[Ōmi Province]] (present-day [[Shiga Prefecture]]) along with Kanehira.<ref name=Sansom/>{{rp|296–297}} With night coming and with many enemy soldiers chasing him, he attempted to find an isolated spot to kill himself. However, the story says that his horse became trapped in a field of partly frozen mud and his enemies were able to approach him and kill him.<ref name=Turnbull3/>{{rp|66}}

== Legacy ==
[[File:KisoYoshinaka-Haka-M1924.jpg|thumb|Grave of Yoshinaka (Gichū-ji, Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture)|upright]]

Yoshinaka was buried in [[Ōtsu, Shiga|Ōtsu]], in Ōmi; a temple was built in his honor during the later [[Muromachi period]]. Its name, Gichū-ji, has the same two [[kanji]] as his given name. Kanehira's grave is also in Otsu, but it is not close to Yoshinaka's. The [[Edo period]] poet [[Matsuo Bashō]], pursuant to his last wishes, was buried next to Minamoto no Yoshinaka in Gichū-ji.

Minamoto no Yoshinaka is one of many main characters in the [[Kamakura period]] [[Epic poetry|epic]], the ''[[Tale of Heike]]''. The story of Yoshinaka and Kanehira is fairly well known in Japan; it is also the subject of the [[Noh]] play ''Kanehira'', in which Kanehira's tormented ghost describes his and Yoshinaka's death, and his wish to go to the other side.

==In popular media==
*In the ''[[Fate/Grand Order]]'' timeline, Minamoto-no-Yoshinaka is the romantic partner of [[Tomoe Gozen]], an Archer-class servant. Yoshinaka is summoned for the first time as a rogue Saber-class servant in the game ''[[Fate/Samurai Remnant]]'' where his backstory aligns with Tomoe's.
{{commons category|Minamoto no Yoshinaka}}

==See also==
*[[Imai Kanehira]]
*[[Battle of Hojuji]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Yoshinaka's life is described in some detail in [[Stephen Turnbull (historian)|S. Turnbull's]] book ''The Samurai'' (1977) pp. 55–66.{{ISBN?}}

{{Shoguns}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1154 births]]
[[Category:1184 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century Japanese people]]
[[Category:12th-century shōguns]]
[[Category:Minamoto clan|Yoshinaka]]
[[Category:Nobility from Kyoto]]
[[Category:Deified Japanese men]]
[[Category:Imperial House of Japan]]
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:People of the Genpei War]]
[[Category:People of Heian-period Japan]]
[[Category:Buddhists of Heian-period Japan]]
[[Category:Shōguns]]
[[Category:Japanese warriors killed in battle]]