Minamoto no Yoshinaka tried to wrest power from his cousins Yoritomo and Yoshitsune, seeking to take command of the Minamoto clan. To that end, he burned the Hōjūji Palace, and kidnapped Emperor Go-Shirakawa. However, his cousins Noriyori and Yoshitsune caught up with him soon afterwards, following him across the Bridge over the Uji, New Year's Day, 1184, which Yoshinaka had torn up to impair their crossing.[1]
| Second Battle of Uji | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Genpei War | |||||||
  Top: Kajiwara Kagesue, Sasaki Takatsuna, and Hatakeyama Shigetada racing to cross the Uji River before the second battle of Uji, New Year's Day, A.D. 1184, as depicted in a print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Bottom: A triptych showing the second battle of Uji River on February 19th, 1184, by Isshinsai Yoshikata. Published by Iseya Tokichi, 1863 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Yoritomo faction | clan Yoshinaka faction | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Minamoto no Yoshitsune | Minamoto no Yoshinaka | ||||||
  Location within Japan | |||||||
This was an ironic reversal of the first Battle of the Uji, only four years earlier. Much as the Taira did in that first battle, Minamoto no Yoshitsune led his horsemen across the river, and defeated Yoshinaka.[2][3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Sansom, George (1958). A History of Japan to 1334. Stanford University Press. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0804705232.
- ^ Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. Cassell & Co. pp. 203–204. ISBN 1854095234.
- ^ Turnbull, Stephen (1977). The Samurai, A Military History. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. pp. 64–65. ISBN 0026205408.