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Minamoto no Yoshitomo (1123-1160) was the head of the Minamoto clan and a
general of the late Heian period of Japanese history. His son Minamoto no
Yoritomo became shogun and founded the Kamakura Shogunate, the first
shogunate in the history of Japan.
Hogen Rebellion
With the outbreak of the Hogen Rebellion in 1156, the members of the
Minamoto and Taira samurai clans were beckoned into the conflict. Yoshitomo
sided along with Taira no Kiyomori in support of the Emperor Go-Shirakawa
and Fujiwara no Tadamichi, while his father Minamoto no Tameyoshi, then head
of the Minamoto clan, sided with the retired Emperor Sutoku and Fujiwara no
Yorinaga.
Yoshitomo, defeating his father and the forces of Sutoku and Yorinaga,
became head of the Minamoto and established himself as a political power in
the capital of Kyoto. However, despite his attempts to have his father
pardoned, Tameyoshi was executed. Also, the outcome of the Hogen rebellion
established the Minamoto and Taira as the two strongest political rivals in
the country.
Heiji Rebellion
Three years later in 1159, Yoshitomo and Fujiwara no Nobuyori placed Go-Shirakawa
under house arrest and killed his retainer, the scholar Fujiwara no
Michinori in what is called the Heiji Rebellion. Yoshitomo was angry that
the Taira had became the favorite of the imperial court after the Hogen
Rebellion despite the sacrifice of the Minamoto. Eventually, Taira no
Kiyomori in support of Go-Shirakawa, defeated Yoshitomo and killed his two
eldest sons and Nobuyori, releasing Go-Shirakawa.
While escaping from Kyoto in Owari province, Yoshitomo was betrayed and
killed by a retainer. His remaining sons Yoritomo along with Minamoto no
Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori were later spared and exiled by Kiyomori.
It is said that Yoshitomo was killed unarmed taking a bath at a hot
spring. His grave in Aichi prefecture is surrounded on all sides by wooden
swords, as by legend his last words were "If I even only had a bokuto...".
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