Japan

by Walter G. Dickson

In 1008 the Empress was one of the great clan of Minnamoto, which was rising to power. The distant parts of the empire were being consolidated by operations against rebels, and the repeated transmission of large bodies of troops to the different parts of the islands to put them down. This war began to create an excitement or rivalry among some of the leaders, who, when the rebellions were put down, had the wish for more enemies to conquer, and could only turn round in jealousy upon their equals. Yoshi iye was sent to the province of Mootz as commander-in-chief, and, after many years’ fighting, subdued the rebels, and brought this province, as well as all the Kwanto (the provinces “east of the barrier of Hakonay”), into submission. His son Tame yoshi desired the same post. To Taira tada mori, descended from the Emperor Kwan mu, was given the island of Tsussima, and in 1153 his son Kio mori succeeded him as President of the Criminal Tribunal. This name calls up, to any one acquainted with Japanese history, the recollection of the most stirring events and the greatest struggle which has ever convulsed the empire of Japan. This struggle was between the Gen or Minnamoto and the He or Taira families. He and Taira are the same word in Japanese writing, meaning “peace,” the former being the pronunciation of the Chinese word ping. The Minnamoto family, or Gen ji, stood on the broadest basis, and had risen to the greatest fame, and had recently occupied the highest positions in the state. The Empress had been of the family, and the memoirs of the family had been written for her edification or to gratify her own or her family’s pride. On the other side, members of the Taira family, or He ji, had occasionally risen up to high rank in the state; and recently the family had been honored for its prowess and its activity in the imperial service.

Yoshi tomo and Kio mori were rising step by step to higher rank and power, when the abdication of Toba no, 1123, and the question as to his successor, threw everything into confusion. His immediate successor was his son Sho toku, in 1124, who after reigning seventeen years retired (mainly on account of the intrigues of his stepmother) at the age of thirty-nine. He left a son, Sighe shto, but was succeeded by his half-brother, Kon ye no in, who, after reigning fourteen years, died at the age of seventeen. The latter had been elevated to the throne by the intrigues of Bi fouk mon, his mother, and she suspected the late Emperor of having caused his death in order that his own son Sighe shto might ascend the throne. But in order to defeat these projects, she induced her son on his deathbed to adopt his half-brother Go ziro kawa. A younger son was thus in actual possession, while his nephew and the eldest son of the elder brother were displaced. The lineal heir endeavored to regain his rights. He raised an army, and on his side were ranged as leaders many of the higher members of the Minnamoto family. On the other side was Kio mori, of the Taira family, and, of the Minnamoto family, Yoshi tomo and Tada mitsi. A battle was fought only eleven days after the death of the old Emperor Toba no in. Notwithstanding the bravery and prowess of the leaders of their opponents, the He ji, the party in power, gained the day. Among the leaders of the Gen ji was Tame tomo, famous for his power in drawing a bow (owing, perhaps, to the one arm being shorter than the other), and, in his subsequent life, as a rover over the Southern seas. He was the first historical occupier of the islands to the south of Japan, Hatchi jo and its chain, linked on to the southeastern promontory, and the Liookioo Islands, with the chain joined by links to the southwestern promontory of the mainland. He was the brother of Yoshi tomo, who fought on the opposite side. As a reward for their success on behalf of the Emperor de facto, Go ziro kawa, Minnamoto Yoshi tomo and Taira Kio mori were both raised to higher rank and power, and to each was given a province as a more substantial acknowledgment of their assistance. From this time mutual jealousy seems to have grown up between these two. But the ability of the reigning Emperor, who thenceforward took the reins into his own hands, seems to have kept down their smoldering jealousy. As to the prince who was endeavoring to resume his lawful rights, he and his father, the Emperor Sho toku, were banished to the province of Sanuki, where the latter died in the year 1163. He died of starvation, having written a letter to the Emperor with his blood, upon a piece of his shirt; but Kio mori would not let the Emperor see it.

The banished Emperor Sho toku was devoted to his worship, and since his death he has to many worshipers taken the place of Compera. This is a name much worshiped in Japan as a god. As a hideous idol with a long nose he has temples erected to his worship in every village. Immediately after the death of Sho toku, in 1163, a violent storm or earthquake took place, and as he was known to have a great reverence for Compera, this convulsion of nature was attributed to the anger of this supposed being, and a magnificent temple was raised by his son and grandson on Dzo dzu Hill (Elephant’s Head Hill), at Matzuyama, near Marungame, in the province of Sanuki. Sho toku (known by the adopted name of Seengeen) is by many looked upon as Compera gongen. Compera, from the Chinese characters composing the name, seems to be Kapila, of Indian mythology. Kapila was known as the founder of the Sankya school of philosophy in India, which, in reference to the sacred Vedas, held the authority of revelations as paramount to reason and experience, to which Buddha, either for his philosophical or his moral or religious doctrines, would not submit. Some have thought Kapila and Buddha to be the same person. His anniversary day is the tenth day of the tenth month. He is revered for his great strength, which he exerted in favor of Sakya mooni. In Buddhist history, Daibadatta wished to destroy Say son—i.e., Sakya mooni. He took up a large stone, twenty-four yards long and four-arms’ length broad, and threw it down on him. Compera saw the action, and instantly stretched out his hand and caught the stone as it fell. Another name of Compera is He-ira. He is called also Kapira, and “Goo pira,” and “Goo he ira.” The name of Ee ngio wo—power equal to emperor—is also given to him for his strength. Fudowo mio is, according to some, the same as Compera. Many persons worship him because his name begins with “gold.”

Kio mori turned out to be the ablest and most unscrupulous minister of the time, but the Emperor, who had abdicated, still took the principal management of affairs during the reigns of his son and two grandsons. Kio mori at the age of fifty-one shaved his head, and nominally retired into priest’s orders in 1169.

Yoshi tomo in 1159 had conspired to destroy Kio mori. He failed, and was killed while in the bath by his own servant, Osada. His eldest son went to Miako with the view of killing Kio mori, but was discovered and put to death. His second son died. His third son, Yoritomo, born 1147, fled with his mother (Tokiwa go zen, a woman of low origin) and two brothers. Overtaken by snow and hunger, they were arrested and brought back, when Kio mori forced her to become his concubine. His friends demanded that the children should be put to death, but, at the intercession of his own aunt, he saved their lives, but banished Yoritomo to Hiruga ko jima, or one of the islands to the south of Idzu. The other two boys, Yoshitzune and Nori yori, were kept in Miako and educated for priests. The former of them was afterward a well-known hero. His nickname when a boy was Ushi waka, or young ox or calf. Yoritomo, while a boy, was known as Sama no kami, or captain of the left cavalry.

At this time, 1170, Tame tomo above mentioned, who had been roving about the South Sea for years past, landed on the mountainous province and peninsula of Idzu, and attempted to raise a rebellion; but his men were overcome, and he himself committed suicide. A temple was raised to his memory, and he is worshiped both in Hatchi jo and in the Liookioo Islands.

In 1171 the Emperor Taka kura no in, at the age of eleven years, married the daughter of Kio mori, aged fifteen years. This rendered Kio mori still more powerful, and at the same time more imperious in his conduct. He emerged from his seclusion, and placed his two sons in the office of Tai sho or first generals, over the heads of others who had hoped for the places. This raised a community of feeling against him, and again a conspiracy was made to attack and kill him and the whole of his family, but it failed through the treachery of some of the conspirators. The Empress, Kio mori’s daughter, 1178, had a son, and in the following year his own son, Sighe mori, died. This son had proved some obstacle to the working out of his father’s schemes of ambition, and when he was removed by death Kio mori imperiously ruled according to his own pleasure. His grandson, Antoku, in 1181, became Emperor. Kio mori became very tyrannical before his death; he not only kept the old Emperor confined, but tried to change the residence of the court from Miako to Fu ku wara, and determined to extirpate the family of Minnamoto. Once more a conspiracy was set on foot to destroy the family of He, by one of the royal princes, who had suffered from the arrogant insolence of Kio mori. Letters were obtained from the old Emperor and secretly dispatched to Yoritomo, then in banishment on the coast of Idzu, who was looked upon as the head of the Minnamoto family and the chief enemy of Kio mori and the He kay. His brother Yoshitzune had escaped from Miako, in the retinue of some gold merchants, to the province of Dewa, and was residing in that province with Hide hira, Mootz no kami. Yoritomo had married the daughter of Hojio Toki massa, in whose charge he was during his banishment. Through her father she was descended from Kwan mu, Emperor, and was afterward known as Ama Shiogoon, or female Shiogoon, her name being Taira no Massa go. When the letters were given to him from the Emperor and his son, calling upon him to raise troops to rid the country of Kio mori, and release them from the durance in which they were kept, he immediately wrote to his brother Yoshitzune, calling upon him to assist him. Under such surveillance were these royal parties kept that it was only under the guise of paying a visit to the great temple of Miajima, on the beautiful island Itsuku jima, in the inland sea, in the province of Aki, then belonging to Kio mori, that the conspirators were able to get the letters dispatched. Yoritomo, with Hojio, collected what men he could, and raised the flag at Ishi bashi yama. When he first started only seven men joined him, and he fought his first battle with only three hundred under him, against ten times their number. He was defeated, and with his seven friends ran away, and the story goes that they all hid in the hollow trunk of a large tree near Ishi bashi hatto. While remaining concealed there, the soldiers, having examined every other place, came to the conclusion they must be there. A Kashiwara man (secretly a partisan of the Gen party) volunteered to go and look, and, though suspected, he was allowed to do so. He went up, looked in, and saw the party hiding, and told them to lie still, and taking his spear showed his commander that he could turn it all round the hollow. When he did so, two bats or birds flew out, and he told his commander that the mouth of the hollow was covered over with spiders’ webs. The party of soldiers went away. Yoritomo and his friends left immediately, and went to a temple, where they were secreted in the wardrobe for storing the dresses of the priests. Meantime the soldiers returned, looked into the tree, and found that they had been there. They then went to the temple, demanded of the priest where they were secreted, and, on his refusing to tell, they killed him.

Meanwhile Yoshitzune collected what forces he could, and with them went down to Kamakura, at the head of the Odawara division of the Bay of Yedo.

Yoritomo was forced to take refuge in the remote peninsula of Awa, southeast of Yedo, whence he dispatched missives calling on all the Gen family to collect, sending Hojio, his father-in-law, to the province of Kahi, and joining Hiro tsune with a large body of men on the banks of the river Sumida gawa, that division of the Tonay gawa which runs past the eastern side of Yedo. In the province of Musasi he was joined by Hatake yama; while his relation, Yoshi naka of Kisso, raised an army in Sinano. Yoritomo fixed upon Kamakura, in the province of Segami, at a very early date, for his residence. This beautiful classic spot is within two hours’ ride of Yokohama, and shows now little trace of having once been the residence of a court. Trivial circumstances probably led him to this conclusion, as it does not seem to be a place suited in any way for a large city or for the capital of a country. He was a man of great ability, and of strong will, but had received no education; and having been brought up in the province of Idzu, had acquired the dialect of the district. The mountain-pass of Hakkone is considered the key to the eastern provinces, and if it were sufficiently guarded, his position would be one of comparative safety, at a distance of a day’s march from the pass. His relation, Yori Yoshi, had formerly resided there, and he had probably looked upon it, when a boy, as the family property. From his residence here he was called, by the people of Kwanto, Kam kura dono, a name by which he is spoken of to this day. Kwanto literally means east of the barrier—i.e., of Hakkone—and is synonymous with Ban do, east of the hill. It is a name by which are understood all the eight provinces to the east of the range of hills running down the promontory of Idzu; viz., Segami, Musasi, Simotsuki, Kowotsuki, Simosa, Kadsusa, Awa, and Fitatsi. It is called also Kwang hasshiu.

Forces were sent from Miako by Kio mori to oppose Yoritomo, but at this time his relative Hojio met him with a large re-enforcement, and the He party retired without fighting. Yoritomo overran the province of Fitatsi and put to death Satake Hide Yoshi. The whole empire was now desolated by war. The tide began, before Kio mori died, at the age of sixty-four, in 1181, to turn in favor of the Gen party. But so long as Kio mori lived the cause of his opponents did not seem to hold out much prospect of success, and the relatives of Yoritomo are still found fighting against him, and on the side of the ruling party. Among these were his own uncle Yoshi hiro, and Yoshi naka, another relative. The latter was afterward reconciled to Yoritomo, and rendered him great assistance, being everywhere victorious in the northern provinces of Etsjiu and Kanga. Thence he rapidly pushed on to the capital, and seized the extensive monastery of Hiyaysan. The Emperor Antoku fled westward with his wife, Kio mori’s daughter. His grandfather, the old Emperor Go Zirakawa, received his deliverers in Miako, and still retaining his interest in the regulation of affairs, saw another grandson, brother of Antoku, proclaimed as Emperor. The possessions of the He party were confiscated and divided among the members of the Gen family. Antoku remained about Da zai foo, the station from which military superintendence of the island of Kiusiu was regulated, but from this island the He party was driven out and crossed over to Sikok. Still they were able in different parts of the country to make a stand, and even to defeat their adversaries in more than one battle. Several of the party had been left in Miako in posts of consequence, the son of Kio mori being regent, and they did what they could to support their cause in the capital. Yoshi naka, who had seized Miako on the part of the Genji, became in his turn overbearing, and roused the impatience of the old Emperor, who stirred up the priests of the monasteries of Hiyaysan and Midera to oppose him. But Yoshi naka suddenly came upon them, seized and imprisoned the Emperor, and beheaded the abbots of the religious houses. He caused himself to be created Sei dai Shiogoon, and finally set himself up in opposition to Yoritomo. Yoshitzune and Nori Yori, brothers of Yoritomo, were immediately dispatched from the Kwanto to Miako to attack him, and set free the Emperor and his grandfather, and he was defeated by them and killed. Meantime, 1184, the He ji had been gathering their strength in the western provinces, and had assembled an army of 100,000 men and fortified themselves. Nori Yori and Yoshitzune attacked them, and after a very severe engagement took the fort by assault and completely routed the army, killing many of the leaders of the party. After this Yoritomo ordered his son-in-law, son of Yoshi naka, to be put to death, and Yoshitzune was appointed governor of Miako. He attacked the enemy in the island of Sikok, and also in the western provinces of Nagato, and at the fort of Aka Magaseki routed them; the mother of the Emperor escaping with the two insignia of rule—the sacred sword and the seal or ball. But in crossing over from Simonoseki the Emperor threw himself into the sea and was drowned. Of the two sacred emblems, the sword was said to have been lost; the seal was saved. At this narrowest part of the passage between Kiusiu and Nippon runs a ledge of rocks, and upon these stands a small column, or tombstone, to the memory of the Emperor. On the Kiusiu side is the village of Dairi, called so from the imperial family having rested there. Moone mori, one of the party, is said to have fled to the island of Tsussima, where his descendants to this day rule as (the Chinese sound of the name) Sso. When the men of the party were all destroyed, the females crowded the port of Simonoseki, and were obliged to live by prostitution; and hence the females of this class in Simonoseki are accorded to this day the first rank of the class, and privileges—in the way of dress, such as wearing stockings, and wearing the knot of the obi or belt behind, like other women, and not before, as prostitutes—which are denied to others. In the center of the island of Kiusiu, between Fiuga and Higo, is a high tableland, partly marsh, extending from twenty to thirty miles in length. According to native accounts, this place was, a hundred years ago, quite a terra incognita. About that time it was discovered that there were people living in three villages within the marsh. The principal village was called Mayra. Further investigation being made, it was discovered that these were remnants of the He ji, who had fled there at this period, and had isolated themselves through fear. They had conveyed their fears to their children, who, when visited, had a dread of being punished for the crimes of their forefathers. The three villages are now under charge of a Hattamoto.