he reached the seacoast, where he boarded a ship at Manazurugasaki and crossed over into the province of Awa. Here the tide of fortune speedily turned. Undaunted by the late fiasco, he was met and welcomed with utmost enthusiasm by crowds of followers, both old and new rallying to the white banner of their chief. The latter included the Taira clansman Hirotsune, who offered his allegiance to Yoritomo with an army of twenty thousand troops.
Before the arrival of the Minamoto scion, Hirotsune had been in a state of indecision whether to join forces with the newcomer, or whether to oppose and seize him. But again the force of Yoritomo's magnetic personality rescued him in the crucial hour. The Taira commander succumbed to the spell of the young hero, placing his forces at his disposal and becoming himself one of Yoritomo's loyal and important retainers. Throughout the eight provinces of the Kanto region manifestoes were circulated, to which the Minamoto adherents responded with alacrity, flocking to the standard in such large numbers that before long their chief found himself at the head of a mighty army. For strategic as well as political reasons he was advised to decide on establishing his military headquarters at Kamakura, and there he lost no time in propitiating the guardian deity of his ancestors by the erection of an imposing shrine to the war god Hachiman.
Naturally these demonstrations had not escaped the notice of Kiyomori. By this time, from his advancing age and the condition of his health, the crafty old Taira chief was unable to conduct an expedition in person to quell the foe; however, his nearest relatives were appointed for the undertaking, and they proved anything but efficient substitutes. On October 20,1180, a body of fifty thousand troops was dispatched from Kyoto under the leadership of Tadamori, Kiyomori's youngest brother, and his grandson Koremori, to attack the upstart Yoritomo, scatter his followers, and dislodge him from Kamakura, his newly established stronghold. Yoritomo, at the head of a vast army two hundred thousand strong, went forth to meet the foe, whom early in November they confronted, encamped upon the southern bank of the Fujikawa—the broad and rapidly flowing torrent that rushes down to the sea from the slopes of the great mountain, and whose crossing presented so many obstacles in ancient times.
Now the Taira generals, in addition to being ill fitted for the campaign by their effete and luxurious manner of living in Kyoto, were alarmed and thrown into a state of consternation by the sudden notoriety of the newly arisen champion of the Minamoto cause; moreover, the unexpectedly imposing scale of the host that was drawn up upon the opposite bank of the river was ill calculated to allay their apprehensions. Yoritomo decided to attack by night. As the detachments of soldiers silently crossed the dark flood, landing in the swamp below the enemy's encampment, their appearance disturbed the multitudes of waterfowl that were roosting in the reeds. To the enemy the loud whirring of the birds' wings sounded like galloping hordes of war steeds rushing upon their prey; the ominous sound working such havoc upon the over-strained nerves of the Taira that the entire force was soon in full flight at precipitate haste, without the exchange of a single arrow! Yoritomo's first impulse was to hurl himself upon the foe and chase the fugitive army to Kyoto, but he was dissuaded from the project by the advice of his generals. It was held dangerous to withdraw the protection of so large a body of troops from the Kanto region while it was not yet clear of the enemy, thus leaving the military base open to attack; moreover, the Minamoto force was hardly equipped for a lengthy campaign against an adversary who were retiring to their own stronghold. So in the interests of caution the chief consented to waive vengeance for the present and withdraw.
During this retirement, and while the troops were encamped upon the banks of the Kisogawa, a dramatic incident occurred. A youthful samurai of dignified and noble mien suddenly appeared in the camp and requested an interview with Yoritomo. The new arrival proved to be the famous Yoshitsune, ninth son of Yoshitomo, and under these circumstances Yoritomo beheld for the first time the face of his youngest brother.
This most popular hero of medieval times—around whose name tradition has interwoven such countless thrilling and romantic incidents—was the son of Yoshitomo by his beautiful mistress Tokiwa Gozen. When her lord was slain, Tokiwawith her three children—Yoshitsune being a babe in arms—took flight from the vengeance of the enemy. On a bitter winter's night she escaped from the luxurious life at the palace into the storm without, enduring cruel hardships in the snowy mountains until shelter was found in a little hamlet of that remote region, where she and the three little ones were enabled to lie low and successfully evade detection.
But the agents of Kiyomori—determined to exterminate the whole brood of Yoshitomo, and foiled in their attempts to fathom her place of concealment—seized her mother as a hostage, threatening to inflict upon the unfortunate parent a cruel death, unless her daughter Tokiwa gave herself up. This ruse proved effective. When the fugitive—so beautiful and so forlorn—appeared before Kiyomori, her fascinations made such a strong appeal to the fierce old warrior that he vowed her life should be spared, as well as her three children, if she would consent to transfer her allegiance from her dead lord to himself and submit to the blandishments of her sworn enemy! Poor Tokiwa was brought to bay: she held out for a time, but such merciless pressure was brought to bear upon her, in the doom that threatened her defenseless family, that loyalty became impossible and submission was the only course.
Thus the fate was averted that menaced her mother and her little sons; but with a view to rendering their future careers as innocuous as possible, the latter were deposited in monasteries, vowed to celibacy, and educated for the priesthood.
Possessed of great physical strength and almost superhuman activity, the fiery temperament of the young Yoshitsune was soon made manifest. At the age of fifteen (1174), he determined to elude the vigilance of his pious guardians, and with the assistance of a friendly merchant succeeded in effecting an escape to the province of Mutsu in the far north, a district too remote and too difficult of access to warrant pursuit. Here he was hospitably received, and lived for some years under the protection of Hidehira, governor of the whole province. The boy had inherited his father's spirit: passionately desirous of avenging his murder and espousing the family cause, he spent his day in equipping himself to that end, practicing warlike arts and acquiring a wide reputation for his feats of skill and valor. When the stirring news penetrated to those northern regions that the Minamoto were in arms and had taken the field against the Taira, Yoshitsune deemed the hour was ripe for action. So with a little band of twenty loyal and trusted followers—including the faithful giant Benkei, hero of a thousand tales of wild adventure—he started for the south, and thus the historic meeting came about.
This valuable recruit became a general in his brother's new army, where his brilliant exploits resulted in defeat after defeat of the enemy, culminating in the final destruction and annihilation of the Taira in the famous and oft-sung battle of Dan no Ura (1185).
Meanwhile the Taira chief Kiyomori had died in 1181; his last request upon his deathbed being that before any prayers or religious rites were performed for the repose of his soul, the head of his bitter foe Yoritomo should be placed upon his tomb. However, since the advent of the new Minamoto leader upon the horizon the star of the Taira had considerably waned, and no aspirant was bold enough to pacify the spirit of the departed with the longed-for trophy.
For the next few years Yoritomo remained at his base in Kamakura, gradually building it up into the great capital it later became, while his armies were adding laurel after laurel to his prestige: the decisive victory of Dan no Ura—when the sea was dyed red with blood, and even the infant emperor perished beneath the waves—leaving the Minamoto chief complete master of the situation.
However this tragic struggle proved the undoing of the conqueror as well as the conquered; for in spite of his brilliant achievements and the valuable aid he had rendered to the cause, Yoshitsune became the object of Yoritomo's jealousy and suspicion.
After evading various attempts upon his life, the former managed to escape to his old refuge and sanctuary in the north; but there an army followed him at the command of his pitiless brother. Further retreat being impossible, and his devoted band of comrades having all perished in the cause of loyalty, the trapped hero put an end to his wife
