The Genpei War: The Samurai War That Ended an Era

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The Genpei War (1180-1185 CE) is one of the most important socio-political events in Japanese history. It brought an end to Japan’s Heian Era of classical antiquity and ushered in a new, feudalistic age in which Japan’s warrior families, known to us today as the samurai, began to take political control of the country. Beyond that, it left a massive cultural impact on the country’s society, with its colorful characters and dramatic events being immortalized in theater, literature, and artwork for centuries to come, with many of them remaining household names even today. This video is a long-form, documentary-style deep dive into this epic conflict, covering the historical lead-up, the war itself, and the half-dozen-or-so years of its immediate aftermath. I highly recommend watching it as the grand finale of my four-part series of videos on the history of the Heian Period!

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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Prologue
0:49 Intro
3:44 ACT ONE: Taira no Kiyomori
11:21 Stormclouds
14:19 The Shishigatani Incident
17:24 Taira Takeover
21:10 Prince Mochihito’s Uprising
24:56 Capital Transfer
26:39 ACT TWO: Minamoto no Yoritomo
29:31 Yoritomo’s Rebellion
33:59 The Embarrassment at the Fuji River
38:15 Goodbye, Kiyomori
43:49 Hell on Earth
46:15 ACT THREE: Kiso Yoshinaka
51:37 Yoshinaka Triumphant
56:41 The Unraveling
59:32 ACT FOUR: Minamoto no Yoshitsune
1:02:56 Ichi no Tani
1:06:49 Yashima
1:10:30 Dan no Ura
1:16:32 Brothers’ War
1:25:26 Aftermath
1:28:52 Outro

Main Information Sources:
図説：平清盛 (樋口 州男・鈴木彰・錦昭江・野口華世)
源頼朝：東国を選んだ武家の貴公子（高橋 典幸）
京・鎌倉　ふたつの王権 (本郷 恵子)
武士の成長と院政（下向井龍彦）
歴史・文化ガイド：源義経の時代（奥富敬之）
平清盛：悪人か英雄か (Gakken Mook)
源平争乱：群雄ビジュアル百科（ポプラ社）
１日で読める平家物語（吉野敬介）
鎌倉幕府開幕：源頼朝（朝日カルチャーシリーズ）
図説：源平合戦人物伝（歴史群像シリーズ）
８００年の時を経て蘇る鴨長明「方丈記」時代の事件簿（Town Mook)
Intro Monologue stitched together from Tale of the Heike translations by Burton Watson, Royall Tyler, and A.L. Sadler

Music:
Dova Syndrome (https://dova-s.jp/) (Artists: Fuuka and Habane (風可＆葉羽), Yoshinori Tanaka (田中芳典), MAKOOTO, Koorogi (こおろぎ), lei, Maniira (マニーラ), Make a field Music, Hata Akira (秦暁), ilodolly, Itou Keisuke (伊藤ケイスケ))
Amacha Ongaku Kôbô (http://amachamusic.chagasi.com/index.html)
Peritune (https://peritune.com)
Oto no Sono (http://oto-no-sono.com）
Intro/Outro beat produced by Buyuuden (me) using samples from “Tetegobashi” from Lone Wolf and Cub

Images from:
The National Diet Library Digital Collections (https://dl.ndl.go.jp/)
The Waseda University Library (https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/index.html)
The Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive (https://rmda.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/)
The British Museum (https://www.britishmuseum.org)
Meisei University (http://ehon-emaki.meisei-u.ac.jp/)
The Tokyo Metropolitan Library (https://archive.library.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/da/top)
Ritsumeikan University (https://www.dh-jac.net/)
Touken World (https://www.touken-world.jp)
The Hayashibara Museum of Art’s Heike Monogatari Picture Scroll
The Umi-Mori Art Museum’s Hogen-Heiji Monogatari Picture Scroll
The Okada Museum of Art’s Heike Monogatari Folding Screen (One picture)
Colbase (https://colbase.nich.go.jp/?locale=ja)
Penn Libraries (http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/fish…)
Photo AC (https://www.photo-ac.com/)
Illust AC (https://www.ac-illust.com/)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Google Earth
Some photos of out-of-copyright artwork from books I own

Public Domain Photos:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jetavana.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Renge_Uji,_Uji-shi,_Ky%C5%8Dto-fu_611-0021,_Japan_-_panoramio_(3).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kanmon_Straits_Aerial_photograph.2009.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genghis_Khan_(20373865590).jpg

Graphics:
“Close up, The orange flame was burning. The strength of the fire was moving and burning” by Vecteezy (https://www.vecteezy.com/video/5312390-close-up-the-orange-flame-was-burning-the-strength-of-the-fire-was-moving-and-burning)

Banquet sounds: unfa (https://freesound.org/people/unfa/sounds/209313/)

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48 thoughts on “The Genpei War: The Samurai War That Ended an Era”

  10. 57:43 By this time it was clear that the pigmentally unraveling nieekkers who were killing each other over nothing were all normaltrash. The sad an horrible lives led by the mentally and psychologically disabled people of Japan saw glimmers of jubilance and pleasure at the sight of thousands of normaltrash slaughtering each other while their skin colors rotted away into indisability.

    Reply

  11. 1:02:40 Interesting that Yoshitune started working for his older brother. Since they were brothers it was to be expected that they might work for each other but still interesting that he started working for his brother.

    Reply

  12. 1:15:51 Contrary to your statement it had been obvious to every individual with a mental or a psychological disability in Japan at that time that normalcy had always been the state of affairs in their country and that a revolution toward disability would never be realistic.
    That is why they were content to watch the evil and nieekker normaltrash who ruled their world slaughter each other in pointless conflicts.

    Reply

  14. Thank you for creating this video. I remember doing some reading on the Genpei War a few years ago. This is a refreshing watch to jolt back whatever nuggets i may have on said topic

    Reply

  15. Appreciate your work. I loved the attention you gave to the little side bits of info and legends and myths around these events. I first became aware of this war after reading the historical fiction, Shike, by Robert Shea, as a teenager. After watching this documentary, I realize how many finer historical details he worked into his novels.

    Reply

  18. If I had but a quarter of this man’s narrative skill, I could write a comment worthy of this stunning work.

    But I don’t.
    So I can’t.

    All I can do is applaud and say “Bravo!”

    Reply

  22. I liked the way this story has been told. A liittle too much advertisement at the begging, it'ok though. The humble request for like is granted. Music and the content are drawn marvelestly together, into a inspiring and chearing story.

    Reply

  34. Watching thing for the umpteenth time. You tell a great story! Seriously, this video is very skillful storytelling. It's clear, engrossing, and informative. I know you're proud of this video, and you should be. I'm a 60 year old from Eastern North America, and I am very smug, thanks to you. I can be ever so knowoedgable about what my anime loving juniors are talking about. Lol. And I'm one of those old guys who likes to surprise young people wiyh my eccentricity. Lol. You and Linfamy have given me the tools to do that lol

    Reply

  35. You've done so much already, I hate to ask for more, but is there any chance you'll be diving into China as well?You've done an excellent series with your research and editing on Japan. But of course we always want more. ❤ Thanks for the great work!

    Reply

  42. few weeks ago i wanted to know more about yoshitsune and i came across this video. instead of watching it i decided to watch the entire series to get the full context. it was so worth it. I'll definitely stick around for more

    Reply

  44. The quality of this video is absurd. It deserves way more views, the whole channel does. I would have liked a little excerpt on how the Genpei War heroes influenced art and culture in Japan. In particular in kabuki and nô theatre but I'm really splitting hair here ^^

    Thanks for the upload !

    Reply

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