Editing Minamoto no Yorimasa

{{Short description|12th-century Japanese poet and military commander}}
{{family name hatnote|Minamoto|lang=Japanese}}
{{Infobox writer
| image            = Minamoto no Yorimasa2.jpg
| birth_date       = {{Birth year|1106}}
| native_name      = 源 頼政
| native_name_lang = ja
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1180|6|20|1106|df=y}}
}}
[[Image:Minamoto no Yorimasa.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Minamoto no Yorimasa by [[Kikuchi Yosai]]]]

'''{{nihongo|Minamoto no Yorimasa|源 頼政||{{IPA|ja|mʲi.na.mo.to no (<nowiki>|</nowiki>) jo.ɾʲiꜜ.ma.sa}},<ref name=meikai>{{cite book|script-title=ja:新明解日本語アクセント辞典|edition=2nd|editor-last=Kindaichi|editor-first=Haruhiko|editor-link=Haruhiko Kindaichi|editor-last2=Akinaga|editor-first2=Kazue|publisher=[[Sanseidō]]|date=10 March 2025|lang=ja}}</ref> 1106 – 20 June 1180}}''' was a Japanese poet, [[Kuge|aristocrat]] and [[samurai]] lord. His poetry appeared in various [[Anthology|anthologies]]. He served eight different emperors in his long career, holding posts such as ''hyōgo no kami'' (head of the arsenal). As a general, he led the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] armies at the beginning of the [[Genpei War]]. Even in later generations, the common name {{nihongo|'''Genzanmi'''|源三位||{{IPA|ja|ɡen.dzaꜜm.mʲi|}}<ref name=meikai/>}} was passed down (Yorimasa was not the only person who was called “Genzanmi”, in the same period). Also, like his father, he used the surname “Baba” and was also called “Baba no Yorimasa.”

== Biography ==
In the clashes between the Minamoto and [[Taira]] clans that had gone on for decades, Yorimasa had tried to stay out of politics, and avoided taking sides. He did participate in the [[Hōgen rebellion]] in 1156. For a time, he was even friends with [[Taira no Kiyomori]]. During the [[Heiji rebellion]] of 1160, he leaned just enough in favor of the Taira that it allowed them to overthrow the Minamoto. However, by the time he officially retired from military service in Kiyomori's army in 1179, Yorimasa had changed his mind about opposing his own clan. He entered the Buddhist priesthood and in May 1180, he sent out an appeal to other Minamoto leaders, and to temples and monasteries that Kiyomori had offended.<ref name=Sansom>{{Cite book |last=Sansom |first=George |title=A History of Japan to 1334 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1958 |ISBN=0804705232 |pages=277–279}}</ref>

In the following Genpei War, which began with the [[Battle of Uji (1180)|Battle of Uji]] in 1180, Yorimasa led Minamoto forces, along with [[sohei|warrior monks]] from [[Miidera]], in defending the [[Byōdō-in]] temple. Despite the monks' having torn up the planks of the bridge leading to the temple, the Taira managed to break through their defenses, and take the temple. After suffering this defeat at Uji, he committed ritual suicide at Byōdō-in.<ref name=Sansom/> Minamoto no Yorimasa's suicide by [[seppuku]] may be the earliest recorded instance of a samurai's suicide in the face of defeat,<ref name=turn77>{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephan R. |title= The Samurai: A Military History |publisher= MacMillan Publishing Co. |place= New York |year= 1977| page= 47}}</ref> although [[Minamoto no Tametomo]], who died in 1170, ten years before Yorimasa, may hold this distinction. He told [[Minamoto no Yukiie]] to give the other members of the Minamoto clan [[Prince Mochihito]]’s orders.

According to legend, after his death a retainer took Yorimasa's head to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Taira. He then fastened it to a rock and threw it into the [[Uji River]] so it could not be found.<ref name=turn77/>

== Family ==
Yorimasa had several children including a daughter, poet [[Nijōin no Sanuki]], and sons, samurai lords [[Minamoto no Nakatsuna]] and [[Minamoto no Kanetsuna]]. His cousin was [[Minamoto no Mitsuyuki]] a poet who was an advisor for [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]].

==Poetry==
[[File:Nijo-in no toki… 二条院の時 (BM 2008,3037.18313 1).jpg|thumb|Woodblock triptych print, oban tate-e. The general Minamoto no Yorimasa standing holding his bow (right), his wife Ayame-no-mae seated (centre) in a robe decorated with a Genji motif, and the warrior Ii no Hayata also seated (left), all watching a plover fly across a crescent moon (left).)]]

In a famous episode in the [[Taiheiki]]:

<blockquote><poem>''Samidare ni sawabe no makomo mizu koete/izure ayame to hikizo wazurau''

The fifth-month rains swamp the water-oats along the shore,
making it hard to tell irises from one another and pull
just one</poem></blockquote>

"So, Yorimasa not only added to his reputation as an archer by shooting down a [[nue]]; he also proved himself a distinguished poet by winning with a single poem Lady Ayame, whom he had adored for years and months."<ref name=Sato>{{Cite book |last=Sato |author-link=Hiroaki Sato (translator) |first=Hiroaki |title=Legends of the Samurai |publisher=Overlook Duckworth |year=1995 |ISBN=9781590207307 |pages=188–190}}</ref>

Yorimasa's [[death poem]] was:

<blockquote><poem>{{nihongo2|埋もれ木の/花咲くことも/なかりしに/身のなる果てぞ/悲しかりける}}
''umoregi no/hana saku koto mo/nakarishi ni/mi no naru hate zo/kanashikarikeru''

Like a fossil tree
From which we gather no flowers
Sad has been my life
Fated no fruit to produce<ref name=Turnbull2>{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Stephen |title=The Samurai Sourcebook |publisher=Cassell & Co. |year=1998 |ISBN=1854095234 |page=200,307–308}}</ref></poem></blockquote>

==The slaying of the Nue==

{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Yoshitoshi Killing of a Nue.jpg
 | width1 = 
 | alt1 = Yorimasa
 | caption1 = From the [[Shinkei Sanjūrokkaisen]]: ''Ino Hayata and the Nue'' (猪早太と鵺) by [[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi]]

 | image2 = Gensani Yorimasa and Ino Hayata.jpg
 | width2 = 
 | alt2 = Yorimasa Hayata
 | caption2  = In the Tale of the Heike, it is said that Ino Hayata accompanied Minamoto no Yorimasa on his expedition to exterminate the Nue and put an end to the Nue that Yorimasa had shot down.
 | footer = 
}}

The ''[[Heike Monogatari]]'' and the ''[[Settsu Meisho Zue]]'' from the [[Settsu Province]], tell the following tale of the killing of the Nue:

In the closing years of the [[Heian period]], at the place where the [[Emperor of Japan|emperor]] ([[Emperor Konoe]]) lived, the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace#Seiry.C5.8D-den|Seiryō-den]], there appeared a cloud of black smoke along with an eerie resounding crying voice, making Emperor Nijō quite afraid. Subsequently, the emperor fell into illness, and neither medicine nor prayers had any effect.

A close associate remembered [[Minamoto no Yoshiie]] using an arrow to put a stop to the mystery case of some bird's cry, and he gave the order to a master of arrows, Minamoto no Yorimasa, to slay the monster.

One night, Yorimasa went out to slay the monster with his servant [[Ino Hayata]] (written as 猪早太 or 井早太<ref>{{Cite book|author=梶原正昭・山下宏明校注|title=平家物語 上|year=1991|publisher=岩波書店|series=新日本古典文学大系|isbn=978-4-00-240044-0|pages=256頁}}</ref>), and an arrow made from an arrowhead he had inherited from his ancestor [[Minamoto no Yorimitsu]] and the tailfeathers of a mountain bird. An uncanny black smoke started to cover the Seiryō-den. Yorimasa shot his arrow into it, there was a shriek, and a nue fell down around the northern parts of [[Nijō Castle]]. Instantly Ino Hayata seized it and finished it off.<ref name="koube"/><ref name="tada">{{Cite book|first=克己|last=多田|title=幻想世界の住人たち IV 日本編|year=1990|publisher=新紀元社|series=Truth in fantasy|isbn=978-4-915146-44-2|pages=319–323頁}}</ref>

In the skies above the imperial court, two or three cries of the [[common cuckoo]] could be heard, and it is thus said that peace had returned.<ref name="koube">{{Cite book|author=田辺眞人|title=神戸の伝説|year=1998|publisher=神戸新聞総合出版センター|isbn=978-4-87521-076-4|pages=88–89頁}}</ref> After this, the emperor's health instantly recovered,<ref name="walker">{{Cite book|author=村上健司|title=妖怪ウォーカー|year=2002|publisher=角川書店|series=Kwai books|isbn=978-4-04-883760-6|pages=64–76頁}}</ref> and Yorimasa was given the sword {{illm|Shishiō|ja|獅子王 (刀)}} as a reward.

== See also ==
* [[Seiwa Genji]]
* [[Hama Yumi]]
* [[Nue]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minamoto no, Yorimasa}}
[[Category:Minamoto clan]]
[[Category:Suicides by seppuku]]
[[Category:1106 births]]
[[Category:1180 deaths]]
[[Category:People of Heian-period Japan]]
[[Category:Buddhist clergy of Heian-period Japan]]
[[Category:12th-century Japanese poets]]
[[Category:Deified Japanese men]]
[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[Category:People of the Genpei War]]