The Flickr Yoritomo Image Generatr

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Leica DG Summilux 15mm
BLOG JPN : iLOG

Leica DG Summilux 15mm
BLOG JPN : iLOG

Leica DG Summilux 15mm
BLOG JPN : iLOG

Leica DG Summilux 15mm
BLOG JPN : iLOG

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first Shogun of Japan, a class of military generalissimo that usurped power from the emperors of Japan (leaving them only as figureheads), and bringing Japan into the feudal period.

Only nine years old when Hōgen Rebellion cost him the life of his grandfather, and only 13 when the Heiji Rebellion cost him the life of his father, Yoritomo was in 1156 the young head of the Minamoto clan, a powerful family related to the emperor but now nearly exterminated. The victorious Taira forces (also related to the emperor) asked for Yoritomo's execution as well, but were eventually dissuaded and satisfied themselves with Yoritomo's exile to the North. Minamoto no Yoritomo eventually married into the Hōjō clan (ironically an offshoot family of the Taira) and boded his time until yet another rebellion broke out in 1180, when politics in Kyoto led to Prince Mochihito calling for all of the Minamoto clan to rise up against the Taira. Yoritomo responded by raising his banners, but as the other clans were wary of the Taira, he only managed to raise a force of 300. Despite hard fighting at the Battle of Ishibashiyama, Yoritomo's forces were routed and he was forced to hide in a large ginkgo tree near Kamakura until his allies found him and smuggled him to safety.

The sputtering rebellion continued, until in 1183 Yoritomo's cousin Minamoto no Yoshinaka won the decisive Battle of Kurikara, seizing Kyoto. The Taira retreated South with the child Emperor Antoku. Yoshinaka and Yoritomo then had a falling out, and in 1184 Yoritomo defeated Yoshinaka at Uji and Awazu, killing Yoshinaka in the latter battle and seizing Kyoto and Emperor Go-Shirakawa, Reunified, the Minamoto Clan returned to the Taira, defeating them at Ichi-no-Tani, Yashima, and finally Dan-no-ura, where the Minamoto fleet finally and decisively crushed the Taira fleet, sending Emperor Antoku and most of the Taira family to the bottom of the Inland Sea.

With this decisive victory, in 1185 Emperor Go-Shirakawa granted Minamoto no Yoritomo the right to control the commissariat tax (the contribution of rice from the country) and the ability to appoint stewards and constables to the court. With that, the emperor effectively handed control of all Japan to Yoritomo, who then took the title of Shogun (generalissimo) and effectively reduced the emperor to a figurehead, a relationship that would last (with one exception) until the Meiji Restoration 682 years later. As Japan's first Shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo returned to Kamakura, making it the capital of what would become known as the Kamakura Shogunate, which would last until 1333.

However the Minamoto family's power would be nowhere as long. Soon after Minamoto no Yoritomo's death in 1199, his wife's family under Hōjō Tokimasa, seized control from of the shogunate from Yoritomo's son Minamoto no Yoriie, and replaced (then killed) Yoriie with a more pliant younger brother. Thereafter, the Hōjō clan ruled Japan by appointing themselves Shikken (reagent) to the adolescent shoguns (strangely they all seemed to die off before reaching adulthood).
Kamakura, Japan

Minamoto no Yoritomo was only nine years old when Hōgen Rebellion cost him the life of his grandfather, and only 13 when the Heiji Rebellion cost him the life of his father, making him in 1156 the young head of the Minamoto clan, a powerful family related to the emperor but now nearly exterminated. The victorious Taira forces (also related to the emperor) asked for Yoritomo's execution as well, but were eventually dissuaded and satisfied themselves with Yoritomo's exile to the North. Minamoto no Yoritomo eventually married into the Hōjō clan (ironically an offshoot family of the Taira) and boded his time until yet another rebellion broke out in 1180, when politics in Kyoto led to Prince Mochihito calling for all of the Minamoto clan to rise up against the Taira. Yoritomo responded by raising his banners, but as the other clans were wary of the Taira, he only managed to raise a force of 300. Despite hard fighting at the Battle of Ishibashiyama, Yoritomo's forces were routed and he was forced to hide in a large ginkgo tree near Kamakura until his allies found him and smuggled him to safety.

The sputtering rebellion continued, until in 1183 Minamoto no Yoshinaka won the decisive Battle of Kurikara, seizing Kyoto. The Taira retreated South with the child Emperor
Antoku. Yoshinaka and Yoritomo had a falling out, and in 1184 Yoritomo defeated Yoshinaka at Uji and Awazu, killing Yoshinaka in the latter battle and seizing Kyoto and Emperor Go-Shirakawa, Reunified, the Minamoto Clan returned to the Taira, defeating them at Ichi-no-Tani, Yashima, and finally Dan-no-ura, where the Minamoto fleet finally and decisively crushed the Taira fleet, sending Emperor Antoku and most of the Taira family to the bottom of the Inland Sea.

With this decisive victory, in 1185 Emperor Go-Shirakawa granted Minamoto no Yoritomo the right to control the commissariat tax (the contribution of rice from the country) and the ability to appoint stewards and constables to the court. With that, the emperor effectively handed control of all Japan to Yoritomo, who then took the title of Shogun (generalissimo) and effectively reduced the emperor to a figurehead, a relationship that would last (with one exception) until the Meiji Restoration 682 years later. As Japan's first Shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo returned to Kamakura, making it the capital of what would become known as the Kamakura Shogunate.

The Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine was built in 1063 and moved to its present location in 1191, has come to dominate the center of Kamakura, both culturally and geographically. The massive, 1.8 km torii-linked sandō (shrine pathway) known as Wakamiya Ōji links the temple to the beaches of Kamakura. The shrine also has two Genpei Ponds, one for the Minamoto Clan and the other for their defeated Taira enemies. The Minamoto Pond has three islands and white lotuses, while the Taira Pond has four islands (four being a symbol of death) and red lotuses.

Finally, next to the shrine itself was a giant ginkgo tree, the same one that Minamoto no Yoritomo hid in after being defeated at Ishibashiyama. According to legend, Yoritomo's son and the third shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo was assassinated by his nephew Kugyō, who hid behind the same large gingko tree. Kugyō was then executed for his actions.
It finally died of rot in 2010, though its saplings are growing.
Kamakura, Japan