Hōgen Era

The Hōgen Era (1156–1159) was a transitional period in which the Taira clan rose to prominence through the Hōgen Disturbance and warrior power shifted to the center of politics.

Smiths and Characteristics of Swords

Among the smiths of the late Heian period, Naminohira Yukiyasu of Satsuma and others are well known. Swords of this period show the transition from the elegance of the late Heian period to the practical forms of the early Kamakura period.

Historical Background

The Hōgen Disturbance (1156) was a political upheaval in which the court split between the faction of Emperor Go-Shirakawa and the faction of Retired Emperor Sutoku over the succession to the throne and the rivalry among the regent houses. Because warrior power was used to resolve it, Jien argues in the Gukanshō that this disturbance marked the beginning of the "Age of the Warriors."