The Battle of Shinohara
6th month, 1st day, Juei 2 (1183)
Shinohara, Kaga Province (present-day Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture)
- Date
- 6th month, 1st day, Juei 2 (1183)
- Location
- Shinohara, Kaga Province (present-day Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture)
- Result
- Victory for Kiso Yoshinaka's army. The Taira army was routed and lost most of its strength.
Forces
Kiso Yoshinaka's army
The Taira army
About 4 min read
Overview
On the 1st day of the 6th month of Juei 2 (June 22, 1183), Kiso Yoshinaka's army defeated the Taira army at Shinohara in Kaga Province. Yoshinaka had defeated the punitive army led by Taira no Koremori at Kurikara Pass in the 5th month of Juei 2, and the Battle of Shinohara was the pursuit that followed.
Background
The Taira army, beaten at Kurikara Pass, withdrew south along the Hokurikudō under Koremori and encamped at Shinohara in Kaga Province. Yoshinaka's army caught up with it there.
Strength and Course of the Battle
According to the Gyokuyō, the Taira army numbered about 40,000 horsemen and Yoshinaka's about 5,000. The entry for the 5th day of the 6th month in the same diary says that the Taira were defeated while the commanders-in-chief, Koremori and others, were quarreling with their samurai captains, that Taira no Tomonori was killed, and that the samurai captains Taira no Moritoshi, Fujiwara no Kageie and Fujiwara no Tadatsune fled without attendants.
Result
Yoshinaka's army won. The Taira army was routed and lost most of its strength.
The End of Saitō Sanemori
The veteran Saitō Sanemori fell in this battle. He is said to have been killed by Tezuka Mitsumori, a retainer of Yoshinaka. Sanemori had dyed his white hair black before going into battle, and tradition holds that when his head was washed the white hair appeared and he was identified. Sanemori is said to be the man who, when Yoshinaka's father Minamoto no Yoshikata was killed at the Battle of Ōkura, sent the infant Yoshinaka (Komaōmaru) away to safety in Kiso.
In Kaga City there are the Sanemori Mound, traditionally said to be where his body was buried, and the Head-Washing Pond, where his head is said to have been washed, and Tezukayama Park has been laid out as the site of the Shinohara battlefield. All of these are handed down as tradition.
Aftermath
Yoshinaka entered Echizen on the 10th day of the 6th month and Ōmi on the 13th, and after negotiating with Enryaku-ji entered the capital in the 7th month. Just before that, the Taira clan left the capital and fled west (the Taira flight from the capital).