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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
31 events
Chōwa 5 – Manju 4 (1016–1027)
In the early eleventh century, under Fujiwara no Michinaga and his son Yorimichi, the regent-politics system reached its zenith. While aristocratic culture flourished, warriors were beginning to rise in the provinces—a period coinciding with the technological transition from the earlier warabite-tō to the curved tachi that would become the iconic Japanese sword. The end of regent politics marked the historical turning point that led to insei rule and ultimately to warrior government.
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1028–1031 (Chōgen 1–4)
From 1028 to 1031 (Chōgen 1–4), Taira no Tadatsune, a powerful figure in the three Bōsō provinces (Kazusa, Shimōsa, and Awa), rose up against provincial governor rule. The first court commander, Taira no Naokata, failed to suppress him over three years; when Minamoto no Yorinobu, governor of Kai, took command, Tadatsune surrendered without a fight. The rebellion's resolution became the starting point for Kawachi Genji expansion into eastern Japan and the rise of the warrior class.
April 28, 866 (Jōgan 8, intercalary 3rd month, 10th day)
In 866, the burning of the Ōten Gate in Heian-kyō led to the downfall and exile of Major Counselor Tomo no Yoshio. Regent Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's handling of the affair secured his position as the first subject outside the imperial family to serve as regent, marking a decisive step in the Fujiwara clan's rise to dominance over rival court families.
November 9, 1180 (20th day, 10th month, Jishō 4)
In the 10th month of Jishō 4 (1180), at the Fuji River in Suruga Province, the eastern warrior coalition under Minamoto no Yoritomo routed the pursuing Taira force led by Taira no Koremori. The Taira army's legendary flight at the sound of startled waterbirds masked the real significance: the rapid consolidation of Kantō warriors behind Yoritomo, establishing the foundation of what would become the Kamakura shogunate.
23rd day of the 8th month, Jishō 4 (1180)
On the 23rd day of the 8th month of Jishō 4 (1180), Minamoto no Yoritomo, having just raised his banner in Izu, suffered a crushing defeat at Ishibashiyama in Sagami Province against the far larger Taira-aligned army of Ōba Kagechika. Yoritomo narrowly escaped with his life to Awa Province, rallied the warriors of the eastern provinces, and entered Kamakura in the 10th month of that year. This defeat — said to be the only one of his career — proved the turning point toward the founding of the Kamakura shogunate.
5th month, Jishō 4 (1180) – 3rd month, Juei 4 (1185)
A civil war fought by the Minamoto and Taira across Japan from Jishō 4 (1180) to Juei 4 (1185). This five-year war marked a fundamental turning point in the history of the Japanese sword. The tachi style, completed in the late Heian period, was put into actual combat. It is a campaign deeply engraved in later literature and performing arts, including Yoshitsune's stratagems, Taira no Tomomori's loyalty, and the fate of the Three Sacred Treasures.
4th month, 9th day – 5th month, 26th day, Jishō 4 (1180)
The 1180 attempt by Prince Mochihito, a son of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and Minamoto no Yorimasa to overthrow the Taira. The plot was discovered, and after fleeing to Onjō-ji both leaders were killed following the bridge battle at Uji. The uprising failed, but his edict spurred Minamoto risings elsewhere.
January 15, 1181 (Jishō 4, 12th month, 28th day)
On the 28th day of the 12th month of Jishō 4 (1180), Taira forces under Taira no Shigehira, sent by Taira no Kiyomori, attacked Nara, and most of the main halls of Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji were destroyed by fire. The article covers the background, the advance headquartered at Hannya-ji, the damage to the Great Buddha Hall, the differing casualty figures, and the reconstruction led by Chōgen.
c. 1180–1192 CE (Jishō 4 – Kenkyū 3)
From the Jishō–Juei War (1180–1185) through the Bunji and Kenkyū eras (1185–1199), the cloistered-rule system dominated by the court nobility collapsed, and the warrior government led by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Kamakura shogunate, reshaped Japan's system of rule.
1083–1087 (Eihō 3 – Kanji 1)
The contest for hegemony in Mutsu and Dewa, which broke out from Eihō 3 to Kanji 1 (1083–1087). Minamoto no Yoshiie intervened in the internal strife of the Kiyohara clan, brought down the Kanazawa Stockade, and established hegemony. Alongside the Earlier Nine Years' War as one of the two great Tōhoku wars, it raised the martial prestige of the Minamoto clan.
17th day of the 10th month, Bunji 1 (1185)
In the 10th month of Bunji 1 (1185), Tosabō Shōshun, acting on Minamoto no Yoritomo's orders, launched a night raid on Minamoto no Yoshitsune's residence at Horikawa in Kyoto, but Yoshitsune personally fought back and repelled the attack. The incident made the rift between the half-brothers irrevocable; Yoshitsune obtained an imperial edict to subjugate Yoritomo but failed to raise an army, fled to Ōshū, and met his tragic end at Koromogawa in 1189.
30th day of the intercalary 4th month, Bunji 5 (1189)
On the intercalary 30th day of the 4th month of Bunji 5 (1189), Minamoto no Yoshitsune, cornered by the pursuit forces of his elder brother Minamoto no Yoritomo, killed his wife and children at Koromogawa no Tachi in Hiraizumi, Ōshū, then took his own life. He was thirty-one years old. The tragic end of the hero who destroyed the Heike at Dannoura gave birth to the cultural concept of hōgan-biiki (sympathy for the underdog), and together with the legends of famous swords said to be associated with Yoshitsune, continues to be passed down to the present day.
935–941 CE (Jōhei 5 – Tengyō 4)
Two simultaneous uprisings between 935 and 941 — Taira no Masakado's revolt in the Kantō and Fujiwara no Sumitomo's maritime rebellion in the Seto Inland Sea — marking the collapse of the ritsuryō state and the rise of the warrior class.
935–940 (Jōhei 5 – Tengyō 3)
An armed rebellion in the Kantō region during the Jōhei and Tengyō eras (935–940). Taira no Masakado seized the eight provinces of Bandō, proclaimed himself "New Emperor" (Shinnō) and defied the imperial court. The allied forces of Fujiwara no Hidesato and Taira no Sadamori killed Masakado and suppressed the rebellion, but the uprising became a historic turning point heralding the dawn of the age of the warriors.
797 (Enryaku 16): appointment as Sei'i Taishogun; 801–802 (Enryaku 20–21): decisive campaign
In 797 (Enryaku 16), Sakanoue no Tamuramaro was appointed Sei'i Taishogun (Shogun). Leading the third Emishi campaign in 801–802, he forced the submission of the Emishi chieftain Aterui and established Isawa Castle, relocating the military headquarters northward. Tamuramaro's combination of military force and conciliation consolidated central government control over northeastern Japan and established the historical precedent for the title of "Sei'i Taishogun"—a designation later inherited by Minamoto no Yoritomo, Ashikaga Takauji, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, becoming the defining title of samurai governance in Japan.
19 January–5 February 1160 (Heiji 1/12/9–12/26)
The 12th month of Heiji 1 (1159; January–February 1160 in the Western calendar): the second armed coup after the Hōgen Rebellion. Fujiwara no Nobuyori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo confined Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, but Taira no Kiyomori rapidly returned to the capital and suppressed them. Yoshitomo was killed in defeat, and the young Yoritomo was exiled to Izu. This civil war sealed Kiyomori's ascendancy and the fall of the Minamoto.
March 4, 1184 (Juei 3/1/20)
A civil war in the 1st month of Juei 3 (1184), in which Minamoto no Yoshinaka (Kiso Yoshinaka) clashed with Minamoto no Yoritomo's generals Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori. Yoshinaka deployed his forces along the Uji River as a natural line of defense, but after the famous "senjin arasoi" (the race to be first across) between Kajiwara Kagesue and Sasaki Takatsuna, Yoritomo's army broke through. Yoshinaka was killed at Awazu in Ōmi, and a decisive step toward the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate was marked.
4 March 1184 (Juei 3/1/20)
In the 1st month of Juei 3 (1184), Minamoto no Yoshinaka (Kiso Yoshinaka) was defeated by the forces of Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Noriyori, who acted on Minamoto no Yoritomo's orders, and was killed in the pine grove of Awazu in Ōmi Province (present-day Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture). His parting from Tomoe Gozen and his final moments, when his horse became trapped in a deep paddy field on the way to the pine grove and he was felled by an arrow, are told as a highlight of the war tale The Tale of the Heike. Together with Yoshinaka and Tomoe Gozen as symbols of "loyalty and love," they remain deeply engraved in the Japanese memory.
November 17, 1183 (Juei 2, intercalary 10th month, 1st day)
A naval battle fought at Mizushima in Bitchū Province in the intercalary 10th month of Juei 2 (1183), in which the punitive force of Minamoto no Yoshinaka clashed with the Taira navy. An annular solar eclipse occurred during the battle, and the Taira side, said to have been versed in calendrical science, overwhelmed the unsettled Genji forces to win a decisive victory.
June 2, 1183 (11th day, 5th month, Juei 2)
In the 5th month of Juei 2 (1183), Minamoto no Yoshinaka (Kiso Yoshinaka) annihilated the Taira army under Taira no Koremori at Kurikara Pass on the border of Etchū and Kaga provinces. Famous for the legendary 'fire-ox stratagem,' the victory opened Yoshinaka's path to Kyoto and marked a turning point in the Genpei War.
28th day of the 7th month, Juei 2 (1183, old calendar)
On the 28th day of the 7th month of Juei 2 (1183), three days after the Taira left the capital, Kiso Yoshinaka entered Kyoto together with Minamoto no Yukiie. The article follows his road from the uprising to the victory at Kurikara Pass, the order to destroy the Taira given at Renge-ō-in, the ranking of merit, and the breakdown of order and of relations with Go-Shirakawa that followed.
25th day of the 7th month, Juei 2 (1183, old calendar)
On the 25th day of the 7th month of Juei 2 (1183), with the forces of Kiso Yoshinaka and Minamoto no Yukiie closing in, Taira no Munemori set fire to Rokuhara and left Kyoto with Emperor Antoku and the Three Sacred Treasures. The article follows the flight, Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa's refusal to join it, the accession of Emperor Go-Toba, and the loss of the sacred sword at Dan-no-ura.
May 1019 (Kannin 3/3/28 to the 4th month)
In Kannin 3 (1019), pirate bands of Jurchen (Nüzhen) people known as the "Toi" suddenly raided Tsushima, Iki, and northern Kyushu. While the imperial court was slow to respond, Fujiwara no Takaie, the acting governor-general of Dazaifu (Dazai no Gon no Sotsu), and others succeeded in driving them off. A recorded foreign invasion 250 years before the Mongol invasions, it is an important event that became an impetus for the rise of the warrior class.
Discovered on the 1st day of the 6th month of Angen 3 (1177); those implicated were punished from the 6th through the 7th month of the same year
In 1177, close attendants of the retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa gathered at a mountain villa in Shishigatani, Higashiyama, Kyoto, to plot the overthrow of the Taira clan. The plot was betrayed by Tada Yukitsuna and collapsed before it could be carried out; its leaders were executed or exiled, and the rift between Taira no Kiyomori and Go-Shirakawa became irreparable.