Minamoto no Yorimasa

The Hero of the Nue Hunt

In the first year of Chōji (1104), Minamoto no Yorimasa was born as a warrior particularly renowned for his archery skills within the Minamoto clan, a family known for generations as masters of the bow.

During the reign of Emperor Konoe, strange voices echoed nightly through the imperial palace, and the emperor fell gravely ill.

The court attributed these disturbances to a mysterious monster—the nue, with a monkey's head, a tanuki's body, a serpent's tail, and tiger's limbs—and commanded Yorimasa to vanquish it.

Yorimasa strung his bow and waited silently in the palace at night.

Past the Hour of the Ox (around two in the morning), a dreadful cry echoed from within a black cloud.

Yorimasa released an arrow toward the cloud and brought down the nue.

Through this deed, Yorimasa earned the name "Slayer of the Nue" and the legend of "Yorimasa's Bow" was born.

Poet and Warrior

Yorimasa was not only a master archer but also an accomplished poet of the late Heian period, celebrated alongside Fujiwara no Toshinari and Saigyō.

His poems were included in imperial poetry anthologies, and he was respected as an exemplar of "harmony of martial and literary arts," excelling equally in both.

Yorimasa's philosophy of the sword was rooted in this same spirit of harmony; he viewed the blade not merely as a weapon but as a path to refine the spirit.

Even in old age, Yorimasa never ceased to practice swordsmanship, cherishing both bow and blade as "the two souls of the warrior."

Prince Mochihito's Edict and Rising

In the fifth month of the fourth year of Jishō (1180), at the advanced age of seventy-seven, Yorimasa took up arms to support Prince Mochihito's call to overthrow the Taira.

This decision arose from accumulated resentment at the Taira's long tyranny and from Yorimasa's pride as head of the Minamoto clan.

Yorimasa's uprising soon ended in defeat at the Battle of Uji, where he withdrew to Byōdō-in and took his own life.

Yet Prince Mochihito's edict spread throughout the Minamoto clans nationwide, becoming the spark for anti-Taira uprisings everywhere, beginning with Minamoto no Yoritomo's uprising that same year.

Final Days at Byōdō-in and the Sword

After his defeat at the Uji River, Yorimasa withdrew to the Phoenix Hall of Byōdō-in and took his own life.

The death poem he composed—"Like a buried log with blossoms that never bloomed, my life ends thus, and that is what grieves me so"—has been transmitted to later ages as a masterful expression of an old warrior's noble regret and dignity in death unrewarded.

The sword Yorimasa used in his final act was revered as the soul of the warrior, and its tradition is preserved at Byōdō-in to this day.

His magnificent death at seventy-seven symbolizes Yorimasa's way of life—fulfilling the warrior's duty even in advanced age.

Master of Bow and Sword

Though Yorimasa is celebrated as a master archer, he was equally skilled in the use of the sword.

The tachi forged by master smiths of the late Heian period, particularly those of Ko-Bizen, were esteemed works favored by noble warriors like Yorimasa.

Whether drawing his bow or unsheathing the long tachi at his waist as a mounted warrior, Yorimasa embodied the aesthetic ideal of the Heian warrior.

Legacy of Legend

The legend of the nue's slaying profoundly influenced later literature and the performing arts.

The noh play "Nue" and countless paintings, sculptures, and sword decorations incorporated the nue motif, and Yorimasa's bow and blade came to be venerated as possessing spiritual power to vanquish the supernatural.

Numerous swords bearing nue engravings were forged in later ages, and Yorimasa's legend continues to influence the decorative traditions of Japanese blades.