Taira no Tadanori

Taira no Tadanori was a son of Taira no Tadamori and a younger half-brother of Taira no Kiyomori. He was born in 1144 (Tenyō 1) and is said to have died on the seventh day of the second month of 1184 (Juei 3), at the age of 41. His mother is said to have been a daughter of Fujiwara no Tameyoshi, though another account names a daughter of Yoshimine no Takanari.

Official Career and Campaigns

He advanced in rank during the Jishō era, and by 1180 (Jishō 4) he held the rank of Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade and the post of Satsuma no kami. He took part in the Battle of Fujikawa and the Battle of Kurikara Pass.

The Fall from the Capital and the Scroll of Poems

After the Taira fled the capital, Tadanori is said to have turned back toward Kyoto and entrusted a scroll of his poems to Fujiwara no Toshinari. This is the story of the chapter "Tadanori's Departure from the Capital" (Tadanori Miyakoochi) in Volume 7 of the Heike Monogatari.

Death at Ichi-no-tani

In 1184 (Juei 3), at the Battle of Ichi-no-tani, he was killed by Okabe Tadazumi of the Minamoto side (called Okabe Rokuya in the Heike Monogatari). A poem tied to his quiver was titled "Lodging on a Journey, Flowers." The Noh play "Tadanori" takes up the scene in which the poem on the quiver reveals that the man slain was Tadanori. Versions of the Heike Monogatari differ in their depiction.

Reputation as a Poet

The Senzai Wakashū, an imperial anthology, includes just one poem by Tadanori, attributed to an anonymous author, because Toshinari avoided naming Tadanori, who had become an enemy of the court. Later imperial anthologies contain eleven of his poems, and from the Shin-Chokusenshū onward he appears under the name "Satsuma no kami Tadanori."