Catalog
Tamamo-no-Mae, the nine-tailed fox of Japanese legend, ends at the Sesshō-seki, the Killing Stone at Nasu, after a path through Yin Xu in China and Emperor Konoe's court in Kyoto. The route follows the fox from Daji at the Shang court to the hunt on the Nasu plain, the poison stone and its scattered fragments. The legend names few exact places, so most pins are approximate.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune's life runs from Kurama temple in Kyoto through the Genpei War battles of Ichi-no-Tani in Kobe, Yashima in Takamatsu and Dan-no-ura near Shimonoseki, to his last stand at Takadachi in Hiraizumi. The route follows the famous general from a boy among the monks to a hero turned out by his own brother at Koshigoe. Battle sites are approximate; the temple, the Koshigoe temple and the Hiraizumi chapel can be visited.
Between 1180 and 1185 Japan's two great warrior clans, Taira and Minamoto, fought over the realm, and the war ended with a child emperor, a fleet and the tide at Dan-no-ura. It was the war that led to the first shogun. This route visits seven battlefield sites in date order, from the bridge at Uji to the Kanmon Straits. Documented events are kept apart from the Heike Monogatari's legends, which the text attributes to the tale. Most battle areas are approximate.