Minamoto no Yoshitsune: From Kurama to Hiraizumi

The story starts in the wilderness at the base of Mount Kurama, in the far north of Kyoto. Aged 10, the boy known as Ushiwakamaru was placed in the care of the monks of Kurama temple, where he was taught swordsmanship and strategy. Not wanting to become a monk, he eventually left. The temple has its own cable car, and tengu and other mountain spirits are still said to live in the area.

Visitor guidance: Kurama-dera has its own cable car line; the temple sits in secluded forest, so wear sturdy shoes.

On 20 March 1184 the Taira held a fortress at Suma, west of today's Kobe, on a narrow strip of shore squeezed between mountains and sea. Yoshitsune split his army: his brother Noriyori attacked from the east, while Yoshitsune himself led no more than a hundred horsemen down from the mountain ridge to the north. The Taira were thrown into confusion. Benkei fought at his side, and the death of the young Taira warrior Atsumori here became a famous passage in the Heike Monogatari.

Location precision: The accounts place the battle at Suma, west of Kobe, without a single surveyed spot; the pin marks the Ichinotani area.

In March 1185 the Taira retreated to a fortress at Yashima, off the coast of Shikoku. Despite high winds, Yoshitsune left with only five of 200 boats and about 150 men, then advanced overland by night. He lit bonfires behind the Taira, who thought a large army was coming, abandoned their palace and took to their ships. In the Heike Monogatari, a lady on a Taira boat set a fan on a pole, and Nasu no Yoichi knocked it off with one shot.

Location precision: The sources name Yashima in today's Takamatsu but no exact field of battle; the pin marks the Yashima area.

One month later the war ended at sea in the Kanmon Straits, off the southern tip of Honshū. The Minamoto fleet under Yoshitsune faced the Taira fleet. The morning rip tide favoured the Taira but turned against them in the afternoon. The young Emperor Antoku was among those who died. Legend tells of Yoshitsune's "eight boat jump" to escape Noritsune's attempt at dragging him into the sea, though it is more likely he leaped just one boat. The date is given as 25 April 1185, or 24 March by Shimonoseki's own account.

Location precision: The battle was fought on open water in the strait; the pin marks Dannoura on the Shimonoseki shore.

Victory should have meant a hero's welcome. Yoshitsune reached Koshigoe with the captured Taira no Munemori and his son Kiyomune, but his brother Yoritomo forbade him to enter Kamakura. He waited about 20 days at Manpuku-ji, then dictated to Benkei the letter to Yoritomo that became famous as the Koshigoe Letter. He later gave up and left. The prisoners were taken away and paraded on Kamakura's main street.

The last stop is a hill above the Kitakami River in Hiraizumi, site of the Koromogawa Palace. Under pressure from Yoritomo, Yoshitsune was betrayed there in 1189. His retainers were defeated, including Benkei in a famous "standing death", and Yoshitsune was forced to commit seppuku. In 1683 Date Tsunamura built a memorial chapel on the site, and the poet Matsuo Basho visited in 1689. Takadachi Gikeidō still stands there today.

Visitor guidance: Takadachi Gikeidō is a small chapel on the hill, some 500 meters east-southeast of Chūson-ji.