The Genpei War: The Samurai War That Ended an Era

The Genpei War (1180-1185 CE) is one of the most important socio-political events in Japanese history. It brought an end to Japan’s Heian Era of classical antiquity and ushered in a new, feudalistic age in which Japan’s warrior families, known to us today as the samurai, began to take political control of the country. Beyond that, it left a massive cultural impact on the country’s society, with its colorful characters and dramatic events being immortalized in theater, literature, and artwork for centuries to come, with many of them remaining household names even today. This video is a long-form, documentary-style deep dive into this epic conflict, covering the historical lead-up, the war itself, and the half-dozen-or-so years of its immediate aftermath. I highly recommend watching it as the grand finale of my four-part series of videos on the history of the Heian Period!
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Prologue
0:49 Intro
3:44 ACT ONE: Taira no Kiyomori
11:21 Stormclouds
14:19 The Shishigatani Incident
17:24 Taira Takeover
21:10 Prince Mochihito’s Uprising
24:56 Capital Transfer
26:39 ACT TWO: Minamoto no Yoritomo
29:31 Yoritomo’s Rebellion
33:59 The Embarrassment at the Fuji River
38:15 Goodbye, Kiyomori
43:49 Hell on Earth
46:15 ACT THREE: Kiso Yoshinaka
51:37 Yoshinaka Triumphant
56:41 The Unraveling
59:32 ACT FOUR: Minamoto no Yoshitsune
1:02:56 Ichi no Tani
1:06:49 Yashima
1:10:30 Dan no Ura
1:16:32 Brothers’ War
1:25:26 Aftermath
1:28:52 Outro
Main Information Sources:
図説：平清盛 (樋口 州男・鈴木彰・錦昭江・野口華世)
源頼朝：東国を選んだ武家の貴公子（高橋 典幸）
京・鎌倉　ふたつの王権 (本郷 恵子)
武士の成長と院政（下向井龍彦）
歴史・文化ガイド：源義経の時代（奥富敬之）
平清盛：悪人か英雄か (Gakken Mook)
源平争乱：群雄ビジュアル百科（ポプラ社）
１日で読める平家物語（吉野敬介）
鎌倉幕府開幕：源頼朝（朝日カルチャーシリーズ）
図説：源平合戦人物伝（歴史群像シリーズ）
８００年の時を経て蘇る鴨長明「方丈記」時代の事件簿（Town Mook)
Intro Monologue stitched together from Tale of the Heike translations by Burton Watson, Royall Tyler, and A.L. Sadler
Music:
Dova Syndrome (dova-s.jp/) (Artists: Fuuka and Habane (風可＆葉羽), Yoshinori Tanaka (田中芳典), MAKOOTO, Koorogi (こおろぎ), lei, Maniira (マニーラ), Make a field Music, Hata Akira (秦暁), ilodolly, Itou Keisuke (伊藤ケイスケ))
Amacha Ongaku Kôbô (amachamusic.chagasi.com/index....)
Peritune (peritune.com)
Oto no Sono (oto-no-sono.com）
Intro/Outro beat produced by Buyuuden (me) using samples from “Tetegobashi” from Lone Wolf and Cub
Images from:
The National Diet Library Digital Collections (dl.ndl.go.jp/)
The Waseda University Library (www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotensek...)
The Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive (rmda.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/)
The British Museum (www.britishmuseum.org)
Meisei University (ehon-emaki.meisei-u.ac.jp/)
The Tokyo Metropolitan Library (archive.library.metro.tokyo.l...)
Ritsumeikan University (www.dh-jac.net/)
Touken World (www.touken-world.jp)
The Hayashibara Museum of Art’s Heike Monogatari Picture Scroll
The Umi-Mori Art Museum’s Hogen-Heiji Monogatari Picture Scroll
The Okada Museum of Art’s Heike Monogatari Folding Screen (One picture)
Colbase (colbase.nich.go.jp/?locale=ja)
Penn Libraries (dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/fish...)
Photo AC (www.photo-ac.com/)
Illust AC (www.ac-illust.com/)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Google Earth
Some photos of out-of-copyright artwork from books I own
Public Domain Photos:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Graphics:
“Close up, The orange flame was burning. The strength of the fire was moving and burning” by Vecteezy (www.vecteezy.com/video/531239...)
Banquet sounds: unfa (freesound.org/people/unfa/sou...)

[@ts_classic]

As a Japanese and a history fan, this video was the most impressive thing I have EVER watched on youtube. I never expected a youtube video explaining japanese history this deep and effective. not only the knowledge but use of sources and capacity of summurising and retelling. Just amazing. Thank you very much I really enjoyed and appreciate it.

[@comfyactor]

Your use of drawings and maps from old sources is first-rate, your narrative expertly done. To anyone who wants to read Heike Monogatari (in any of its translations, or in the original), I strongly recommend watching this video a number of times.

[@KhunGongPha]

Old sources, such as? please help a learner!

[@lloydbotway5930]

to@@KhunGongPha: there are a great many illustrated versions of the Heike, and stories from that era. All the ones I've seen are in Japanese bookstores and libraries; but many good American university libraries have related material. You should ask Buyuuden (who made this video) what sources were used.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

There are a few tiny technical blips in the video, but after three days of overtaxing my tiny laptop with exports and re-exports, I decided this is as close to perfect as we're gonna get. Hope you guys enjoy the video, and thanks for watching!

[@calumlittle9828]

Someone get this guy a bigger laptop because he wouldn't be wasting it. This is awesome. Thanks.

[@springfield6097]

I am a new viewer. Much appreciate your efforts. Do please tell us a little about your self.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

@@springfield6097 Welcome to the channel! I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of interesting stuff to say about me personally, but I appreciate your interest 😊

[@st8319]

Thank you for taking the time to make it mate

[@Vexx_Line_]

Excellent work!!! Thank you!💯🙏

[@aliwish1901]

Please, please, please keep making these videos! I was worried you stopped. I'd pay to watch these.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

No need to worry! This one just took a really long time because of the scale. No plans to quit any time soon!

[@AdamOwenBrowning]

@@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory If you open up some form of monthly subscription, people would happily chip in small amounts to show respect for the amount of work you do in collating the information from all these sources, scripting it out coherently, recording it and getting these videos out. I am greatly appreciative of your work and personally believe you deserve some reimbursement for this light yet academic material Thank you again.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

@@AdamOwenBrowning I appreciate that a lot. My reservation about setting up any subscription-type thing is that, between juggling my job and KZbin, I'm not sure I have time to offer any extra perks to supporters, which makes me feel a bit guilty. However, it's reassuring to know that the sentiment is out there! I will continue to consider it going forward.

[@tonytrez8]

​@@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory!😊

[@vdawg254]

​@@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory😊😊😊

[@tatamaksa1]

If I had but a quarter of this man’s narrative skill, I could write a comment worthy of this stunning work. But I don’t. So I can’t. All I can do is applaud and say “Bravo!”

[@strawberrycheesecake5502]

Once again, thank you for putting all of this effort into these videos. They really draw you into the past, with the way you follow these individual people, the different legends and bits about how the general population felt about what was happening. I had a great time following this story along.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

I'm super happy to hear that 🙏 If you feel that way, then I feel like I have done my job!

[@pyrodude5119]

I've never read such a detailed and interesting documentary about the Genpei war before. Thank You for your great job.👍👍👍

[@shaynedavidson7087]

Impressive, impressive! Your ability to make sense of this massive, complex story is quite amazing!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

I hope it wasn't too hard to follow!

[@pickledblowfish6178]

This miiiight be the most underrated history channel on KZbin. Your stuff is great. Very high-quality writing, cozy narration, and excellent image selection. Very well done. You quickly became my "put on one I've seen before, as i fall asleep or do something" channel, if you know what i mean. Keep this up, and you'll be a youtube staple of this particular niche in no time.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

I greatly appreciate the kind words! I’m honored to be your “put on as I fall asleep” channel! 😁

[@MrBarnettcm]

Nah

[@Arcaryon]

One of the best pieces of historical content I have ever seen in this platform. Outstanding work.

[@danielchapman547]

'It was as if to say, "Well, guess you won't be needing THIS anymore." ' I love the way you describe historical events in such a funny, relatable way. Wish you'd of been my history teacher.

[@horikyosuke4794]

Incredible video! Can't wait to get to later periods aka Mongol Invasion, Kenmu Restoration, Nanbokucho and Sengoku Jidai P.S you may later collab with The Shogunate, Shogo, Limfamy and others

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you sir! I'm also excited to get to those periods, especially the middle two you listed! The Ashikaga Takauji era needs more love on KZbin! And I would be honored to have the chance to collab with any of those people.

[@IlyassZahid]

Thank you so much for this masterpiece! I've been looking for a documentary about the Genpei War for so long, everything from soundtracks to maps and photos and voice narrator is on point 1h30min past so fast :D

[@albertenriquecrowleybeastc217]

Thank you, for all your hard efforts in making these videos teaching us from the actual textbooks from Japan! I've watched your videos multiple times learning the different time periods! I've got you on alert status so I can keep up, but I'm really happy to have found your channel, it is an immense help!

[@Megadebt]

Sad that Yoshitsune's life ended so tragically. I grew up listening to stories of Yoshitsune aka Ushiwakamaru. A revered and respected national hero of the Japanese people.

[@thecolorgreen9022]

Great video! It is quite topical how the current year's taiga drama 'The 13 Lords of the Shogun' resolves around the life of Yoritomo. The portrayal of the events of the Genpei War is done particularly well. It's definitely worth checking out for those who want to immerse themselves in that time period.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Totally unplanned, but yeah, it ended up being great timing!

[@tarouyomogida6949]

あなた外国人なのに大河ドラマ知ってるの？ 初めてだよ、そんな人を見たよ。😊 外国人は大河ドラマなんて興味無いと思ってたからね。

[@thecolorgreen9022]

@@tarouyomogida6949 歴史入門に最適。英語のウィキペディアは悪い。

[@simonshah8570]

really great video, info, editing and music all top notch. Really appreciate as a westerner exposure to this information.

[@manswitnohans7618]

This channel is truly a gift

[@AGS363]

The real beauty is the heavenly retribution that struck Yoritomo and his descendants afterwards. He died falling off a horse, his offspring murdered one another and the true rulers were his in laws from the Hojo family; which itself was a branch of the Taira clan. A tale worth of Shakespeare or Monty Python (dependent on preference)!

[@freshhands9461]

Just when I was starved out on Lore, the Kami brought me to your gates. Awesome and well appreciated! Nippon has such a contrasting history and culture...love it :D

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

If you are a lore head then you have come to the right place!

[@nujabeslistener]

"The bell of gion monestary in india echos with the warning of the impermanence of all things. The blossoms of the sala trees teaches us through there hues that what flourishes must fade, HOWEVER, we are an exception"

[@GOMBE3]

I do appreciate the time and tremendous efforts you poured into for making this video available as usual. Apart from the academic history, I like the Genpei war and poor Yoshitsune's story as a sort of novel, so I enjoyed this video very much, recalling what I read repeatedly during my childhood. Thanks again.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

It’s an incredible story, and it was a pleasure to take a shot at telling it. I’m happy to have been able to bring back some good childhood memories for you! Thanks for watching!

[@wfcoaker1398]

Watching thing for the umpteenth time. You tell a great story! Seriously, this video is very skillful storytelling. It's clear, engrossing, and informative. I know you're proud of this video, and you should be. I'm a 60 year old from Eastern North America, and I am very smug, thanks to you. I can be ever so knowoedgable about what my anime loving juniors are talking about. Lol. And I'm one of those old guys who likes to surprise young people wiyh my eccentricity. Lol. You and Linfamy have given me the tools to do that lol

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

I'm so glad that you've found it so enjoyable and useful! It makes all the effort worth it. The next one should be of similar length, so if I can survive the editing process I think you'll enjoy it a lot!

[@OniOni66]

Fantastic! Thank you so much for putting this together and sharing it here.

[@dave4289]

One of the best youtube videos I've ever had the pleasure of sitting through. Thank you so much for these.

[@alleras46]

Amazing video! Better than any documentary on the subject.

[@tykep1009]

It was long for a KZbin video but was an excellent short digest for the Genpei War. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[@maxINaus]

Appreciate your work. I loved the attention you gave to the little side bits of info and legends and myths around these events. I first became aware of this war after reading the historical fiction, Shike, by Robert Shea, as a teenager. After watching this documentary, I realize how many finer historical details he worked into his novels.

[@grimslyfox]

this channel is so well done. amazing videos, friend, thank you!

[@RT-qd8yl]

This is the first I've heard of your channel, and this video is excellent. You earned another subscriber.

[@martinwatts7646]

Simply one of the best videos on KZbin. Incredibly dense in information - you will almost certainly have to rewind at points - and with incredible visuals, this is 100% worth 90 minutes of your time.

[@briandstephmoore4910]

Share this mans channel everyone! YT algo is doing him dirty🤬 I just found this channel and I watch a Ton of history stuff of all kinds and ages.

[@icaroporpino]

Amazing! This is an almost obligatory complementary material for the comprehension of the main series. You´ve done a great job.

[@martinevans9757]

Subscribed!! Thank you for this superb summary of Japan's own, real-life 'Game of Thrones'. Entertaining, poignant, humorous in the right places, excellently balanced and presented. Enthused to see what else your channel offers.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

It is indeed very Game of Thrones-ey, isn't it? Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the other videos!

[@Pingu_astrocat21]

absolutely amazing. Thank you for making this

[@Shineon83]

Thanks! This was incredibly fascinating. Great work. Subbed ❤

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you so much! This made my day!

[@harushinonomiya]

Great video, the rise and fall of the Taira (Heike) is my favorite part of Japanese history because the characters involved are so epic. Thank you very much for the video, it is very pleasant to see people striving to transmit and pass this story to the world. I felt your love for this content when you said you planned to tell this story from the very beginning of your channel. This video added to the recent anime Heike Monogatari made me very happy. Maybe you think I'm an asshole, but I have a small observation: Emperor Go-Shirakawa's death should be approached with more drama (something kind of sad, because with him went the long but passionate Heian period). Once again, great video, I'm so glad I saw it. Finally, something that unites me a lot in this story is the fact that I am descended from Kumagai Naozane, the murderer of Atsumori; and even though I am his descendant, I find Atsumori's death immensely sad.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

I was actually watching the recent anime while I made this video! It was great. I hope it makes its way to a western audience too. I agree with you about how great the story of this conflict is... It's just so deep, epic, and complex. I feel like I only scratched the surface in this video. And I don't think you're an asshole at all! Haha. I think everyone has parts of the story that they personally find more or less compelling and dramatic. Most of my sources covered Goshirakawa's death quite quickly, so I did too. However, I absolutely agree with you that it marked the end of an era. That's super cool that you're descended from Naozane... and amazing that you know that! Based on the story, it seems that Naozane really didn't want to kill Atsumori, but the circumstances left him with no choice. A very sad, but very moving moment, for sure.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Your new profile picture is Atsumori, isn't it? Haha. Nice 😁

[@harushinonomiya]

@@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory Yep! 😌

[@tina2882]

Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, I've been binging on them for the past week! So informative and detailed, I can't imagine how much effort you must've put into it. Also, the intro SLAPS!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thanks for watching! I’m glad you like the intro - hip-hop beat-making was my first love 😁

[@misterhiggledypiggle]

As soon as I saw the run time of this video I was excited! This was excellent, and I learnt so much about the history and legends of The Genpei war and late Heian/early Kamakura period. It's interesting that I already knew about the Battle of Dan-no-ura because of the Heikegani being mentioned in Carl Sagan's Cosmos documentary series, so it felt a bit like coming full circle to learn the full story. Can't wait for the next video!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

That's super cool! I had no idea that Dan-no-ura came up in Cosmos.

[@misterhiggledypiggle]

@@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory It is cool isn't it?! It was episode 2 I believe, but yeah for whatever reason that's always stuck with me, again fantastic work on this video!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

@@misterhiggledypiggle I remember watching Cosmos back in the day, but it's been so long... I'll have to rewatch it sometime and look out for that!

[@A_Eichler]

Love the highlighted people in old paintings/documents and the present day over-lays of coastal and geographic points, not to mention the standardised 'photo' of the main people. Very enjoyable!

[@reccio6347]

Awesome video. Thank you!!!

[@justinwillingale2086]

I have to admit that Japanese history is so interesting I mean it they have very unique changes through social and political events.

[@tokyotochicago]

The quality of this video is absurd. It deserves way more views, the whole channel does. I would have liked a little excerpt on how the Genpei War heroes influenced art and culture in Japan. In particular in kabuki and nô theatre but I'm really splitting hair here ^^ Thanks for the upload !

[@3xj704]

Thank you for creating this video. I remember doing some reading on the Genpei War a few years ago. This is a refreshing watch to jolt back whatever nuggets i may have on said topic

[@taproot55WilliamReed]

Bravo!!!! Wonderful piece of work! Thank you so much for your extensive efforts in creating this and other videos on your channel! Thoroughly researched and beautifully told.

[@Zakuznapper]

Thanks for this great effort, fantastic video!

[@franceshaypenny8481]

These videos are outstanding. Thank you so much for your hard work, it really matters.

[@gideonding01]

Most comprehensive history.. what an awesome work!! Thank you for these great history videos.

[@stuff2008]

thank you, this was really in depth and quality.

[@edgardoumanzorr.6188]

Beautiful, as always. Thanks for your hard work, you make it easier to learn this complicated period, and I love the pieces of art you select

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you as always for watching sir! I’m glad you enjoyed the art - finding it is both the most time-consuming and most rewarding part of the process for me.

[@schaa50651]

Thanks for all your work.

[@mahoneytechnologies657]

This Took A Lot Work, Thanks!

[@davidjooste5788]

After 3 minutes I was hooked. Brilliant work. Respect and arrigato.

[@chmood]

Seriously pleased to’ve found your channel - excellent vid, looking forward to watching many more Thank you!

[@JohnestJP]

Amazing work putting this all together!

[@tristan_jacques]

Thank you for the video ! Keep up the hard work !

[@consistenc51]

Thank you for this extensive lesson of an amazing period in Japanese history! So well done.

[@NayruYT]

An absolute banger of a video, thanks a ton for your hard work.

[@zacharykiebler2001]

Sensationally good. Thank you!

[@odanobunagafan4964]

An amazing video once again! Thanks for uploading.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thanks for watching! 🙏

[@iAmEhead]

Awesome work! Really helped me understand this war better, which has so many twists and turns.

[@Lenskee]

What a story! Watched it like a movie. Breathtaking narration, fantastic legends, especially the last one. Great, great video, sir. Keep up the good work!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thanks for watching!!

[@savagesavant4964]

You're really good at this. The video format is just right for folks like myself.

[@scottlewis8895]

Thanks for this!

[@BurninBuddha]

Amazingly well done, a good compression of an event spanning years.

[@orthoff123]

Thank you for your great work!!!

[@spidernevi]

The best Japanese medieval history video. It is long as heck but I managed to watched it through as the topic is one of the most interesting and important part of Japanese history and your narration made everything clear and easy to consume. As an avid Japanese history afficionado I'll refer to this video whenever I need memory refreshment

[@romyneri3699]

Great video. Authentic historical pictures and drawings, too. Well researched.

[@wfcoaker1398]

This is an amazing resource! Thanks for doing this.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@worthymartin4008]

superb content! thanks for this excellent video

[@aeros8761]

This is such a great channel, it deserves for more recognition than it gets

[@TheIlustrado]

Yeah boii!!! Buyuuden just uploaded a new video!!!

[@Sarah-yd8th]

You are SO AMAZING as you've made the BEST Japanese history channel I've ever found on YT! - From one Japanese who intensely studied J. history in Japan with Gratitude.

[@lucanic4328]

Finally is here! What a journey, 1 and a half hour felt like 15 minutes. Brilliant job, keep it up! Looking forward to see more

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Super happy to hear that! Thanks for watching!

[@sunsetta9496]

There's so much going during those times, it's crazy! Very good video🦊

[@danielagostini7402]

Thank you for the great video😊

[@jpossollo]

Brilliant video !

[@tomibru6]

I'm so hooked on your informative videos that I don't even realize the time passing by while watching them.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

The highest praise! Thank you.

[@BenTrem42]

*_Fabulous_*_ ... thanks again!_

[@suhailahibrahimiskandar9481]

Well written. Appreaciate you hard work. Love this series.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[@AAX1975]

This was awesome! My new fav channel!

[@taffy4486]

Excellent. This deserves 7 figure views.

[@rebeccalucas6580]

Thanks for another awesome video!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thanks for watching!

[@paulmolen4259]

Your video is one of the most exellent examples of history tales. I read the history of Japan but I never understood the subtleties of the Genpei War until now.

[@wmanadeau7860]

Fascinating! Very well done, I learned a lot. Thank you.

[@TexRenner]

Fascinating history. Thank you for all your work.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thanks as always for watching!

[@argyriskanakis3649]

Thank you very much. I have enjoyed every minute

[@arielaguirre930]

Awesome video! Hope to see more content like this.

[@WildBillCox13]

Excellent. Thanks for posting.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Glad you liked it!

[@AtamiskxIx]

Beautifully done. These videos and your channel amazingly well done, I am truly looking forward to your next videos! Especially Kama Kura and Sengoku eras!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you! I will do my best not to disappoint!

[@Kevin-iv3lv]

Excellent video.

[@benjaminschweizer8764]

This is really great, just about to read Tale of the Heike and this was perfect prep. I love all the scans of the art, really amazingly detailed work thank you so much for making this !

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you! I hope you enjoy reading the Tale!

[@kipwatson]

Wonderful - this is a great documentary and your channel and all of its videos are fascinating. Thank you!!

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying the channel!

[@ericmixer]

Thank you for this instructional video I have always been interested in this story !

[@jamesellsworth9673]

This is a fascinating history.

[@TheMercilessEye]

Your videos are some of the most superb productions I have ever encountered. Thank you for your excellent work.

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words immensely!

[@katsuamedama]

Great video! It's really impressive how much work you've put for us to enjoy

[@BuyuudenJapaneseHistory]

Thank you! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@IlDiavolo2515]

I just happened to stumpke upon your channel and this video . Iwas hooked within an hour. You earned yourself another sub!

[@ohmpoingpoing]

Awesome, this was a concise explanation of the whole story. Cheers!!

[@kevinsysyn4487]

Fabulous entertaining informative presentation. I was riveted the whole 90 minutes. I will be viewing some of your previous videos. Thanks!