By Cathy Hirano

The Battle of Yashima Continued
In my last post, the Heike, attacked by Yoshitsune Minamoto and his warriors, had fled their fort by boat. The following day, however, they realized that Yoshitsune’s troop was much smaller than they had thought and they returned to fight. Here are a few famous episodes shared by the Yashima volunteer guides.


One of my guides relating an exciting episode

During a battle along the shore, Yoshitsune tucked his bow under his arm and charged his mount into the waves to fight at close quarters. At one point, he was almost unseated by an enemy warrior and dropped his bow into the water. Striking aside the warrior’s weapon with his sword, he fished his bow from the water with his whip. He insisted on retrieving the bow despite the danger to his life because he didn’t want the enemy to find out how short he was. He was only 150 cm tall and therefore his bow was smaller than most. In those days, battles were preceded by a heavy exchange of taunts and insults. Yoshitsune feared that if the enemy recovered his bow, they would shame him with insults about his height.


As with so many of these stories, the site is still marked and remembered even after 826 years. It’s no longer on the beach, however, as so much of the sea has been filled in and built upon.

In another famous incident, a Heike maiden raised a pole topped by a fan on one of the ships during a lull in the fighting. She seemed to be daring the Genji to hit it. The distance, the wind and the movement of the waves made the fan an impossible target. Still Yoshitsune ordered Nasu no Yoichi, an accomplished archer, to try. If he failed, he would have to commit suicide. After praying for success, Nasu no Yoichi rode into the shallows and urged his horse up onto a flat rock.


The spot where he prayed.


The rock in the shallows.

From this vantage point, he took aim, loosed the arrow and knocked the fan from the pole to the cheers of both sides.


View from the rock today, which for me kind of destroys the romance of the story, but never mind. As this was open sea straight across to the foot of Yashima, you can see how much the landscape has changed.

Of course, because this was war, there were many tragic episodes, such as the death of the faithful Tsugunobu Sato who had followed Yoshitsune all the way from his home in northeastern Japan. He rode between Yoshitsune and the enemy to shield him from an arrow, dying in Yoshitsune's stead. His body was carried away on the door taken from Susakiji Temple, which burned during the confrontation.


Susakiji Temple today. Nice stonework in the walls and the garden doubles as a stage for evening concerts and performances during the annual Stone Lantern Festival in summer.


Walls


Stonework


Sato's tomb
Sato was buried some distance from the battlefield alongside Tayuguro, Yoshitsune's favorite steed. As a memorial to his friend, Yoshitsune gave the horse to the priest who performed the funeral rites and buried here when it died.

There are memorials to the Heike as well, such as this tomb for Kikuomaru, a loyal 18-year-old page killed while trying to cut off the head of the slain Tsugunobu Sato as a trophy for his master.




Kikuomaru’s tomb

The local people cared for the tombs of warriors on both sides long after the warring clans moved. According to my guides, the locals did not owe allegiance to one particular side but instead chose the side that appeared most profitable for them at the time. When the war moved on, they cleaned up and resumed their lives. However, they also passed on the memories and the memorials so that even after 8 centuries, reminders of this conflict can still be found scattered among the houses, just part of the local scenery.

There were many other sites and stories connected with the Battle of Yashima but I’ll stop here. Maybe some day you'll get to explore the rest for yourself.