February 1109 — the Head of the Kawachi Genji Is Cut Down in Kyoto
The 2nd month, the second year of Tennin (1109).
In Kyoto, the head of the Kawachi Genji was attacked by an unknown assailant.
Minamoto no Yoshitada.
His father was “Hachiman Taro” Minamoto no Yoshiie, who had lived through the Former Nine Years War and the Later Three Years War and built an enormous reputation among the warriors of the east.
Barely three years had passed since that same Yoshiie had died.
Yoshitada was gravely wounded in the attack and died soon after.
The death of the new head of the clan alone would have been a major event for the Kawachi Genji. But this incident grew far larger than that.
Suspicion fell on the family of Yoshitada’s uncle, Minamoto no Yoshitsuna.
Yoshitsuna’s son came under a punitive order. Yoshitsuna fled with his sons to Omi Province.
The court sent a punitive force, and the sons were killed one after another.
In the end Yoshitsuna himself took Buddhist vows and surrendered, and was exiled to Sado.
Among those who joined the pursuit was Minamoto no Tameyoshi, still only fourteen. Tameyoshi would later lead the Kawachi Genji, and
his grandson would become Minamoto no Yoritomo.
From a single assassination, an entire powerful branch of the Kawachi Genji was wiped out.
Later generations even added another Genji into the shadows of this incident.
Shinra Saburo, Minamoto no Yoshimitsu.
Who really killed Yoshitada? And why was the house of Yoshitsuna destroyed?
To follow this incident, we first need to look at the Kawachi Genji in the years right after Minamoto no Yoshiie’s death.
1106 — “Hachiman Taro” Minamoto no Yoshiie Dies
The 4th day of the 7th month, the first year of Kasho (1106).
Minamoto no Yoshiie died. Sixty-eight by traditional count.
He had fought the Former Nine Years War alongside his father Yoriyoshi, and in the Later Three Years War had intervened as Governor of Mutsu in the internal feud of the Kiyohara clan.
A story survives that he paid his own warriors from his private wealth when the court gave them no official reward, and he is remembered for the deep loyalty he won from the warriors of the east.
Yoshiie’s death brought a major problem into the open.
Who would succeed him as head of the Kawachi Genji?
Yoshiie had several sons. The eldest, Yoshimune, had died before his father.
The second son, Yoshichika, became Governor of Tsushima and then clashed with Dazaifu in Kyushu. After being exiled to Oki, he took up arms again in Izumo and found himself the target of a court-ordered suppression. In 1108, Taira no Masamori reported that he had “struck down Yoshichika.”
The man who inherited the main line of the Kawachi Genji was Minamoto no Yoshitada.
Yoshitada is said to have been Yoshiie’s fourth son, and the one who inherited the main line.
His towering father, Yoshiie, was dead, and his brother Yoshichika had fallen as well.
Yoshitada found himself in the position of having to rebuild the Kawachi Genji.
Minamoto no Yoshitada — an Heir Who Chose a Slightly Different Path Than His Father
Much about Yoshitada’s birth year and early life remains unclear.
Even so, it is certain that he became the central figure of the Kawachi Genji after Yoshiie’s death.
Politics itself was beginning to change shape in Kyoto at the time.
Retired Emperor Shirakawa was pushing forward with cloistered rule, and around him new forms of military power, such as the Hokumen guards, were coming into use.
And the house beginning to ride that current skillfully was the Ise Taira.
Taira no Masamori had drawn close to Retired Emperor Shirakawa and was building his power through a series of provincial governorships. In 1108 his achievement in suppressing Yoshitada’s brother Yoshichika carried him forward to Governor of Tajima, raising his standing at the center still further.
While the Kawachi Genji struggled with a succession crisis after Yoshiie’s death, the Ise Taira were deepening their ties to the retired emperor.
It was into this era that Yoshitada carried the weight of the Kawachi Genji.
Then, the following year, 1109, Yoshitada himself was suddenly attacked.
February 3 — the Attack on Yoshitada
The night of the 3rd day of the 2nd month, the second year of Tennin (1109).
Yoshitada was cut down by an unknown attacker.
Few contemporary sources allow a detailed reconstruction of the scene itself.
But the diary of the Chancellor, Fujiwara no Tadazane, the Denryaku, contains a concentrated run of entries covering the pursuit of Yoshitsuna that followed Yoshitada’s killing.
According to the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo, the Denryaku‘s entries for the second year of Tennin record the pursuit of Yoshitsuna connected to Yoshitada’s murder in detailed entries dated the 6th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 29th of the 2nd month.
This was not an affair confined within the Kawachi Genji.
It was a political incident significant enough that Fujiwara no Tadazane, at the very top of the regental house, recorded its progress day after day.
Yoshitada died of the wounds from the attack.
Barely three years after losing Yoshiie, the Kawachi Genji had now lost its next head as well.
And in Kyoto, the hunt for the culprit began.
Suspicion Turns to His Uncle, the Family of Yoshitsuna
The first man dragged to the center of the case was Minamoto no Yoshitsuna.
The younger brother of Yoshitada’s father, Yoshiie. Yoshitsuna was the second son of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi.
Because his coming-of-age ceremony was held at the Kamo Shrine, he was also known as Kamo Jiro.
Overshadowed by his far more famous brother Yoshiie, Yoshitsuna is easy to overlook, but he was a formidable warrior in his own right.
In the Former Nine Years War, he marched to Oshu together with his father Yoriyoshi and his brother Yoshiie.
He later became Governor of Mutsu, and in 1094 suppressed a rebellion in Dewa led by Taira no Moroe and Moroshige. For this achievement he is said to have become Governor of Mino and risen to Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade.
By 1109, when Yoshitada died, Yoshitsuna stood among the most powerful men within the entire Kawachi Genji.
And there was already a crack in his relationship with Yoshiie.
1091 — Yoshiie and Yoshitsuna, on the Brink
The fifth year of Kanji (1091).
A dispute broke out between the retainers of Yoshiie and Yoshitsuna.
The conflict spread from the retainers to the two brothers themselves, and escalated to the point where they took up arms against each other in Kyoto.
The tension was severe enough that the court itself grew alarmed.
This past history would weigh heavily eighteen years later, in the assassination case.
Yoshitada had been killed.
And Yoshitsuna had once stood on the brink of armed conflict with Yoshitada’s own father, Yoshiie.
The conditions were already in place for suspicion to fall naturally on Yoshitsuna’s side.
And in this case, it was not Yoshitsuna himself but his son’s name that surfaced first.
Minamoto no Yoshiaki.
Yoshitsuna’s Son, Yoshiaki, Is Pursued
Yoshiaki was Yoshitsuna’s son.
After the incident, Yoshiaki came under suspicion of involvement in Yoshitada’s killing.
The court moved to suppress him, and Yoshiaki was killed.
From here, the fate of his father, Yoshitsuna, changed at once as well.
His son had come under suspicion of assassination, and had lost his life to a punitive campaign.
Yoshitsuna refused to submit to the court’s handling of the matter and left Kyoto with his family.
He headed for Koka, in Omi Province — the area around present-day Koka City, Shiga Prefecture.
Koka City’s own historic preservation plans note that the “Mount Koka” where Yoshitsuna is said to have holed up in 1109 under suspicion of Yoshitada’s murder is traditionally identified with Daiko-ji, near present-day Minakuchi.
From here, the assassination case turned from a manhunt into a full military campaign.
Koka, Omi — the Family of Yoshitsuna Makes Its Stand
Yoshitsuna had several sons. The whole family moved into Omi.
Seen from Kyoto, a powerful warrior under suspicion of Yoshitada’s assassination had armed himself and moved with his sons into a neighboring province.
And Yoshitsuna was no minor figure — a veteran of the Former Nine Years War, a former Governor of Mutsu, the man who had put down a rebellion in Dewa.
He was not someone the court could simply leave alone.
The court, under Retired Emperor Shirakawa’s cloistered rule, moved to suppress him.
The man who stepped forward to lead the effort was Minamoto no Tameyoshi.
Still only fourteen by traditional count.
The Fourteen-Year-Old Minamoto no Tameyoshi — a Year After Losing His Father, He Pursues His Great-Uncle
Tameyoshi was born in the first year of Eicho (1096). He is generally held to have been the son of Minamoto no Yoshichika.
Which is to say, only the previous year, 1108, his father Yoshichika had just been reported killed by Taira no Masamori.
The following year, the fourteen-year-old Tameyoshi now stood on the side pursuing Yoshiie’s own brother, Yoshitsuna.
Tameyoshi is said to have been Yoshichika’s fourth son, by one account his fifth, and to have become heir to the main line after being adopted first by Yoshitada and then by Yoshiie himself. In the 2nd month of 1109, at fourteen, he captured Yoshitsuna in Omi, and for this achievement was made Left Palace Guard Lieutenant the following month, in the 3rd month.
It is more natural to read this not as “a fourteen-year-old boy personally commanding an entire military campaign,” but as Tameyoshi standing at the front, on behalf of the pursuing side, as the representative of the Kawachi Genji’s next generation.
The actual fighting involved experienced retainers and other warriors as well.
Even so, the symbolism matters enormously.
Yoshiie’s death. Yoshichika’s suppression. Yoshitada’s assassination.
And now the suppression of Yoshitsuna’s own family.
As one generation above him vanished after another, the fourteen-year-old Tameyoshi was pushed onto the front stage of the Kawachi Genji.
Yoshitsuna’s Sons — a Family Destroyed
Pressed by the punitive force, Yoshitsuna’s family was driven into a corner with startling speed.
This campaign is said to have ended with five of Yoshitsuna’s sons taking their own lives.
Later sources preserve a dramatic account in which each son is said to have chosen death by a different method.
It is quite likely, however, that later embellishment has worked its way into this part of the story.
What can be stated with confidence is this:
Yoshitsuna’s sons were lost one after another, and the family suffered a devastating blow.
And Yoshitsuna himself survived.
Yoshitsuna took Buddhist vows and surrendered to the punitive force.
A man who had walked the battlefield for years, with a military record that stood alongside his brother Yoshiie’s own, cut his hair and laid down his weapons.
His sentence was exile. His destination was Sado Province.
Yoshitsuna Lived On for More Than Twenty Years
Yoshitsuna’s life did not end in 1109.
After his exile to Sado, he is said to have eventually been pardoned and returned to Kyoto.
But during the Chosho era he ran into trouble again, and was ultimately killed after a punitive campaign against him.
Historical accounts differ on the exact year of his death, giving either 1132 or 1134.
Which means Yoshitsuna lived more than twenty years after the assassination of Yoshitada.
He was not a man executed on the spot as the mastermind behind Yoshitada’s killing.
Even so, the 1109 campaign against him stripped the Yoshitsuna line of nearly all its political and military power.
And one question about the incident inevitably remains.
Did Yoshitsuna’s family really kill Yoshitada?
Contemporary Sources Alone Cannot Name a “True Culprit”
This is the single most important point in writing about this incident.
That Yoshitada was killed. That suspicion fell on Yoshitsuna’s family. That Yoshitsuna fled to Omi.
That he was pursued, took vows, surrendered, and was exiled to Sado.
All of this can be traced through contemporary sources. The Denryaku in particular preserves a detailed account of the pursuit of Yoshitsuna.
The question of who actually plotted Yoshitada’s assassination, however, is another matter entirely.
Later sources name a mastermind entirely separate from Yoshitsuna’s family.
That figure is Minamoto no Yoshimitsu.
The younger brother of both Yoshiie and Yoshitsuna.
Shinra Saburo, Minamoto no Yoshimitsu
Yoshimitsu was known as “Shinra Saburo.”
He is remembered for an episode from the Later Three Years War in which, hearing that his brother Yoshiie was struggling in Oshu, he is said to have thrown over his own post at court to rush to his aid.
Judged only by that later image, he looks like a valiant warrior devoted to his brother.
But within the Kawachi Genji, Yoshimitsu held considerable power of his own.
His descendants would go on to found the Kai Genji, whose line runs down to houses such as the Takeda.
And in genealogies and stories composed by later generations, a plot emerges in which this same Yoshimitsu was the mastermind behind Yoshitada’s assassination.
The “Yoshimitsu Mastermind” Theory — a Scheme to Frame Yoshiaki
In the story handed down by later generations, Yoshimitsu is said to have used men around him to kill Yoshitada, then pinned the blame on Yoshitsuna’s son, Yoshiaki.
Figures such as Fujiwara no Suekata and Taira no Shigemoto — the so-called “Kashima Saburo” — appear in this version of the story.
The tale goes even further, describing an extremely specific scheme in which Yoshiaki’s own sword was used to direct suspicion of the crime onto him.
Under this version of events, everything that happened in 1109 links together into a single chain.
Yoshitada dies. Suspicion falls on Yoshiaki.
Yoshiaki is struck down. His father, Yoshitsuna, resists.
Yoshitsuna’s family is suppressed.
The end result: both Yoshitada and the Yoshitsuna line vanish from the stage.
But this elegant story of a “perfect crime” is not something recorded as such by sources contemporary with 1109.
The details of the Yoshimitsu-mastermind theory were shaped by later sources.
For that reason, Minamoto no Yoshimitsu cannot be definitively named as the true culprit.
This question remains a subject of research even today; Sasaki Kiichi’s paper “The Assassination of Minamoto no Yoshitada and Minamoto no Yoshimitsu” re-examines the relationship between Yoshitada’s assassination and Yoshimitsu.
This is exactly what makes the case so compelling.
What happened in 1109 can be traced in considerable detail.
And yet the one person who gave the order for the first blow remains invisible.
Why Did Yoshitsuna Flee?
If Yoshitsuna was innocent, why did he flee to Omi?
This, too, cannot be judged simply.
His son Yoshiaki had come under a punitive order and was actually killed.
Suspicion would naturally extend to himself as well.
If he submitted to the court’s investigation and judgment, his entire family risked being punished together.
Yoshitsuna had troops of his own.
He also had a military record going back to the Former Nine Years War.
It would not be strange at all if he chose to protect his family by force, together, rather than accept the court’s judgment.
But this very action made Yoshitsuna look, more than ever, like a man in open defiance.
Flight meant to clear his name instead invited a punitive campaign.
As a result, Yoshitsuna’s family was destroyed.
The handling of the case after the assassination did more damage to the Kawachi Genji than the assassination itself.
1106 to 1109 — What Happened in Just Three Years?
Laid out along a timeline, the sheer speed of events becomes clear.
In 1106, Minamoto no Yoshiie died.
In 1108, Yoshiie’s son Minamoto no Yoshichika was reported struck down by Taira no Masamori.
In 1109, Yoshiie’s heir, Minamoto no Yoshitada, was assassinated.
That same year, the family of Yoshiie’s brother, Minamoto no Yoshitsuna, was suppressed as well.
Barely three years.
Yoshiie. Yoshichika. Yoshitada. The family of Yoshitsuna.
The upper ranks of the Kawachi Genji vanished, one after another.
The enormous martial reputation built up across three generations by Yorinobu, Yoriyoshi, and Yoshiie could not be inherited securely by the generation that followed.
The man left standing was Tameyoshi.
Fourteen-Year-Old Tameyoshi Takes Up the Weight of the Kawachi Genji
In 1109, Tameyoshi was fourteen.
His father, Yoshichika, had reportedly been struck down the previous year.
His uncle, Yoshitada, had been assassinated.
His grandfather, Yoshiie, was already dead.
And now he had stood on the side pursuing his own great-uncle, Yoshitsuna’s family.
This was nothing like the glorious beginning one might imagine from the phrase “inheriting the Kawachi Genji.”
His own family had died and been suppressed one after another, and a boy was pushed forward into the resulting vacuum.
Tameyoshi was appointed Left Palace Guard Lieutenant in the 3rd month of 1109 for his role in the capture of Yoshitsuna.
From here, for roughly half a century.
Tameyoshi would go on carrying the Kawachi Genji.
But compared to the age of Yoshiie, his position was never stable.
Control of his own clan. His relationship with the retired emperor. His relationship with the regental house.
Sons who were building their own power in the eastern provinces.
Tameyoshi would struggle amid all of it.
Meanwhile, Taira no Masamori Was Building His Own Power
While the Kawachi Genji were consumed with handling the assassination, the Ise Taira’s Taira no Masamori was deepening his own ties to Retired Emperor Shirakawa.
The previous year, 1108, he had won distinction suppressing Minamoto no Yoshichika, advancing from Governor of Inaba to Governor of Tajima.
He went on to hold further provincial governorships, and was entrusted with keeping order in Kyoto, dealing with warrior monks, and pursuing pirates in the western provinces.
Masamori’s son was Taira no Tadamori. Tadamori’s own son was Taira no Kiyomori.
The balance of power between the Genji and the Taira did not flip on the strength of this one incident alone.
Even so, looking at the early 1100s,
the Kawachi Genji were mired in one internal crisis after another following Yoshiie’s death.
The Ise Taira, meanwhile, were steadily building the retired emperor’s trust.
A clear divergence had already begun to open between the paths of the two houses.
The Deepest Wound Left by the Assassination of Yoshitada
The greatest mystery of the assassination of Minamoto no Yoshitada is the identity of the true culprit.
Was Yoshitsuna’s family really involved?
Was Yoshiaki alone involved?
Did Yoshimitsu move behind the scenes?
Later stories offer a neat and satisfying answer.
Contemporary sources cannot support so definitive a conclusion.
The results of the incident, on the other hand, are remarkably clear.
The head of the Kawachi Genji, Yoshitada, was dead. Yoshitsuna’s sons were lost as well. Yoshitsuna himself was exiled to Sado.
The fourteen-year-old Tameyoshi stepped into the spotlight.
And in that same period, Taira no Masamori was building his power under Retired Emperor Shirakawa.
Barely three years after Yoshiie’s death.
The Kawachi Genji had not been defeated in a great battle against an outside enemy.
They had been cut down heavily from within.
The man who carried that wound forward into the next age was Minamoto no Tameyoshi.
And in 1156.
In the Hogen Disturbance, Tameyoshi sided with Retired Emperor Sutoku, while his eldest son Yoshitomo sided with Emperor Go-Shirakawa.
Father and son found themselves on opposing sides.
The Kawachi Genji, whose own kinsmen had turned their blades on each other after the 1109 assassination of Yoshitada.
That same fracture would resurface half a century later.
The next central figure is Minamoto no Tameyoshi.
