Minamoto no Yoshinaka

Minamoto no Yoshinaka

was a general of the late Heian Period of Japanese history. A member of the Minamoto samurai clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo was his cousin and rival during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and the Taira clans....

 tried to wrest power from his cousins Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199.-Early life and exile :Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, heir of the Minamoto clan, and his official wife, a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, who was a member of the...

 and Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura...

, seeking to take command of the Clan. To that end, he sacked Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

, burning the Hōjūji Palace

Siege of Hojujidono

The 1184 siege of the Hōjūjidono was part of Japan's Genpei War, and was a key element of the conflict between Minamoto no Yoshinaka and his cousins Yoritomo and Yoshitsune for control of the Minamoto clan....

, kidnapping Emperor Go-Shirakawa

Emperor Go-Shirakawa

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession...

 and having himself named shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

. However, his cousins caught up with him soon afterwards, following him across the Bridge over the Uji, New Year's Day, 1184, which he tore up to impair their crossing, in an ironic reversal of the first Battle of the Uji

Battle of Uji (1180)

The first battle of Uji is famous and important for having opened the Genpei War.In early 1180, Prince Mochihito, the Minamoto Clan's favored claimant to the Imperial Throne, was chased by Taira forces to the Mii-dera, a temple just outside Kyoto....

, only four years earlier.
Much as the Taira did in that first battle, Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura...

 led his horsemen across the river, and defeated Yoshinaka

Minamoto no Yoshinaka

was a general of the late Heian Period of Japanese history. A member of the Minamoto samurai clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo was his cousin and rival during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and the Taira clans....

, and pursued him away from the capital.