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Minamoto no Yoshitsune


Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源 義経?, 1159 – June 15, 1189) was a nobleman and military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo consolidate power. He is considered one of the greatest and the most popular warriors of his era, and one of the most famous samurai fighters in the history of Japan. Yoshitsune perished after being betrayed by the son of a trusted ally.

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 half-brother Minamoto no Yoritomo (the third son of Yoshitomo) would go on to found the Kamakura shogunate. Yoshitsune's name in childhood was Ushiwakamaru (牛若丸). He was born just before the Heiji Rebellion of early 1160 in which his father and two oldest brothers were killed. He survived this incident by fleeing the capital with his mother, while his half-brother Yoritomo was banished to Izu Province. At approximately age 10, Yoshitsune was placed in the care of the monks of Kurama Temple (鞍馬寺), nestled in the Hiei Mountains near the capital of Kyoto. Not wanting to become a monk, Yoshitsune eventually left, and in 1174 relocated to Hiraizumi, Mutsu Province, where he was put under the protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira, head of the powerful regional Northern Fujiwara clan.


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