The Tales of the Heike

by Burton Watson

  Jūrō of Mionoya, throwing his right leg over the horse’s back, leaped down from the left side and immediately drew his sword. One of the Heike men emerged from behind the shield, waving a halberd in a threatening fashion, whereupon Jūrō, judging that with his small sword he could hardly stand up against such an opponent, began to scramble to safety. The man with the halberd was after him at once, but just when it seemed as though he would cut Jūrō down with the halberd, he suddenly thrust the weapon under his left arm and with his right hand snatched at the neck guard of Jūrō’s helmet. He could not quite reach it, but after making three unsuccessful tries, he finally, on the fourth, succeeded in grasping the neck guard. For a time the neck guard held fast, but at last Jūrō managed to wrest himself free, snapping off the neck guard at the top plate, and made his escape. The other four riders in his group, reluctant to risk having their horses shot at, looked on from a distance.

  Having taken shelter among his companions’ horses, Jūrō breathed a sigh of relief. His attacker did not attempt to pursue him but, leaning on his halberd and brandishing aloft the neck guard he had snatched from Jūrō’s helmet, shouted in a loud voice, “You’ve no doubt heard of me for some time now, and today you see me in person! I’m the one the young fellows of the capital call Akushichibyōe2 Kagekiyo of Kazusa!” Having thus proclaimed his identity, he left the field.

  Somewhat subdued by all this, the Heike decided not to try to attack Kagekiyo but instead ordered some two hundred or so of their men to go to the beach, where they arranged their shields so that they overlapped like a hen’s wings and gestured to the Genji forces, shouting, “Come on and get us!”

  “How dare they!” said Yoshitsune when he saw them, and he ordered Sanemoto and his son Motokiyo and the Kaneko brothers to act as a vanguard, Tadanobu and Yoshimori of Ōshū to take up positions to the left and right, and Tashiro no Kanja to cover the rear, sending more than eighty mounted men yelling and galloping to meet the challenge.

  The Heike, most of whom were not mounted but were on foot, decided they would be no match for men on horseback and retreated, returning to their boats. The shields they had planted on the beach soon were scattered to left and right like so many tally slips.

  Encouraged by this success, the Genji warriors pressed their attack, riding into the sea until the water came up to the bellies of their horses. Yoshitsune, too, fought his way deep into the water when one of the Heike boats, using rakes, two or three times managed to catch hold of his neck guard. Yoshitsune’s men used their swords and halberds to free the neck guard from entanglement. While this was happening, however, Yoshitsune’s bow somehow became snagged by the rakes and was dragged away from him.

  Bending down from his horse, Yoshitsune tried again and again to use his whip to regain possession of the bow. “Let it go!” his men urged him, but he persisted until he finally recovered the bow and then, laughing, returned to the others.

  His seasoned warriors, wagging their fingers in disapproval, said, “Why are you so reluctant to lose a mere bow? Even if it cost a hundred or a thousand strings of coins, how could it be worth risking your life for?”

  “It’s not that I mind about the cost of the bow,” replied Yoshitsune. “If this bow of mine had been the kind that was so stout that it took two or three men to string it—the kind my uncle Tametomo used—then I would deliberately let them snatch it just so they could say, ‘Ah, so this is Yoshitsune’s bow!’ But this one was puny—just think if it had fallen into the hands of my enemies and they had said, ‘Just look—this is the kind of bow used by the great Genji Commander in Chief Yoshitsune!’ I couldn’t bear the thought of their scornful laughter! That’s why I risked my life to get it back.” His men all were deeply impressed with this answer.

  The sun having set by this time, the Genji forces withdrew and made their camp in the fields and hills between Mure and Takamatsu. They had not slept for three whole days. The first day they had set out by boat from Watanabe and Fukushima, and that night they had been so tossed about by the giant waves that they could get no sleep at all. Yesterday they had battled the enemy at Katsuura in the province of Awa and had spent all night crossing the mountains. Today again they had fought the whole day, and all of them were utterly exhausted. Some used their helmets for a pillow, others used their quivers or the sleeves of their armor as pillows, falling at once into a deep and heedless sleep. Only Yoshitsune and Yoshimori of Ise remained awake.

  Yoshitsune climbed up to a high point in order to look around and watch for an enemy approach and to try to determine what possible route the enemy might use to attack. Yoshimori took up a waiting position in a hollow so he could shoot the horses in the belly if the enemy attacked from that direction.

  The Heike appointed Noritsune, the governor of Noto, to command a force of some five hundred horsemen and to prepare to launch a night attack. But because Moritsugi of Etchū and Emi no Jirō Morikata could not agree on which of them would spearhead the attack, the night passed without an attack. What could the Genji have possibly done if a night attack had been launched?3 But the fact that an attack was not even attempted shows how low the fortunes of the Heike had sunk.

  The Cockfights and the Battle of Dan-no-ura (11:7)

  Thus Yoshitsune advanced as far as the Suō region, where he joined forces with his older brother Noriyori, the governor of Mikawa. Meanwhile the Heike had arrived at Hikushima in the province of Nagato. Having landed at Katsuura, or Victory Beach, in Awa, the Genji had conquered their foes at Yashima. When word got out that the Heike had reached Hikushima, or Retreat Island, while the Genji were ensconced at a place called Oitsu, or Pursuit Crossing, in the same province, people wondered at the coincidence.

  Tanzō, the superintendent of the Kumano Shrine, unable to decide whether to support the Heike or the Genji side, conducted a ceremony at the New Kumano Shrine in Tanabe at which he offered a performance of sacred music to the manifestation of the Buddha worshiped at the shrine and prayed for guidance. He was advised by the deity to “Follow the white flag!” of the Genji. Still doubtful whether this was the correct course, he selected seven white and seven red fighting cocks and set them to battling each other in front of the deity’s shrine. Not one of the red cocks won; all fled in defeat. With this, Tanzō decided to give his full support to the Genji.

  He summoned all the men under his command—a total of more than two thousand—and had them board around two hundred boats. In one of the boats he carried with him the god of the Nyaku Ōji Shrine, and above his banner he flew a wooden strip painted with an image of the guardian deity Kongō Dōji. When his boats appeared in Dan-no-ura, where the Genji and Heike forces were assembled, both sides paid reverence to his arrival, but the Heike were sadly disheartened when they saw him lead his forces over to the side of the Genji.

  In addition, Michinobu of Iyo Province came rowing into sight with a force of one hundred and fifty war vessels, also adding them to the Genji forces. Thus Yoshitsune, having acquired these various allies, felt confident of his fighting strength. The Genji had more than three thousand boats; the Heike, only few more than a thousand, including a few large, Chinese-type vessels. While the Genji forces were increasing in size, those of the Heike were dwindling.

  The Genji and Heike forces decided to meet on the twenty-fifth day, Third Month, of the second year of the Genryaku era [1185] at around six in the morning in the straits between the Moji barrier in the province of Buzen and the Akama barrier in order to exchange the volley of arrows that signaled the commencement of hostilities. But when the day arrived, Yoshitsune and Kajiwara Kagetoki almost ended up battling each other.

  “Today it is my turn to lead the attack!” Kajiwara Kagetoki insisted.

  “Not so long as I am here!” countered Yoshitsune.

  “That is not right! Your place is to act as commander in chief.”

  “Nonsense! The lord of Kamakura is the commander in chief. I simply have been commissioned to carry out his orders. In rank I am the s
ame as you and the others.”

  Seeing that he would not be allowed to lead the attack, Kajiwara Kagetoki muttered to himself, “This man is not endowed by nature to be the leader of fighting men!”

  Overhearing the remark, Yoshitsune exclaimed, “And you are the biggest blockhead in all Japan!” and reached for the handle of his sword.

  “Because I acknowledge loyalty to no one but the lord of Kamakura!” replied Kajiwara Kagetoki, and he too made ready to draw his sword.

  When this happened, Kajiwara’s eldest son Kagesue, his second son Kagetaka, and his third son Kageie gathered around their father. Observing Yoshitsune’s displeasure, Tadanobu of Ōshū, Yoshimori of Ise, Genpachi Hirotsuna, Eda no Genzō, Kumai Tarō, Musashibō Benkei, and others, each of them a match for a thousand ordinary fighting men, hurried forward, surrounding Kajiwara and preparing to attack him themselves.

  At this point Miura no Suke took hold of Yoshitsune while Toi no Jirō hastened to restrain Kajiwara. “When we are right on the verge of a critical encounter, if our own leaders start battling each other, it will only bolster the strength of the Heike!” they said, pressing their palms together in supplication. “And if word of this somehow gets back to Yoritomo, there is bound to be trouble!”

  At this point, Yoshitsune regained his composure. Kajiwara could not press the matter further. But from this time on, it is said that Kajiwara grew to hate Yoshitsune, and his slander in the end brought about Yoshitsune’s downfall.

  The Genji and the Heike boats were positioned on the sea about two miles apart. In the waters around Moji, Akama, and Dan-no-ura, the tidal currents are confused and turbulent. The Genji boats headed into the outgoing tide and hence, despite all their efforts, were constantly carried back. The Heike boats, however, were moving with the tide.

  Because the current out at sea was very swift, Kajiwara stayed close to shore and used rakes to drag the Heike boats closer as they passed him. Then he and his sons and their followers—fourteen or fifteen men in all—boarded the boats. Wielding weapons in their hands, they slashed mercilessly from bow to stern, cutting down the occupants. They seized a large amount of booty, and their exploits were the first to be noted in the record of that day’s fighting.

  By this time the Genji and Heike forces were confronting each other and shouting their battle cry. Above, it must have been heard as far away as the Brahma Heaven;4 below it doubtless alarmed the dragon king in his palace beneath the sea.

  The new middle counselor, Taira no Tomomori, took a position beside the cabin of his boat and called out in a loud voice, “Today is the final battle. Don’t even think about falling back. There have been many generals and brave fighters of unparalleled renown in India and China—and in our land of Japan as well. But when their fate ran out, there was nothing they could do. Honor is the only thing that counts! Don’t look weak to the easterners! What better time than now to risk our lives? That’s the way I see it!”

  Kagetsune of Hida, who was attending Tomomori, spoke up. “All you fighting men, listen to these words that have just been spoken!” he ordered.

  Next Akushichibyōe Kagekiyo stepped forward. “These men from the eastern region may boast of their skill at fighting on horseback, but what do they know about naval battles? They’ll be as helpless as fish trying to climb a tree! We’ll grab them one by one and toss them in the sea!”

  Then Moritsugi of Etchū spoke up. “If you’re grabbing, then make a grab for the commander in chief, Yoshitsune! They say Yoshitsune’s easy to spot because he’s short and fair skinned, and his teeth stick out. But they also say that because he keeps changing his battle robe and armor, you might not recognize him right away.”

  “He may be brave at heart, but what can a skinny little fellow like that do?” said Akushichibyōe. “I’ll just tuck him under one arm and fling him into the ocean!”

  After issuing the orders just described, the new middle counselor, Tomomori, went to speak to his brother Munemori. “Our fighting men seem to be in excellent spirits today. But I’m afraid that Shigeyoshi of Awa in Shikoku is not fully committed to our cause. Perhaps we should have him beheaded.”

  “How could we behead him when we have no evidence of his disloyalty? He has been perfectly trustworthy in his service. Have someone call him here!”

  In response to this command, Shigeyoshi appeared, wearing an orange battle robe and armor with white leather lacing, and made his obeisance before Munemori.

  “How are you feeling, Shigeyoshi? Have you had a change of heart?” said Munemori. “You seem dispirited today. I trust you’ve ordered your men from Shikoku to do their best in battle. Don’t lose your nerve!”

  “Why would I lose my nerve!” exclaimed Shigeyoshi, as he stood up to leave. “How I’d like to lop this fellow’s head off!” thought Tomomori as Shigeyoshi withdrew, and he gripped the handle of his sword hard enough to break it in two, looking fixedly at Munemori. But because the latter refused to give any sign of agreement, Tomomori was powerless to move.

  The Heike arranged their thousand or more boats into three groups. Rowing in the vanguard were some five hundred boats under the command of Hidetō of Yamaga in Kyushu. Next came the second group, around three hundred boats of the Matsura clans. The Heike commanders followed in a third group made up of about two hundred boats.

  Hidetō was the finest archer in all Kyushu, and he had selected a force of five hundred men who, though hardly his equal in skill, still qualified as expert marksmen. He ordered them to line up shoulder to shoulder in the bow and stern of each of the boats and to shoot their five hundred arrows all at the same time.

  The Genji had more than three thousand boats, which meant that they were considerably superior in number. But their arrows came winging from all directions so that it was difficult to determine just where their skilled archers were positioned. Yoshitsune was in the very forefront of the action, but the Genji were so pelted with arrows that they faltered, their shields and armor offering scarcely any protection at all. The Heike, certain that their side was winning, banged away at the drums that signaled the attack and shouted with glee.

  Far-Flying Arrows (11:8)

  One of the Genji warriors, Wada Yoshimori, did not board a boat but remained on horseback on the beach. After taking off his helmet and handing it to one of his men, he thrust his feet far forward into his stirrups, fully drew back his bow and began releasing his arrows. So powerful and accurate were his shots that he could hit any target he chose within more than a thousand feet. When he shot an arrow at a particularly distant target, he would gesture to the person he had aimed at, inviting him to shoot it back.

  Tomomori had one of Yoshimori’s arrows brought to him so that he could examine it. It was thirteen handbreadths and two fingers in length, a plain bamboo arrow fledged with white crane feathers mixed with stork feathers, and a handbreadth from the lashing it was inscribed in lacquer with the name “Wada Kotarō Yoshimori.”

  Although the Heike were numerous, only a few were capable of shooting such a long distance, for only after some delay did Tomomori succeed in summoning Chikakiyo of Iyo and, handing him the arrow, having him shoot it back to the Genji side. The arrow flew some thousand feet or more from the boat in the sea to the shore, where it lodged in the upper left arm of Miura Tarō, who had stopped more than thirty-five feet behind Yoshimori.

  Observing what had happened, Miura’s men laughed and said, “Look at that! Yoshimori thought that no one could outshoot him. Now he’s angry because he’s been shown up!”

  Overhearing them, Yoshimori exclaimed, “He won’t get away with this!” Getting into a small boat, he had himself rowed out into the very midst of the Heike forces. There, fitting one arrow after another into his bow, he succeeded in killing or wounding several men.

  Around the same time, a large arrow made of bamboo came winging from the sea and landed in Yoshitsune’s boat. As in the case of Yoshimori, the archer challenged him to return it. When Yoshitsune had someone pull out the arrow
and examine it, he found that it was fourteen handbreadths and three fingers in length, the shaft of bamboo fledged with pheasant feathers and inscribed with the name “Chikakiyo of Iyo.”

  Yoshitsune sent for Gotō Sanetomo. “Do we have anyone on our side who can return this arrow?” he asked.

  “Lord Asari no Yoichi of the Kai Genji clan is one of our finest archers.”

  “Send for him!” ordered Yoshitsune, and soon the man appeared.

  “Someone out in the ocean shot this arrow here and dares us to shoot it back. Can you do that for me?”

  “May I see the arrow?” said Yoichi, and he tested it with his finger. “The bamboo shaft is rather weak and the arrow is too short. If it’s all the same, I’ll use one of my own arrows.”

  So saying, he took an arrow fifteen headbreadths in length, with a lacquered bamboo shaft and black eagle feathers. Gripping it in his large fist, he fitted it into his huge nine-foot bow wrapped with rattan and lacquered, drew the bow far back, and sent it off with a whoosh. It sailed a thousand feet and struck Chikakiyo of Iyo, who was standing in the bow of one of the large Heike boats, square in the chest. He tumbled head over heels to the bottom of the boat—whether dead or alive, no one knew. Asari no Yoichi was a natural-born archer. It was rumored that he could shoot deer on the run from as far away as seven hundred feet without ever missing.

  After this the Genji and Heike fell on each other with no thought for their own safety, shouting and yelling wildly. It was impossible to say which side was winning, but because the emperor with his ten kinds of virtue and three imperial regalia was with the Heike, the Genji could not help feeling themselves at a disadvantage. Then something that looked like a white cloud appeared in the sky and hovered there for a moment. It was not a cloud, however, but a white banner, with no one holding it, which fluttered down until the cord dangling from its handle seemed to touch the prow of one of the Genji boats.