---
node: genpei_war
type: event
slug: genpei_war
title: "Genpei War"
lead: "The war of 1180–1185 between the Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heike) clans ended with the Taira destroyed at Dan-no-ura and Minamoto no Yoritomo's warrior government at Kamakura."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
image_file: genpei_war.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enrosai_Shigemitsu_-_Nasu_no_Yoichi.jpg"
image_author: "Enrōsai Shigemitsu (unknown - unknown)"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## What happened

Prince Mochihito's call to arms in 1180 set the war off. Minamoto no Yoritomo raised the warriors of the east, while his cousin Kiso Yoshinaka took Kyoto in 1183.

Yoritomo's brother Yoshitsune won the decisive battles: Ichi-no-Tani (1184), Yashima (1185) and the naval battle of Dan-no-ura (1185) in the Shimonoseki strait, where the Taira were destroyed and the child emperor Antoku drowned. Tradition says the sword among the imperial regalia was lost in the sea.

## Background

Taira no Kiyomori's dominance of the court had bred wide resentment.

## Consequences

Yoritomo established a warrior government at Kamakura — the start of nearly 700 years of samurai rule. The war also gave Japan its great epic, the Tale of the Heike.