Minamoto no Yoshihira (源義平) (1140–1160) also known as 'Akugenda' was a

Minamoto was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...

clan warrior who fought alongside his father, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, in the Heiji Rebellion.

Story

His mother was the daughter of Miura Yoshiaki, thus indicating the close ties between the two families. His brothers were

Minamoto no Tomonaga Minamoto no Tomonaga (源朝長) (1144–1160) was a Minamoto clan samurai of the late Heian period. His father was Minamoto no Yoshitomo and his mother was sister of Hatano Yoshimichi. Tomonaga accompanied his father and two brothers, Minamoto ...

(also killed during the Heiji rebellion), Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoritomo. He married the daughter of

Minamoto no Yoshishige was the progenitor of the Nitta branch family of the Minamoto samurai clan, who fought alongside the Minamoto in the Genpei War. He is also known as Nitta Tarō and Nitta Yoshishige. His father was Minamoto no Yoshikuni and his grandfather Mina ...

, Shojuhime. In 1155, Yoshihira killed his uncle, Minamoto no Yoshikata, the father of Minamoto no Yoshinaka. Then, in 1160, Yoshihira was sent to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

to fight in the Heiji Rebellion. The

Taira The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divided i ...

offered to make a peace agreement, but the

refused, and were soon defeated. Yoshihira succeeded to flee, then attempted to avenge his father by killing a Taira leader by coming back secretly to Kyoto, but he was betrayed, soon captured and decapitated by

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and ''kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Heian-kyō, Japan, in 1118 as the first so ...

, the head of the enemy faction.

References

*''The majority of this article is simply a translation from the Japanese Wikipedia article.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Minamoto no, Yoshihira 1140 births 1160 deaths Minamoto clan People of Heian-period Japan