The siege of Hōjūjidono (法住寺合戦, ''Hōjūji kassen'') was a siege that took place in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, Japan in 1184. It was part of the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

and a key element of the conflict between

Minamoto no Yoshinaka , also known as , was a Japanese samurai lord mentioned in the epic poem '' The Tale of the Heike.'' A member of the Minamoto clan, he was a cousin and later rival of ''shogun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and t ...

and his cousins Yoritomo and Yoshitsune for control of the

Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...

Overview

During the

(1180–1185), the retired and cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa supported the Minamoto clan, but got caught up in the internal power struggles.Jacques, Tony. ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges''. Greenwood Press. p. 453. . For some time, Yoshinaka had desired to seize control of the clan from his cousins. Upon returning to

from his victories at Shinohara and Kurikara, he decided to split from the clan, plotting with Minamoto no Yukiie to kidnap

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''in ...

, and establish a government of their own, in the provinces north of

. But Yukiie did not, in the end, aid Yoshinaka in this scheme. Yoshinaka attacked the Hōjūjidono (also known as the Hōjūji Palace), set it aflame, killed the defenders, and seized Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Yoshinaka brutally attacked the emperor's troops in addition to gaining control over Shirakawa's Imperial Prison. He was opposed by a number of court nobles and warrior monks from

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

and Miidera, but ultimately made it out of the city victorious, with the cloistered emperor as hostage. However, at this point, the

Minamoto was a noble surname 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 since 814."...the Minamoto (1192-1333)". ''Warrior Rule in Jap ...

armies, under Yukiie, Yoritomo, Yoshitsune, and Noriyori were surrounding the capital. Yoshinaka fled across the Bridge of Uji, where he fought the second Battle of Uji.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hojujiden 1184 Sieges of the Genpei War Military history of Kyoto 1180s in Japan 1184 in Asia Conflicts in 1184 Japanese imperial history Religious building and structure arson fires in Japan Residential building arson attacks in Japan Attacks on official residences Government building fires Attacks on government buildings and structures in Japan Disasters in Kyoto