Minamoto Yorimasa was one of the great samurai and served as a captain in the Imperial Bodyguard. He eventually fought in the Gempei Wars and his final stand inspired other samurai for generations to come.

Minamoto Yorimasa was a notable samurai of the great Minamoto clan and was highly regarded at the imperial court after apparently slaying a monster with an arrow that had been terrorising the palace and disturbing the emperor's sleep in around 1150. The monster in question was a strange beast called a nue and it had a monkey's head, the body of a badger, the legs of a tiger, a snake's tail and made the sound of a golden mountain thrush. While it was flying over the palace Yorimasa shot it with a single arrow and brought it down. For this action the emperor Konoe gifted him with a sword.

The end of Yorimasa's life was dominated by the Gempei Wars fought between 1180 to 1185 and he threw his support behind Prince Mochihito who was himself the rival nominee to the imperial throne against Antoku, who was of the Taira clan. When he was found out Yorimasa fled with a small force from Kyoto with the intention of meeting up with their allies, the monks, at Nara (the former ancient capital of Japan). Taira Tomomori was despatched to apprehend him and in order to put some time between himself and his pursuer Yorimasa dismantled most of the bridge which spanned the River Uji; a length of water that had to be crossed in order to get to Nara. Once Tomomori reached the river his forces attempted to cross the bridge but without success and many perished. However, Tomomori ordered his samurai on their horses to swim the river and, despite a valiant rearguard action by the warrior monks, finally managed to crush the rebellion.

Yorimasa and his depleted force beat a hasty retreat and sought refuge in the temple of Byodo-In. By now Yorimasa knew his cause was hopeless and in order to save his honour he committed hara-kiri (ritual suicide) by slicing his belly open. What made this example so inspiring to his followers and to samurai for centuries to come was that he wrote a short poem on his war fan before he carried out this final drastic act. Despite his failure Yorimasa was also held in high esteem because of his final last stand in the temple against overwhelming odds.

Further Reading

Samurai Commanders 1 (Osprey Publishing) - Stephen Turnbull.