Gosannen War Explained

Conflict:Gosannen War
Partof:Clan disputes of the Heian period
Date:1083–1089 (disputed)
Place:Mutsu province, Tōhoku region, Japan
Casus:Clan disputes over Kiyohara clan leadership
Result:Military stalemate
Combatant1:Forces of various branches of Kiyohara clan
Combatant2:Forces of Minamoto no Yoshiie
Governor of Mutsu province
Commander1:Kiyohara no Iehira
Kiyohara no Takahira
Others
Commander2:Minamoto no Yoshiie
Fujiwara no Kiyohira

The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, gosannen kassen), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū.[1]

History

The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power within the warrior clans of the time.

The Gosannen kassen arose because of a series of quarrels within the Kiyohara clan (sometimes referred to as "Kiyowara"). The long-standing disturbances were intractable. When Minamoto no Yoshiie, who became Governor of Mutsu province in 1083, tried to calm the fighting which continued between Kiyohara no Masahira, Iehira, and Narihira.[2]

Negotiations were not successful; and so Yoshiie used his own forces to stop the fighting. He was helped by Fujiwara no Kiyohira. In the end, Iehira and Narihira were killed.[2]

During the siege of Kanezawa, 1086–1089, Yoshiie avoided an ambush by noticing a flock of birds take flight from a forest.[3] [4]

In art

Much of the war is depicted in an e-maki narrative handscroll, the Gosannen Kassen E-maki, which was created in 1171.[5] The artwork is owned today by the Watanabe Museum in Tottori city, Japan.

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. [H. Paul Varley|Varley, H. Paul]
  2. Book: Sansom, George . A history of Japan to 1334 . Stanford University Press . 1958 . 0804705232 . 249–252.
  3. Book: Turnbull, Stephen . The Samurai Sourcebook . Cassell & Co. . 1998 . 1854095234 . 199.
  4. Book: Turnbull, Stephen . The Samurai, A Military History . MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. . 1977 . 0026205408 . 22–25.
  5. Varley, p. 41.