Taira no Sadayoshi

Last updated February 26, 2019

Taira no Sadayoshi (平貞義) was a governor of Higo and Chikugo provinces in Kyūshū, and a samurai commander for the Taira clan during the Genpei War of the 1180s. Following the war, his life was spared as a result of an intercession by Utsunomiya Tomotsuna. He thus spent his retirement as a Buddhist monk, going by the appellation Higo-Nyūdo. His father was Taira no Iesada.

Taira clan was a major Japanese clan of samurai.

The Genpei War (1180–1185) was a national civil war between the Taira and 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 Yoritomo in 1192.

When Kikuchi Takanao sided with Minamoto no Yoritomo and began levying troops in Kyūshū in 1180, at the beginning of the Genpei War, Sadayoshi marched against him and defeated him. Sadayoshi then traveled to Kyoto, and met up with Taira no Munemori along with the Emperor Antoku on the Saikaidō road from the capital. He tried in vain to convince Munemori to return to the city, but ultimately left him to take care of the remains of Taira no Shigemori, which were brought to the sacred Mount Koya.

Kikuchi Takanao is a Japanese warrior, nobleman (samurai). He can also can be referred to as Kikuchi no Jiro Takanao or Kikuchi Higo-Gon-no-Kami Takanao.

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199. His Buddhist name was Bukōshōgendaizenmon (武皇嘯原大禅門).

Kyoto, officially Kyoto City, is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture, located in the Kansai region of Japan. It is best known in Japanese history for being the former Imperial capital of Japan for more than one thousand years, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area.

Sadayoshi then reunited with Munemori and served under him for the remainder of the war. He was the only member of the Taira clan to be spared by the Minamoto after the war-ending battle of Dan-no-ura (though many other Taira samurai were not present at the battle or otherwise escaped death).

The battle of Dan-no-ura was a major sea battle of the Genpei War, occurring at Dan-no-ura, in the Shimonoseki Strait off the southern tip of Honshū. On April 25, 1185, the fleet of the Minamoto clan (Genji), led by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, defeated the fleet of the Taira clan (Heike). The morning rip tide was an advantage to the Taira in the morning but turned to their disadvantage in the afternoon. The young Emperor Antoku was one of those who perished amongst the Taira nobles.

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References

Papinot, Edmond (1910). Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha.

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