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... feudal lords, headed by the Minamoto family, that had close ties with the imperial court. By the mid-12th century, these aristocratic clans, especially the Fujiwara, had lost much of their power and influence. Taking advantage of this development, Taira Kiyomori, the head of the family, in 1156 occupied the capital of Japan, Kyoto, thus becoming the de facto ruler ...

... , or bakufu. A member of the Minamoto warrior clan, Yoritomo was banished in his youth as a consequence of his father's revolt against the reigning Taira family. In exile Yoritomo found support for his cause in Hojo Tokimasa ( see Hojo family), and in 1185 he defeated the Taira. In 1192 the cloistered emperor (see insei) granted him the title of shogun, which made ...

... ) Charismatic half brother of Minamoto Yoritomo who helped bring him victory against the Taira family ( see Taira Kiyomori). He was raised in a monastery but ran away at 15 to join Yoritomo. On Yoritomo's orders, Yoshitsune seized Kyoto and then attacked and defeated the remaining Taira forces along Japan's Inland Sea. Yoritomo became jealous of Yoshitsune and ...

the first dynasty of shoguns, or military-feudal rulers of medieval Japan, which ruled from 1192 to 1333.The dynasty was founded by Yoritomo Minamoto, the leader of a group of feudal warlords, or bushi, from the country’s eastern regions, upon his victory over the warlords of southwestern Japan led by Taira Kiyomori. The creation of the Minamoto Shogunate denoted ...

... Japanese warrior clans, the Minamoto (Genji) and the Taira (Heike), for supremacy in Japan, resulting in the Minamoto's victory and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate ( see Kamakura period). Stories of the rise and fall of the two families, with their Buddhist overtones of evanescence and their sense of heroic tragedy, have a popularity in Japan akin to ...