Battle of Uji

What Happened

On 1184-03-04, Minamoto no Yoshinaka met his cousins Minamoto no Noriyori and Minamoto no Yoshitsune at the Uji River, just south of Kyoto. Yoshinaka had torn up the planks of the bridge over the Uji in an attempt to slow his pursuers, but the tactic failed. Yoshitsune led his horsemen straight into the river, crossing the water as the Taira clan had done in the same spot four years earlier, and routed Yoshinaka's forces.

The battle was the climax of a bitter family feud within the Minamoto clan. Yoshinaka had burned the Hōjūji Palace and kidnapped Emperor Go-Shirakawa in a bid to seize control of the clan from his cousins. His capture of the emperor made him an immediate target, and Noriyori and Yoshitsune moved against him without delay. The defeat at Uji ended Yoshinaka's ambitions; he fled the field and was killed shortly afterward at the Battle of Awazu.

Background

The Genpei War, fought between the Minamoto and Taira clans, had been running since 1180. By late 1183, the Minamoto had gained the upper hand, but the clan itself was splitting apart. Minamoto no Yoshinaka, a cousin of the clan's head Minamoto no Yoritomo, had grown powerful through his victories in the north and now sought the leadership for himself.

Yoshinaka's move came in early 1184. He seized the capital, burned the Hōjūji Palace, and took Emperor Go-Shirakawa into custody. This was a direct challenge to Yoritomo, who responded by dispatching his brothers Noriyori and Yoshitsune with an army to retake Kyoto and crush Yoshinaka. Yoshinaka, with the emperor in tow, withdrew toward the Uji River, the same natural barrier that had featured in the first Battle of Uji in 1180.

That earlier battle had seen the Taira hold the bridge against a Minamoto force, tearing up the planks and forcing the attackers to ford the river on horseback. Yoshinaka now attempted the same defensive trick, but his cousins were not to be stopped. The reversal was deliberate and ironic: the Minamoto had once been the ones crossing the river, and now they crossed it again, this time against their own kin.

Why It Mattered

The battle eliminated Yoshinaka as a rival within the Minamoto clan and consolidated Yoritomo's authority as its undisputed leader. With Yoshinaka dead at Awazu, Yoritomo could turn his full attention to the Taira, whom he would destroy later that same year. The victory also cemented Yoshitsune's reputation as a brilliant field commander, the role for which he remains famous in Japanese history and legend.

For the Genpei War as a whole, the battle marked the end of the internal Minamoto crisis and the beginning of the final campaign against the Taira. The war itself would conclude in 1185, and Yoritomo would go on to establish the Kamakura shogunate, the first warrior government in Japanese history. The Battle of Uji was thus a pivotal step in the transfer of power from the imperial court to the samurai class.

The Name in Japanese

The battle is known in Japanese as 宇治川の戦い, read うじがわのたたかい (ujigawa no tatakai), meaning "Battle of the Uji River."

• 宇 (う, u): "roof" or "house"; in this word it functions as part of the place name Uji.
• 治 (じ, ji): "govern" or "rule"; together with 宇 it forms the place name 宇治 (Uji).
• 川 (かわ, kawa): "river." The reading shifts to がわ (gawa) here due to a common sound change called rendaku, where an initial voiceless consonant becomes voiced when the word is compounded.
• の (no): the possessive particle, "of."
• 戦い (たたかい, tatakai): "battle" or "fight." The kanji 戦 means "war" or "battle," and the reading tatakai is the noun form of the verb 戦う (たたかう, tatakau), "to fight."

The name distinguishes this engagement from the first Battle of Uji in 1180, which is usually called 宇治平等院の戦い (うじびょうどういんのたたかい, uji byōdōin no tatakai), after the Byōdō-in temple nearby. In English, the 1184 clash is sometimes called the Second Battle of Uji to avoid confusion.

Key Figures

Minamoto no Yoshinaka (源義仲) was the aggressor. A cousin of Yoritomo, he had won fame in the northern campaigns but overreached when he seized Kyoto and the emperor. His decision to tear up the Uji bridge mirrored the Taira's tactic from 1180, but he lacked the strength to hold the line.

Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源義経) was the victor. Yoritomo's younger brother, he led the charge across the river and broke Yoshinaka's defenses. His daring and tactical skill at Uji became part of his legend, though his later falling-out with Yoritomo would lead to his own destruction in 1189.

Minamoto no Noriyori (源範頼) was the third brother, commanding a portion of the pursuing army alongside Yoshitsune. He played a supporting role at Uji and continued to serve Yoritomo in the campaigns against the Taira.

Emperor Go-Shirakawa (後白河天皇) was the kidnapped sovereign. Yoshinaka had taken him from Kyoto, and the battle was fought while the emperor was still in Yoshinaka's custody. After the defeat, Go-Shirakawa was freed and returned to the capital.

Hatakeyama Shigetada (畠山重忠) is recorded as a participant in the conflict, fighting on the side of Noriyori and Yoshitsune. He was a Minamoto loyalist who would later serve Yoritomo in the Kamakura government.