Minamoto no Yoritomo- the first Shogun

  • 1147

    BIRTH

    Minamoto no Yoritomo was born in Kyoto to his father, Minamoto no Yoshitomo and his mother, Fujiwara Suenori.
  • 1156

    THE CURRENT POWERFUL CLAN

    by this time, the Taira clan was the most powerful clan in the whole of japan. Yoritomo was 9 at this time. The Taira clan ruled Kyoto.
  • 1159

    HEJI REBELLION

    A war breaks out called the Heiji Rebellion. Minamoto no Yoritomo's father is killed and that makes Yoritomo the leader of the Minamoto clan. however the Taira, who are in charge of the Kyoto due to their power, send him into exile. for this exile, he is sent to Izu.
  • 1180

    START OF THE GENPEI WAR

    Yoritomo was able to leave exile and hide in the mountain area. A prince in Kyoto calls for help to kill the Taira clan so Tokimasa and Yoritomo respond back. They went back to Kyoto to meet this prince and decide to ally with him. but this is time when the The Genpei War started.
  • 1183

    TAIRA LOSES POWER; COUSIN TAKES OVER

    the Taira clan, not fully dead, lose power over Kyoto due to Yoritomo and his allies. though, Yoritomo's cousin, Minamoto Yoshinaka, took over Kyoto. he was quite powerful and held his position for some time.
  • 1184

    THE TAKEBACK

    in the final years of the Genpei War, Yoritomo, have left Kyoto because of the war, came back. he killed his cousin in order to gain control of it again.
  • 1185

    THE VICTORY

    after winning the five year war ,he established his own government in Kamakura because this is where the Minamoto Clan had many supporters. This is when he introduced the Daimyo.
  • 1187

    ASSASINATION

    yorimoto asked for request (inzen) to kill Yoshitune (his half brother) as he was to follow the role of a military general when he died. With his allies he severed his head and delivered it to the government.
  • 1192

    THE START OF THE SHOGUN

    Minamoto no Yoritomo became Japan's first shogun. he introduced many new shrines and temples and his shogunate was called the Kamakura Shogunate.
  • 1199

    DEATH

    Minamoto no Yoritomo dies due to an unknown but serious illness.