Battle of Ichi-no-Tani

Tactical maps of the battle.

Minamoto no Yoshitsune split his forces in two. Minamoto no Noriyori's forces attacked the Taira clan at Ikuta Shrine, in the woods a short distance to the east. A second detachment, no more than a hundred horsemen under Yoshitsune, attacked the Taira at Ichi-no-Tani from the mountain ridge to the north. At the chosen hour, the Minamoto forces attacked causing confusion among the Taira who neither deployed nor retreated. Only about 3000 Taira escaped to Yashima, while Tadanori was killed and Shigehira captured.[1] Also killed from the Taira clan were Lord Michimori, Tsunemasa, Atsumori, Moromori, Tomoakira, Tsunetoshi, and Moritoshi.[2]^{: 117, 123}

Ichi-no-Tani is one of the most famous battles of the Genpei War, in large part due to the individual combats that occurred here.[3] Benkei, probably the most famous of all warrior monks, fought alongside Minamoto no Yoshitsune here, and many of the Taira's most important and powerful warriors were present as well.[4]

Ichi-no-Tani is the last recorded instance in which crossbows were used in a Japanese siege.

The death of Taira no Atsumori at the hand of Kumagai no Naozane during the battle is a particularly famous passage in the Heike Monogatari.[2] It has been dramatized in noh and kabuki, and in popular fiction, Oda Nobunaga is often portrayed as performing the noh at his own death (ningen goju nen geten no uchi wo kurabureba, yumemaboroshi no gotoku nari). The death of Atsumori is arguably among the most celebrated acts of single combat in all of Japanese history.

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  Scene from the battle
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  Two samurai Kumagai Naozane and Taira no Atsumori, woodblock prints, circa 1820.
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  Attack down the slope on the Tairi camp
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  Duel between Atsumori (left) and Naozane (painting on the screen, author unknown)
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  Today's view of the narrow coastal strip where the battle took place
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  Monument at the site of the battle

• The Tale of Heike