This article (the first of two) is more narrowly focused on the armies of the Gempei war, as such it takes the raw material of list 46 and specializes it for events of that war. There is not a lot of detailed material (in English) on the military history of the Gempei war (see references below). The reader should understand much of that which follows is based on assumption and educated guesswork.

The Early Japanese list (#46) in Armies of the Dark and Feudal Ages is very good piece of work whose simple format belies its keen historical insights. In presenting an excellent model of early (i.e. pre-15^th Century) samurai warfare, it goes beyond the average army list in sharing its assumptions and analysis. Here is a brief list of (some of) the points made: (i) the warrior caste, the samurai, were not uniformly high quality killers (in MW terms, "elites"), rather they were a mixed bag of quality and class; (ii) the tactics of the early horse-borne samurai archers may be best represented by skirmish cavalry in combination with heavier shock cavalry; (iii) the earliest samurai armies were largely composed of mounted samurai archers and little else; (iv) ashigaru gradually gained importance in the pre-gunpowder era, but early on didn’t amount to much; and (v) the use of walls of shields, or more properly mantlets, was important to the evolving infantry tactics of the era.

Finally, this article started as a response to some email traffic on the GoreAMwar list. Since then I’ve pulled my Early Japanese off the shelf (where they’ve been for years) and starting getting them ready for Cold Wars (any excuse to buy more and get busy).

Technical Terms

Ashigaru ("light feet") Foot soldier. Although impressed peasant footsoldiers were a feature of Japanese military practise before, during and after the Heian period, it would be misleading to label them ashigaru per se, as that term came to be associated with relatively well armed and trained rank and file footsoldiers of the "Age of Civil War" from the 16^th Century onwards. The term is used in neither this article nor its lists.

Bafuku. Military government in which the imperial court is subject to the rule of a dominant warlord, the

Shogun. The Minamoto founded the first bafuku by defeating the Taira, the ostensible protectors of an independent emperor (provided he was in their pocket).

Do-maru. A partial harness, lighter, cheaper and more flexible than the full oyoroi. The do-maru was worn by lower ranking samurai and higher ranking foot retainers.

Genji. The Minamoto clan, named after the Chinese pronunciation of the character (gen) used to write their name.

Gempei. The combination of gen and hei is rendered Gempei . Sources use two alternate transliterations, Gempei and Genpei. I have chosen the former as it appears to be the one most commonly used in the literature.

Gozen. Term for the consort of a high ranking man, as in Tomoe Gozen, the wife of Kiso Yoshinaka. Tomoe is the most famous female samurai of legend; it is not known whether she was an actual historical figure.

Heian. Name for Kyoto, the home city of the emperor and the imperial court prior to the victory of the Genji in the Gempei War and the founding of the Kamakura shogunate.

Heike. The Taira clan, named after the Chinese pronunciation of the character (hei) used to write their name.

Kabuto. The characteristic samurai helmet, featuring a heavily riveted iron bowl (bachi) with an attached broad skirt (shikoro) protecting the neck and cheeks, and exaggerated, decorated turnbacks (fukigaeshi) flaring out to the sides of the head.

Kamakura. The seat of power of Yoritomo, the leader of the Minamoto faction.

Minamoto (Genji). With the Taira, one of two samurai clans closely associated with the imperial court, which were competing for political power in the Gempei War. The Minamoto are the legendary founders of the samurai form of mounted archery, yabusame, preserved to this day by generations of archery masters in the Takeda family, descendants of the Minamoto. All shoguns after the demise of the Minamoto bafuku (shogunate) claimed descent from the Minamotos (thus following the precedent set by the Hojo clan).

"no". Individual’s names of the era followed the format "surname no personal name", as in Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Loosely speaking, no may be read as "of the" or "from the", thus using the example, we have Yoshitsune of the Minamoto clan. [whether this was an aristocratic marker as is "von" in German is not known to the author].

Oyoroi. Yoroi means armor; oyoroi is great armor, as in full harness. The oyoroi was the body armor of the samurai, characterized by the boxlike appearance of its skirt, formed by four tassets (kusazuri) hanging roughly in a box around the lower abdomen and the pelvis. The oyoroi also features two large, square shoulder guards (sode) held in place by heavy silk cords. Despite the often exquisite beauty of the oyoroi, with its heavy use of beautifully dyed silks and delicately patterned details, it was a hefty suit of armor, often weighing well over 60 lbs; the oyoroi was best utilized from horseback.

Taira (Heike). With the Minamoto, one of two samurai clans closely associated with the imperial court, which were competing for political power in the Gempei War. The Taira had attained high status and prestige in the Heian court via marriage, and had managed to oust, if not actually exterminate, the Minamoto prior to our period.

Weaponry. Besides the great longbow (sometimes measuring up to 8’ long, wielded by a 5’ samurai!), typical period weapons include the long sword (katana), the even longer two-handed sword (nodachi), the halberd (naginata), and the long spear (yari). The katana and the nodachi are "axes" in the lists.

Gempei War 1180-1185

Introduction
Outline of Medieval Japanese History
Lists
Figures and References