Battle of Dan-no-ura, How to Exterminate a Clan (Genpei War 5) | History of Japan 64 — Transcript

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1. 0:00What’s the best way to exterminate a clan?
2. 0:03Write down their destruction in a history book that will be read for a thousand years.
3. 0:07The Battle of Dan-no-ura (壇ノ浦) is popularly called the last battle of the Genpei War.
4. 0:12The Taira had retreated to a base in the Shimonoseki Straits.
5. 0:16Dan-no-ura was a beach area there, and the site of a sea battle between the Taira and
6. 0:21Minamoto clans.
7. 0:22Now you normally didn’t want to fight a sea battle with the Taira.
8. 0:25They were the masters of the sea.
9. 0:27The Minamoto had spent the entire war avoiding sea battles, but this time Minamoto no Yoshitsune
10. 0:32decided to attack them head-on in the waters.
11. 0:35Why?
12. 0:36Well the Minamoto had been winning so many battles that people couldn’t help but jump
13. 0:40on the Minamoto band-palanquin.
14. 0:42The people around those parts...they were simple men.
15. 0:45They see a winner, they provide winner with men and ships.
16. 0:48Just like when you see a good video, you provide that video with likes and comments.
17. 0:51You provide that video with likes and comments.
18. 0:54You provide that video with likes and comments.
19. 0:56Yoshitsune found himself in command of the largest navy in the country.
20. 1:00We don’t know the exact number but he had around 700 to 840 ships
21. 1:04while the Taira probably had around 500.
22. 1:08We do know that Yoshitsune was confident enough in his numbers to row straight into the Taira’s
23. 1:13home turf and punch them in the faceplate.
24. 1:15Many of the details of the Battle of Dan-no-ura come from the Heike monogatari.
25. 1:19It’s historical fiction, so we don’t know what is real and what is really creative,
26. 1:24but we do know it was an important event.
27. 1:26This battle spawned more legends and stories than Sailor Moon spawned naughty fanfics.
28. 1:31Knowing that an attack was rowing their way, the Taira readied their ships.
29. 1:36They put the Imperial regalia and Emperor Antoku on a simple boat.
30. 1:40The Imperial regalia was the three symbols of the emperor’s divinity.
31. 1:44Emperor Antoku was a six-year-old.
32. 1:46They also made a flagship that was decorated and had banners and really looked like the
33. 1:51emperor was on it.
34. 1:52Strategy.
35. 1:53Taira no Munemori was the inept head of the Taira clan, but the commander of the fleet
36. 1:59was another guy, which was good because it meant they at least had a chance.
37. 2:03They did have more experience in the rough waters of the strait.
38. 2:06And if they won this battle, they could turn the whole war around.
39. 2:08But when Yoshitsune’s navy got there, the Taira commander got a bad case of ship envy.
40. 2:14Still he persisted.
41. 2:16When the tide flowed east against Yoshitsune, the Taira attacked, hoping to poke through
42. 2:20enemy lines before the tide turned.
43. 2:23By the way, about the ships of these two navies.
44. 2:26Ship is a generous word.
45. 2:27It’s like saying you’re having dinner but it’s Hot Pockets,
46. 2:30or god forbid Lean Pockets.
47. 2:32Their ships were mostly small boats that were little more than wooden floaties for samurai
48. 2:36to make sure they didn’t fall into the bad water.
49. 2:39They didn’t have advanced ship weapons like cannons or Gundams yet, so fighting on the
50. 2:43high seas meant either shooting arrows or boarding enemy ships.
51. 2:47You can see how the Minamoto’s skill with the horse was useless here.
52. 2:51The battle started with both sides lobbing arrows at each other,
53. 2:54and soon devolved into a free-for-all.
54. 2:57Taira and Minamoto boats mingled in a water dance of death.
55. 3:00This part of the story in the Heike monogatari is like a turkey,
56. 3:04a turkey stuffed full of
57. 3:05stories of samurai badassery that you devour alongside a mound of mashed awesomeness
58. 3:10slathered with blood gravy.
59. 3:12Take the case of a samurai called Taira no Noritsune (平教経) who fought his way onto
60. 3:16Yoshitsune’s boat.
61. 3:18He was so savage in hacking his way towards Yoshitsune that Yoshitsune was like
62. 3:23“I can’t deal with this right now”
63. 3:24and jumped 20 feet onto another boat to escape.
64. 3:28The Minamoto warriors surrounded Noritsune but he kicked one overboard.
65. 3:32And then this god among men grabbed two samurai, one under each arm, and jumped into the water,
66. 3:37killing himself but taking two enemies to the bottom of the sea with him.
67. 3:41The battle raged until the tide turned, literally, pushing the Taira fleet back.
68. 3:47It spelled trouble for the Taira, and they were already outnumbered.
69. 3:51Not only that, one of the Taira generals decided this was the perfect time for some treachery.
70. 3:55His name was Taguchi Shigeyoshi (田口重能) and he was a traitor.
71. 3:59He turned his men against the Taira lords that they had just been fighting for.
72. 4:03You see, earlier in the war, Shigeyoshi’s son had already surrendered and wrote a letter
73. 4:08to his father telling him to betray the Taira.
74. 4:11Funny thing was, the inept Taira leader Munemori was already warned by his fleet commander,
75. 4:17who was suspicious of Shigeyoshi.
76. 4:19The inept Taira leader Munemori refused to kill Shigeyoshi and instead allowed his men
77. 4:25to join the battle.
78. 4:26Not only did the traitor defect, he revealed which ship Emperor Antoku was actually on.
79. 4:32Yoshitsune was like, “Oof, strategy”
80. 4:34and told his men to stop attacking the decoy flagship
81. 4:37and attack Emperor Antoku’s boat instead.
82. 4:40It really looked like all hope was lost for the Taira.
83. 4:43It looked that way because it was that way.
84. 4:45The emperor’s grandmother was on the boat with him.
85. 4:47What do you do if you thought you were going to lose but you don’t want the emperor or
86. 4:51the Imperial regalia to fall into enemy hands?
87. 4:55Grandma grabbed two of the Imperial regalia, the jewel and the sword.
88. 4:59She also grabbed the six-year-old Emperor Antoku, and jumped into the sea,
89. 5:03drowning herself and her grandson.
90. 5:06Another Taira lady was right behind her
91. 5:08with a box that held the third piece of the Imperial regalia, the sacred mirror.
92. 5:12She was about to take a swim herself but a pesky life-saving arrow stuck her robe to
93. 5:17the side of the boat.
94. 5:18A few curious Minamoto samurai opened the box she was holding.
95. 5:22Suddenly, their eyes turned black and their noses spewed blood.
96. 5:26Someone said, “Stop! That is the sacred mirror not meant for impure eyes to gaze upon.”
97. 5:32No one else looked inside.
98. 5:33According to the Heike monogatari, the jewel was found later in the water,
99. 5:37but the sword was lost forever.
100. 5:39If that’s true, then the current sword is a replica, if it even exists.
101. 5:44Suicide by drowning became all the rage on the Taira side.
102. 5:48A bunch of the top Taira lords not only jumped into the sea,
103. 5:51they tied anchors to their bodies to make sure they drowned.
104. 5:54You can’t top that, right?
105. 5:56Well, the fleet commander Taira no Tomomori (平知盛) said “Hold my honor”
106. 6:00and not only tied an anchor to himself, he also wore a second heavy suit of armor
107. 6:05to make extra sure he drowned.
108. 6:07It would have been embarrassing if he had floated back up, you see.
109. 6:09Death resolves all embarrassment.
110. 6:12Inept Taira leader Munemori stayed on his ship taking his time, contemplating the merits
111. 6:17of suicide and would it really solve anything?
112. 6:19On the one hand, he would die with honor.
113. 6:21On the other hand, breathing water was unpleasant.
114. 6:24His internal debate was interrupted when a few soldiers ran past
115. 6:28and knocked him into the water.
116. 6:30His son jumped in with him.
117. 6:31They didn’t die though, a Minamoto samurai fished them up after a while,
118. 6:35but the inept Taira leader Munemori was later executed.
119. 6:38The mass self-drownings spawned a local legend about crabs.
120. 6:42There are crabs around the area that people call Heike crabs.
121. 6:46Their shells kind of look like faces of dead samurai.
122. 6:48Here, you can sort of see it if you look at this part of the shell
123. 6:51and then drink a couple of beers.
124. 6:53They say the spirits of dead Taira samurai inhabit these crabs.
125. 6:57The Battle of Dan-no-ura destroyed the Taira clan.
126. 7:00Yoshitsune, the commander on the Minamoto side, became a legend.
127. 7:04Too bad for him, because his brother Yoritomo, the leader of the Minamoto clan,
128. 7:08didn’t like competition.
129. 7:10Hey if you haven’t watched the other Genpei War videos, what the heck are you doing,
130. 7:13check them out here.
131. 7:15Alright we have a new emperor this week, David Lee Fish, thanks so much David!
132. 7:19Also the new patrons are Joshua Murchie and Zorathenne who sounds like an elf?
133. 7:23Thanks you guys, I appreciate it.
134. 7:25Alright much love to you, and spread the knowledge.