Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/294

 Emperors. He is said to have lived 255 or 360 years, and to have been born about 200 Tametono was the most famous of the Minamoto archers, a clan noted for skill in that exercise. The legend also endows him with marvellous strength. Though captured by the Taira and mutilated, he escaped and fled to the islands to the southward. As to what happened then, the legends disagree. According to one, he was pursued, and after sinking one of the Tairo boats by means of an arrow, committed suicide. Another account says that he went to the Loochoo Islands and ruled over the people there. (See the Index.)

Yamato-take (77—113), a son of the Emperor Keiko and a great hero of the legendary days, was sent while still a youth to overcome the western rebels. This he did by disguising himself as a girl, and when the rebel chieftains had fallen victims to his charms, he drew his concealed sword and slew them. Then, obtaining the sacred sword from the shrine of Ise, he set out against the eastern Ainos. These he subdued after many adventures, and on his return march over the mountains had encounters with good and evil spirits, finally dying before he could reach his father's Court. His achievements are enshrined in many legends and have left their mark upon the names of various places. Many temples are dedicated to him.

Yoritomo (1147—1199), son of Minamoto Yoshitomo, became the first Shōgun and the founder of Japanese feudalism. When his father's force was finally overcome in 1159, the boy was captured and condemned to death. Kiyomori spared him at the intercession of his stepmother, and Yoritomo was placed in the care of two officers who were responsible for him. He grew up shrewd, ambitious, and unscrupulous. In 1180 he rose against Kiyomori's tyranny, and with the help of his half-brother Yoshitsune and his cousin Yoshinaka finally shattered the Taira power and exterminated the clan, root and branch. He made Kamakura his capital, and began the dual government that continued to exist until 1867. For this purpose he placed military men, his own relations, as civil governors over the provinces, and made them responsible to him, while he appointed military governors under like conditions. A permanent military force was to be maintained by each province. To these measures the Emperor consented, and in 1192 bestowed upon Yoritomo the title of Sei-i Tai Shōgun or Barbarian-subduing Generalissimo. He was one of the ablest rulers of Japan, but a heartless tyrant. He looked with disfavour upon all other persons of ability or ambition, and killed off all possible rivals, including his brother Yoshitsune. He left no successor; his own children were