Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/295

RV 265 weaklings from whom the power soon passed to the family of Yoritomo's wife, the Hōjō family. (See the Index.)

Toshiiye, called Hachiman Taro, or first-born of the God of War Hachiman, was a member of the Minamoto clan in the eleventh century. He gave to his clan its first great prominence by conquering the northern portion of the main island. Yoritomo was his great-great-grandson.

Toshinaka, called the Morning-sun Shōgun because of his brilliant and sudden rise to power, was a cousin of Yoritomo. Taking up arms against the Taira, he descended upon the capital, Kyōtō, and captured it. The Taira fled with the young Emperor Antoku (q. v.), and Yoshinaka proclaimed Gotoba Emperor. The victor acted in an arbitrary manner, incensed the cloistered ex-Emperor Goshirakawa, became jealous of his superior, Yoritomo, and finally forced from the Court the title of Shōgun. Yoritomo sent Yoshitsune against their cousin, and the young Shōgun's glory sank, as quickly as it had risen, in defeat and death. He was thirty-one years old.

Yoshitsune (born in 1159), called the Bayard of Japan, was a half-brother of Yoritomo, his mother being a concubine. She sacrificed herself to the demands of Kiyomori in order to save her son's life. The child was sent to a monastery to become a Buddhist monk, but he escaped and found shelter in the north. When Yoritomo rose against the Taira power, Yoshitsune joined him and became his greatest general. Yoshitsune's military ability and the admiration with which he was greeted, excited the jealousy of his unnatural brother, who determined to compass his death, but Yoshitsune again escaped to the friendly North. The touching letter that he wrote to his brother is still treasured in Japanese literature for its pathos and fraternal affection. He was finally put to death by his protector's son, who had been suborned by Yoritomo. He is one of the most popular heroes of Japanese history, and many traditions have gathered around his name. According to one of these, he was not killed, but escaped to Yezo, where he lived among the Ainos for many years; a statement that finds some support in the fact that his memory is greatly reverenced by the inhabitants of that island. Another tradition says that he escaped to the mainland and became the great Mongul Emperor, Jenghis Khan. (See the Index, and Benkei.)

Yamagata, Marquis (1838—), a member of the Chōshiu clan, took part in the Revolution of 1867, and became Under Secretary of War in 1868. He observed the Franco-Prussian war, and after having been assigned to command the army intended for the invasion of Korea in 1873, was appointed Secretary of War in 1876. He is

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