Robert Van Bergen

The Oldest Clans of Japan

If an emperor had more than one son, the younger sons would, if they married and had children, become the founders of noble houses. Thus, in the course of time, a nobility was formed, the members of which were, or claimed to be, descendants of a former Tennô. And just as the nobles of Europe had a family coat of arms, so did the nobles of Japan adopt some flower or animal by which the members of their family or clan could be known.

The three principal clans at this time were the Fujiwara (foo-jee-wah-rah), whose emblem was the blue wistaria, the Minamoto (mee-nah-moh-toh)  with the white gentian as emblem, and the Taira (ti-rah), whose coat of arms was a red butterfly. The head of each clan was usually called by the clan name. At first the Fujiwara clan held the power behind the throne and the head of this house was the man who for a long time selected the emperor or made him retire to a cloister, according to his docility in obeying the orders of the Fujiwara. All the offices among the people were occupied by members of this clan; that is, all the civil offices, for the army was in command of two other clans. The Minamoto clan were intrusted with the subduing of the independent tribes in the northern part of Hondo, and, after many years of fighting, succeeded. The Taira were engaged in destroying the pirates who infested the Inland Sea; that is, the sea between Hondo, Shikoku (shee-kohk), and Kiushiu.

An army crossing a ford.

But after the pirates had disappeared and the whole of the island of Hondo had been brought under the rule of the Tennô, the Minamoto and Taira returned to the capital, and when they saw the influence and power of the Fujiwara, they became very jealous. Yet, so great was the respect for the dignity of the Tennô, that neither of the two great military clans, powerful and strong as they were, ventured to oppose the ruling clan. But in the twelfth century something happened that gave the Taira an opportunity to interfere, and swords flew out of their scabbards, and blood flowed, while the country was first made acquainted with the horrors of a civil war.

An army crossing a mountain.

The emperor was dead. He had been a puppet in the hands of the Fujiwara, but on his deathbed he left the throne to his elder brother, instead of to his baby son. This did not suit the ruling clan at all, and they called upon the Minamoto to aid them in placing the baby emperor upon the throne. But the brother of the late emperor insisted upon his rights, and asked the Taira to help him. The head of this clan, a very able and ambitious man, was but too anxious to secure the influence held by the Fujiwara by placing an emperor upon the throne. So a great battle was fought in Kyoto in which the Fujiwara and the Minamoto were defeated, and the Taira secured the throne for the rightful heir.

But as soon as they had succeeded in doing this, they locked the emperor up as tightly as the Fujiwara had done before; and when the Tennô, who seems to have been really an able man, protested against this treatment, Taira had his head shaved, and sent him off to a cloister, after which he placed an eighteen-year-old boy upon the throne.

Now, some of the members of the Minamoto clan had helped the Taira, because they were jealous of the power of the Fujiwara. But when Taira was in power, he acted with such cruelty against the Minamoto that the members of the two defeated clans entered into a conspiracy against him. Taira, however, was wide awake. Long before all the plans of the conspirators were completed, the members of the Minamoto were attacked in the streets of Kyoto. No mercy was asked or given, and again blood flowed freely. Indeed, so well did Taira do his work, that he destroyed almost the entire clan of the Minamoto. The head of that unfortunate clan escaped for a short time, but was discovered by one of the Taira, and murdered.

The new regent—for such he was in reality, because the emperor was not consulted in any act pertaining to the government—now discharged nearly all the officers of the Fujiwara, and filled their places with members of his own clan. The people were not consulted, and did not care much. For even at that time, while every clan liked to be in power, its members never sought office for gain but did their work honestly and well.