Hello, and welcome to the History of Japan podcast. Episode 5.

Dream on a spring night.

The tolling of the Gionn Shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things.

The color of the flowers of the Sala tree reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline.

The proud do not endure.

They are like a dream on a spring night. The mighty fall at last.

There is dust before the wind. So opens the tale of the Heke, a fictionalized account of the Civil War which resulted in the complete collapse of the Heon system and the rise of the first

samurai-dominated government. That collapse is our topic for this

week. When I was initially planning this podcast, I knew there would be a few points where I would

need to slow down the frantic pace of the overview episodes and really concentrate on a few of the

decisive turning points of Japanese history. We've reached the first of these periods now.

The collapse of the Heon system and the rise of the warrior class to political power

marks one of the most decisive shifts in Japanese history.

The changes wrought here, particularly in where political power in Japan is vested,

will have resounding implication. From the end of the Heian period, up until

the year 1868, the warrior class will dominate Japan. For that reason, I felt that the collapse

of the Heon system and the political rise of the warrior class was a topic worthy of our close

attention. But before we can get into it, we need to discuss why the Heian system, which was so stable, ended up collapsing into a series of brutal civil wars.

There are three primary factors in its decline.

The first is what is called the Shohen-say, or Shohen system.

Shohen were privately held estates granted by the Emperor.

They are a gift from the Emperor to a loyal servant of tax-free

...