Hello, the episode you're about to listen to is part of a multi-part series introducing an overview

of Japanese history.

This is a repeat of one of the original projects the History of Japan podcast was built on,

and is intended to serve as an update and supplement to these original works.

After 10 years, my hope is to return to this approach and to do it a little bit better,

given the skills that I have improved in the intervening years.

If you haven't been doing so already, you should listen to these episodes sequentially,

starting with episode 501.

Without any further ado, enjoy the balance.

When last we left things, the ascendant warrior class of Japan had become major players in the Kenmon

system, the system of decentralized power centered on wealthy families or institutions

who collectively managed the imperial state. Thanks to the Hogan and Haji rebellions of 1156 and

1160, it had become clear to basically everyone that,

going forward, warrior power was going to matter a lot in terms of politics, and that you

couldn't just assume said warriors would be easy to control for your own purposes.

Indeed, those very warriors had shown a willingness to engage in shocking breaches of the nonviolent

rules of engagement that had dominated Kyoto politics for centuries.

Previous competitions for power had been brutal, yes, but generally solved with an exile or two.

Now, instead, palaces were being burned, heads were being displayed.

There were, in essence, no rules anymore.

And in this violent struggle, the man who had emerged on top was one Taira no Kiyomori,

sion of the Kanmu-Taira family, and after crushing the Minamoto and northern Fujiwara militarily,

...