Yoritomo was of noble and, as a descendant of the emperor Seiwa (reigned 858–876ce), even royal lineage. Analternativerendering of hisfamily name, Minamoto, is Genji (Genbeing the Chinese-derived reading of thekanjisymbol for Minamoto andji, meaning “clan” or “family,” from the word...
Gempei War, (1180–85), final struggle in Japan between the Taira and Minamoto clans that resulted in the Minamoto’s establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, a military dictatorship that dominated Japan from 1192 to 1333. The Taira clan had dominated th