photo #1812499

Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189) was a leader during the Genpei War (1180-1185) between the Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heike) clans.Yoshitsune joined Yoritomo when the latter raised an army to fight the Taira Clan in 1180. Yoshitsune led his clan to a succession of victories, culminating with the battle of Dan-no-ura in what's now Yamanashi Prefecture. However, after the war was won and Yoritomo founded the Kamakura Shogunate, he became suspicious of his half-brother, nullifying his titles and forcing him to go back into hiding in Hiraizumi in 1185. However, after his patron Hidehira died in 1187, Yoshitsune was betrayed by his son, who surrounded his residence and forced him to commit suicide.The incident is particularly famous for the Standing Death of Benkei, a fearsome warrior monk who had been Yoshitsune's retainer since the latter defeated him at a bridge in Kyoto. On his final day, it's said Benkei killed more than 300 men singlehandedly as he guarded the bridge to Yoshitsune's residence, after which the soldiers attacked him from a distance with arrows. Though he eventually stopped moving, he did not fall, and when at last the soldiers worked up the courage to cross the bridge, they found that Benkei had died standing on his feet.