Taira no Kiyomori

Taira no Kiyomori (1118 – 1181) was a military leader of the Late Heian Period who, while enforcing the will of the emperor, established the first military government.

He was the son of Taira no Tadamori, the head of the Taira clan. He entered the military when he was twelve years old and quickly rose in rank. He became the head of the Taira clan after Tadamori’s death in 1153. He became closely tied with the Emperor when he and Minamoto no Yoshitomo sided with Emperor Go-Shirakawa in the Hōgen Rebellion. This was the beginning of his rise in national politics through providing military support to the emperor.

When the Heiji Disturbance began, Kiyomori was away from Kyoto on a pilgrimage. The Heiji Disturbance was complex, pitting supporters of Emperor Nijō against those of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa and factions within Go-Shirakawa’s cloistered government, namely Fujiwara no Michinori (Shinzei) against Fujiwara no Nobuyori. Both Emperor Nijō and Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa were taken prisoner after a surprise night attack. To add to the fray, Kiyomori’s former ally, Minamoto no Yoshitomo provided military forces against Emperor Nijō. Kiyomori, once again, sided with the emperor, this time Emperor Nijō and defeated the anti-Shinzei group and the Minamoto. After the death of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and his eldest sons, the Taira clan emerged as the most powerful clan in Kyoto. In the aftermath, Kiyomori supported both Emperor Nijō and Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa leveraging his dual loyalty to emerge as the dominant force, both politically and militarily. He did make one fatal error for the Taira clan: he spared the lives of Yoshitomo’s young sons, Yoritomo, Noriyori, and Yoshitsune.

Kiyomori’s balancing act was put to the test in 1161 when Nijo discovered a plot to make Go-Shirakawa’s seventh son emperor. The boy was born to Taira no Shigeko, who had been raised by Kiyomori’s daughter. Nijo removed several Fujiwara clan members from office and ended Go-Shirakawa’s cloistered government. Kiyomori strengthened his relationship with Nijo by providing samurai to protect Nijo from attack. Kiyomori cemented ties with the Fujiwara through marriage of his daughter to kampaku Fujiwara no Motozane, thus ensuring ties with one of the sekkan families. Not to be overlooked, Kiyomori supported Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa by building Rengeo-in Temple and donating a manor and land to him. Kiyomori was richly rewarded with honors, culminating in being appointed Daijō-Daijin in 1167, chief minister of the government and de facto administrator of the imperial government.

Emperor Nijō died in 1165 and Emperor Rokujo succeeded him. Since Rokujo was but a child, Motozane took political leadership as regent and Kiyomori became Dainagon (Chief Counsel of State) and assisted Motozane.

Motozane died suddenly in 1166. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Motofusa and Go-Shirakawa began restoring his cloistered government. Even though Kiyomori had supported Go-Shirakawa, he did not trust Go-Shirakawa and did not want a restoration of Go-Shirakawa’s cloistered government. Furthermore, Motofusa was very loyal to Go-Shirakawa, so Kiyomori did not trust him either. Kiyomori arranged for many of the properties that Motozane possessed to be inherited by his widow. In 1167, Kiyomori retired from politics, leaving his son, Shigemori in charge.

In 1168, Kiyomori fell ill (perhaps a tapeworm) and entered the priesthood, taking vows on the same day as Go-Shirakawa. Upon recovering, he retired to present day Kobe, where he engaged in trade with Sung China, presenting Sung envoys to Go-Shirakawa. In 1171, he arranged the marriage of his daughter Tokuko to Emperor Takakura and in doing so, not only was he related to a sekkan family but also the imperial family. Their son would be Emperor Antoku. But, as Kiyomori’s power and influence waxed, his personal relationships waned. Many courtiers, governmental leaders, and provincial clans began to oppose him.

In 1177, Kiyomori discovered a plot against him. He removed several of Go-Shirakawa’s allies, though he did not punish Goo-Shirakawa. 1179 was a bad year for Kiyomori: his son Shigemori, to whom he had entrusted his government and his daughter, Moriko, the wife of regent Motozane, both died. Go-Shirakawa seized properties under control of Shigemori and Moriko and began asserting power in his cloistered government.

In December of 1179, Kiyomori staged a coup d’état and ended Go-Shirakawa’s cloistered government, and confined Go-Shirakawa to Toba-donno. The next year, 1180, he forced emperor Takakura to resign and installed Emperor Antoku.

Forces were gathering against Kiyomori. Go-Shirakawa sent his son Prince Mochihito to find allies against Kiyomori, and, to prove no good deed goes unpunished, the Minamoto boys, Yoritomo, Noriyori, and Yoshitsune, whose lives were spared in Heiji no ran, drew up forces against the Taira, beginning the Genpei War.

Kiyomori became ill and died in 1180. He had appointed his son Munemori to lead the Taira clan, but Munemori was not up to the task. The Taira were forced from Kyoto in 1183, then destroyed in the Battle of Dan no Ura in 1185.