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The Tale of the Heike Summary

The Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) is a Japanese war tale written in the Kamakura period. It tells how the Taira clan, also called the Heike, rose to great power under Taira no Kiyomori, then lost the war against the Minamoto clan (the Genpei War) and was destroyed at the sea battle of Dan-no-Ura. Blind storytellers called biwa hōshi spread the tale by chanting it to the music of the biwa, a Japanese lute. Its famous opening line, "The sound of the bell of Gion Shōja echoes the impermanence of all things," sums up its central Buddhist idea: the proud do not last long. No one knows for sure who wrote it, and there are several theories.

The story begins with Kiyomori's father, Taira no Tadamori, who becomes the first warrior allowed to enter the inner hall of the imperial palace. In Kiyomori's time, the Heike take control of the whole country. Meanwhile, their arrogant use of power leads to one sad event after another: the dancer Giō is cast aside by Kiyomori, a secret plot to bring down the Heike is hatched at Shishigatani, and the monk Shunkan is left behind alone on an island in exile.

Then Minamoto no Yorimasa and Prince Mochihito rise in revolt, and Minamoto warriors across the land take up arms. The Heike flee at the Fuji River, Kiyomori dies, and the clan suffers a crushing defeat at Kurikara Pass. They abandon the capital and retreat west. Kiso no Yoshinaka enters the capital, but he too is defeated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune and others. The battles continue with the cliffside charge at Ichi-no-Tani, the death of the young Atsumori, and the arrow shot at the fan target at Yashima. In the end, at Dan-no-Ura, the Heike sink into the sea together with the child emperor Antoku.

The tale closes with Kenreimon-in, the only member of the clan to survive. When Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa visits her hermitage in Ōhara, she tells him the story of her life, and she later passes away in peace.

Read from Episode 1 (free)

Story summary

  1. Episode 1First Victory of a Clan Doomed to the Sea — The Night Attack at Court (Tenjō no Yamiuchi)

    In the mangaEpisode 1 of the series. Taira no Tadamori becomes the first samurai ever allowed into the emperor's inner hall, and jealous court nobles plot to ambush him in the dark on a festival night. With his son Taira no Kiyomori watching, Tadamori never swings a blade. A "sword" that gleams in the dark and his loyal retainer Taira no Iesada are all he needs to silence the men who looked down on him.

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) is Japan's great war epic about the rise and fall of the Taira clan, also called the Heike, in the 12th century. It was spread for generations by blind monk-storytellers who chanted it to the music of the biwa, a Japanese lute. Many versions exist. The best known is the Kakuichi text, and wording and details differ somewhat from one version to another.

  2. Episode 2She Saved the New Girl—and Lost Her Stage — Giō (The Tale of the Heike)

    In the mangaGiō, a dancer adored by Kiyomori, the most powerful man in the capital, stands up for Hotoke, a bold young girl who shows up uninvited. Overnight, Giō is thrown out of the mansion. Humiliated and in despair, she becomes a nun. Then one autumn night, Hotoke comes knocking, having given up everything.

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike is a medieval Japanese war epic about the rise and fall of the Taira (Heike) clan in the 12th century. Early in the first book, before the battles begin, it stops to tell a quiet story about women. At its center is Giō, a shirabyōshi (a professional dancer-singer) loved by Taira no Kiyomori, the retired-priest chancellor who ruled the capital in all but name. Thanks to his favor, Giō's mother…

  3. Episode 3Our Coup Was a Pun. Someone Was Listening. — The Shishigatani Plot

    In the mangaOne night at a mountain villa in Shishigatani, a sake flask called a "heiji" tips over, and plotters laugh about toppling the Heike clan. But one of their own talks, and Kiyomori's revenge begins. Shunkan, the villa's owner, who laughed loudest of all, is about to lose everything. And when Kiyomori, clad in armor, goes too far, only one thing stops him: the tears of his son Shigemori, who arrives without armor. Episode 3.

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) is Japan's great war epic. It tells how the Taira clan, also called the Heike, rose to power and then fell in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Before any battles, though, there is an early warning sign: a secret plot in Shishigatani, a valley in the eastern hills of Kyoto. The story starts at the end of Book 1 and runs into Book 2. This article follows the Kakuichi version, the…

  4. Episode 4Two Were Pardoned. My Name Wasn't There. — Shunkan on Kikai-ga-shima

    In the mangaThree men were exiled together to a volcanic island, but when a pardon finally arrives, one name is missing: Shunkan's. He clings to the departing ship and is left alone on the beach. Years later, a boy crosses the sea to find him.

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) is a medieval Japanese war epic about the rise and fall of the Taira clan, also called the Heike. One of its most painful episodes, told across Books 2 and 3 of the Kakuichi version, follows three men exiled after a failed plot against the Taira leader Taira no Kiyomori. The plot was hatched at Shishigatani, a mountain villa near Kyoto that belonged to Shunkan, a…

  5. Episode 5An Old Monster-Slayer's Last Rebellion — The Battle of Uji Bridge

    In the mangaFurious at an insult to his son, the aging Minamoto warrior Yorimasa rises against the Heike with Prince Mochihito, only to watch a young warrior lead a raft of horses across the river at Uji. Long ago, he brought down the Nue, a monster hidden in black clouds, with a single arrow. Now he looses one last arrow at an unseen target in the fog to let the prince escape, and writes his death poem at the Byōdō-in. The second arrow left over from that night has already traveled east with the prince's order, into the hands of a young Minamoto.

    In the original mythIn 1180, the Taira family (the Heike) controlled the imperial court. Book Four of The Tale of the Heike tells how the first open revolt against them began. The episode summarized here follows the Kakuichi version, the most widely read text of the Heike. Other versions, such as the Engyō-bon and the Genpei Jōsuiki, differ in some details.

  6. Episode 6The Army That Lost to a Flock of Birds — Battle of Fujigawa / Death of Kiyomori

    In the mangaHaving moved the capital to Fukuhara, Taira no Kiyomori hands a vast army to his grandson Taira no Koremori to crush Minamoto no Yoritomo's uprising. But the Heike troops, already shaken by the old warrior Saitō no Sanemori's tales of eastern fighters, flee without a fight when a flock of waterfowl takes off in the night. The year after Nara's Great Buddha Hall burns, Kiyomori, a tyrant who still had a soft spot for his own family, is seized by a fever like fire. His last command: "Hang Yoritomo's head before my grave."

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) is a medieval Japanese war epic about the rise and fall of the Taira clan, also called the Heike, during the Genpei War of the 1180s. It was performed aloud by blind reciters who played the biwa, a Japanese lute. The text most people read today, the Kakuichi version, is the one this episode follows. Episode 6 draws on Book 5 (the capital move and the Battle of Fujigawa, plus…

  7. Episode 7He Won the Battle, Then Wept Over His Foe — Battle of Kurikara Pass / Saitō Sanemori

    In the mangaAt Kurikara Pass, Kiso no Yoshinaka drives the vast Heike army into a valley under cover of night. In the battle at Shinohara that follows, a nameless old warrior fights on alone to the very end. When his head is washed, the black dye runs out of his hair—and the white beneath is revealed.

    In the original mythIn the fifth month of 1183, a huge Heike (Taira clan) army marched up the Hokurikudō, the road along Japan's Sea of Japan coast, to crush the rebel Minamoto commander Kiso no Yoshinaka. The two sides met at Mount Tonami, on the border between Etchū and Kaga provinces (today's Toyama and Ishikawa). Yoshinaka knew that meeting so large a force head-on in open country would be a mistake. His plan was to hold the Heike…

  8. Episode 8Fleeing a Burning City, He Turned Back — Tadanori Leaves the Capital

    In the mangaAs the Heike flee west from the burning capital, the warrior-poet Taira no Tadanori turns back with a handful of retainers. At the barred gate of his poetry teacher, Fujiwara no Shunzei (Toshinari), he hands over a scroll of more than a hundred of his poems. Years later, Shunzei keeps his promise and places one poem in the realm's greatest anthology. But the poet's name has to be hidden as "Poet Unknown." It takes a very long time for that name to come home.

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike is a medieval Japanese war chronicle about the fall of the Taira (also called Heike), the warrior clan that ruled the court until the Genpei War (1180–1185). This article follows the Kakuichi version, the text long chanted by blind lute-playing storytellers. Episode 8 of the manga is drawn from Book 7, which tells how the clan lost the capital, Kyoto, in the summer of 1183.

  9. Episode 9He Sent Away His Best Samurai—a Woman — The Death of Kiso Yoshinaka

    In the mangaDriven from the capital, Kiso no Yoshinaka flees to a lakeshore with only a handful of riders. He orders Tomoe, the fiercest woman warrior of all, to leave him, and resolves to die beside his childhood friend Imai no Kanehira. A lord and two loyal followers each choose their own path in this tale of a lakeside in the season of melting snow.

    In the original mythEarly in 1184, Kiso no Yoshinaka, a Minamoto general who had taken over Kyoto, the capital, has become hated for the violence of his troops. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Minamoto leader based in Kamakura in eastern Japan, sends his younger brothers to remove him: Noriyori leads the main army toward Seta, and Yoshitsune leads a second force toward Uji. Yoshinaka has the planks pulled up from the bridges at both places…

  10. Episode 10They Said Only Deer Could Come Down — Battle of Ichi-no-Tani (Hiyodori-goe) / Death of Tadanori

    In the mangaThe Heike laugh that nothing but deer could come down the cliff behind their fortress at Ichi-no-Tani. Then Minamoto no Yoshitsune lets an old horse find the way through the mountains and leads his riders straight down the cliff to hit the fortress from behind. Taira no Tadanori, who left one of his poems with his teacher on the night the Heike fled the capital, is cut down in the chaos. But a single poem tied to his quiver turns him from an enemy's head with no name back into a poet.

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike is a Japanese war epic about the fall of the Taira clan (also called the Heike) in the Genpei War of the 1180s. It was told aloud by blind storytellers who played the biwa, a kind of lute. This episode follows several chapters in Book Nine. In early 1184, after being driven from the capital, the Taira returned to their old base at Fukuhara, near modern Kobe. Their eastern gate stood at the…

  11. Episode 11Under the Helmet, a Boy His Son's Age — The Death of Atsumori

    In the mangaAfter the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani, Kumagai no Naozane is still hungry for glory. He waves his fan at a young warrior fleeing into the sea, calls him back, and pins him down. Under the helmet is the face of a boy about his own son's age. Then Naozane sees the flute at the boy's hip and remembers the music he heard before dawn.

    In the original myth"The Death of Atsumori" (Atsumori no saigo) is one of the best-known chapters of The Tale of the Heike, Japan's great war epic about the Genpei War (1180–1185) between the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) clans. This summary follows the Kakuichi version, the standard text chanted by blind storytellers who played the biwa (a Japanese lute). Other versions differ in small details. The chapter is in Book 9, right…

  12. Episode 12One Arrow, Two Armies, No Second Chance — Nasu no Yoichi and the Fan Target / The Battle of Yashima

    In the mangaThe Battle of Yashima. Satō no Tsuginobu dies taking an arrow meant for his lord, Minamoto no Yoshitsune. That evening, a Heike boat rows out with a crimson fan and a challenge. An unknown young archer, Nasu no Yoichi, swears to take his own life if he misses, and looses a single arrow while both armies watch. Then the cheering turns cruel. We learn why Yoshitsune risked his life for a dropped bow, and we follow the young archer into a long, lonely night.

    In the original mythThe Battle of Yashima took place in the second month of 1185, during the Genpei War between two warrior clans: the Minamoto (also called the Genji) and the Taira (the Heike). Book 11 of The Tale of the Heike tells it in three linked episodes. This article follows the Kakuichi version, the standard text recited by blind lute-playing storytellers, and notes where other versions or later traditions add details. At…

  13. Episode 13An Emperor, Age 8, Carried Into the Sea — The Battle of Dan-no-ura / The Death of Tomomori

    In the mangaTo the sound of a biwa, the Heike's final day begins. Taira no Tomomori is the first of his clan to realize the battle is lost. He watches a betrayal, the young Emperor and his grandmother sinking into the sea, and Noritsune's last fight. Then, saying "I have seen all that I needed to see," he takes the hand of Ienaga, the retainer who grew up beside him like a brother, and leaps into the waves.

    In the original mythThe Battle of Dan-no-ura is the climax of The Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari), the great Japanese war epic about the fall of the Taira clan (the Heike) to the Minamoto clan (the Genji). In the version usually treated as standard, the Kakuichi text, it takes up most of Book 11. The battle was fought in 1185 at sea, in the narrow strait between Honshu and Kyushu, near modern Shimonoseki.

  14. Episode 14He Doomed Her Clan—Then Came to Visit — The Imperial Visit to Ōhara (Kenreimon-in)

    In the mangathe series finale. Kenreimon-in was the only one of her clan pulled alive from the sea at Dan-no-Ura. Now she spends her days in prayer at a mountain hermitage in Ōhara. One early summer, Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, the man who ordered the war that destroyed her family, comes to see her in secret. She tells him to his face how much she has resented him. Then she begins to tell her life story as a journey through six realms.

    In the original mythThe Tale of the Heike does not end on the battlefield. In the widely read Kakuichi version, the final section, the Initiates' Chapter (Kanjō no maki), follows one survivor: Kenreimon-in, born Taira no Tokuko. She was the daughter of Taira no Kiyomori, the warlord who led the Taira (Heike) clan, and the mother of the child emperor Antoku. At the sea battle of Dan-no-Ura in 1185, when the Taira were destroyed by the…