The Battles of Ichinotani and Yashima, from Tale of the Heike

The battles of Ichinotani (right screen) and Yashima (left screen) took place in early 1185, at the end of the grueling five-year Genpei War between the Minamoto (or Genji) and the Taira (also known as the Heike). The Minamoto emerged victorious and their leader, Yoritomo, became the first shogun of a new military government. The battles were immortalized in the thirteenth-century historical novel, Tale of the Heike. The tale held special relevance in the Edo period, when the concept of bushido, the "way of the samurai," developed.