The Dawn of the Warrior Age
War Tales From Medieval Japan
Columbia University Press · Print & ebook · April 2, 2024
The war between the Heike and Genji clans in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is among the most compelling and significant moments in Japan’s history, immortalized in The Tale of the Heike.
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- Who it’s for
- Three translated war tales trace the shift from Kyoto’s imperial court to Kamakura’s warrior government.
- Genres
- Japanese History, Japanese Literary Collections, Medieval Warfare
- Published
- Columbia University Press, April 2, 2024
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The war between the Heike and Genji clans in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is among the most compelling and significant moments in Japan’s history, immortalized in The Tale of the Heike. Beyond the events recorded in this canonical text, the conflicts of the surrounding years are crucial to medieval Japanese culture and history. In 1156, power began to slip away from the court nobility in Kyoto.
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A shogunate was later founded in Kamakura, and in 1221, it won a decisive victory over the court. The three war tales translated in this book tell the story of these critical decades, vividly recording stages in the passage from rule by the imperial court in Kyoto to rule by the warrior government in Kamakura. “The Tale of the Hōgen Years” recounts a deposed emperor’s disastrous attempt to regain the throne in 1156. “The Tale of the Heiji Years” narrates a bloody clash between rival courtier factions in 1159. “An Account of the Jōkyū Years” records Kamakura’s victory over the imperial attempt to overthrow it in 1221. These works do not simply complete the story of The Tale of the Heike—they are classics of Japanese literature in their own right. Royall Tyler’s lively translation masterfully conveys the nature of medieval Japanese warfare, rendering aristocratic power politics and the brutal realities of violence with equal aplomb. The Dawn of the Warrior Age is an essential book for readers interested in premodern Japanese history and literature.
Kyoto to Kamakura
Three translated war tales trace the shift from Kyoto’s imperial court to Kamakura’s warrior government.
Come here for
- The 1156 struggle over the throne
- Kamakura’s victory over the imperial court in 1221
Expect
- A deposed emperor’s failed attempt to regain the throne
- Aristocratic power politics alongside the violence of medieval warfare
Where it sits
| Japanese History | 91% |
|---|---|
| Japanese Literary Collections | 74% |
| Medieval Warfare | 51% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Japanese Literary Collections
- Medieval Collections
- Japanese Literary Criticism
- Authors
- Royall Tyler
- Publisher
- Columbia University Press
- Published
- April 2, 2024
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Japanese Literary Collections