The New Tale of Taira (2)

The evil left-side minister, Yorinaga Fujiwara, and the abdicated emperor, Sutoku, rebelled against Goshirakawa and the former emperor Toba's mistress, Mifukumonin. The insurgents lost the Hogen War. Political power shifted to the winners of the Hogen Rebellion, the lower secretary, Shinzei Fujiwara. The young nobleman, Nobuyori Fujiwara, believed Shinzei did not take him seriously. The head of the Minamoto tribe, Yoshitomo, felt inferior to Kiyomori Taira in the new government. Nobuyori and Yoshitomo imprisoned the emperor Nijo and the abdicated emperor Goshirakawa. They dared to overthrow the government. The two samurai tribes, Taira and Minamoto, fought the Heiji battle. The Fujiwara aristocracy, who had dominated politics for over 400 years, relinquished its power. Kiyomori Taira defeated Yoshitomo Minamoto. Kiyomori became the new powerful man in the government. The aristocratic Heian era came to an end.

Eiji Yoshikawa (1892 - 1962) is one of Japan's best-known writerAs of popular literature. He wrote novels about historical characters and themes from an early age. From 1935 to 1939, he published the serial novel Miyamoto Musashi in a weekly newspaper. Japanese read no other serial novel as widely as Miyamoto Musashi. His literary portrayal of the famous swordsman resonated strongly with the Japanese suffering under the miserable circumstances of the Second World War. As renowned literature novel, Miyamoto Musashi was a great success. Eiji Yoshikawa was very disappointed by the defeat of the Second World War and the unimaginable destruction of Japan and was unable to write for several years. He only began writing the great novel Shin Heike Monogatari, The New Tale of Taira, in 1950 and completed it after 7 years. In this novel, which Shukan Asahi published as a newspaper series, Eiji Yoshikawa interpreted the classic novel The Tale of The Heike from a new perspective. The Taira tribe perishes in the power struggle against arch-rival Minamoto. This long novel appealed to many Japanese, whom the postwar situation badly shook. A literature scholar says this novel is his lifework and an eternal literature of Japan.