"Sources for Gempei war?" Topic

Stylistically, I prefer battles where you can have individual heroes make a difference in the outcome.

For Samurai gaming, this means Gempei war. What books do you suggest for starting inspiration?

I'll probably catch a bunch crap for this. When I started I read almost everything that Stephen Turnbull wrote on the period. It's easy to read and very informative, and a plus is it has color prints in the books. There are many Turnbull haters out there but as they say, to each their own. TIG

I'd start with English translations of the "Heike Monogatari" (Tales of the Taira Clan) – there are two good ones that complement each other; the 2 volume set by Hiroshi Kitagawa and Bruce T. Tsuchida and the Helen McCullough version:

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Helen Helen McCullough also translated the Yoshitsune chronicle which makes a great read.

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Another one to look out for is "Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales" by Paul Varley which mainly concentrates on the early bushi:

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Karl Friday, William Wayne Farris and Thomas Conlan have also made some great studies of the "Horse and Bow" era.

As well as books you might find inspiration from some of the TV dramas and films dealing with the people and events of Gempei; every year the Japanese public broadcaster, NHK, runs a history drama serial. In 2005 it was Minamoto Yoshitsune and next year it is Taira Kiyomori (I really want to get hold of the one shown around 1993/4 about the Oshu Fujiwara clan up until its annihilation by Yoritomo).

Some other movies I mentioned in an earlier thread:
Taira no Kiyomori – 1992, directed by: Kudo Eiichi
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Minamoto no Yoshitsune – 1990, directed by: Masuda Toshio
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Minamoto Yoshitsune – 1991, directed by: Yamashita Kosaku
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Stephen Turnbull has stated that his main interest is the 16th century Sengoku-jidai and perhaps he's probably quite good at covering that although I have little interest in that period myself so I can't really say. When dealing with the Gempei War (and the following 2-3 centuries!) his books almost seem to treat it as a quick, superficial prologue before he gets to what he deems the "important" era.

I've noticed that about the Ospreys, too. You'd think that something as significant to Japan as the ACW is to the US or the Troubles is to Ireland would get a little more press.

In the Early Samurai Osprey (Elite 35), the Gempei war gets all of 4 pages, including the pictures!

Thanks, Durruti! Ordered both versions of the Tales of the Heike.

I may have found my project for my school year in Japan… translating early Japanese histories.

Good luck, LitS, I studied early Japanese when I was still studying Japanese history (before I switched majors to nautical archaeology) and found it challenging. I'm sure you'll do better than me.

I liked the Mccullough versions of the Heike Monogatari and Yoshitsune.

I was one of Dr. Varley's grad students* at U of Hawaii and would recommend his book(s), as well as both Friday and Farris. I didn't read Conlan, I'll have to go look for him.

For a more fantastic storyline you could look for Jessica Salmonson's 'Tomoe Gozen' novels.

Cpt Arexu

*my MA was on Japanese piracy, trade, and diplomacy during the Ming dynasty – that let me look at the whole range of foreign contact from Ashikaga through Sengoku to Tokugawa.