The Tale of Hōgen

[1] This literary and historical classic is believed to have been completed in the Kamakura period ca.

[2] As in the Heiji story, multi-level and inter-related rivalries lead to war; and the main characters are presented in traditional status order: Emperors and former Emperors first, Fujiwara ministers second, and Minamoto clan warriors third.

[3] As in the Heiji story, the narrative structure is divided in three segments: The Japanese have developed a number of complementary strategies for capturing, preserving and disseminating the essential elements of their commonly accepted national history – chronicles of sovereigns and events, biographies of eminent persons and personalities, and the military tale or gunki monogatari.

This last form evolved from an interest in recording the activities of military conflicts in the late 12th century.

The accuracy of each of these historical records has become a compelling subject for further study; and some accounts have been shown to withstand close scrutiny, while other presumed “facts” have turned out to be inaccurate.