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Battle of Yashima
Part of theGenpei War
Battle of Yashima folding screens
Date March 22, 1185 Location Yashima, just offShikoku in theSeto Inland Sea 34°20′44″N134°07′20″E / 34.34561°N 134.12233°E /34.34561; 134.12233 Result Minamoto victory
Belligerents
Minamoto clan	Taira clan
Commanders and leaders
Minamoto no Yoshitsune	Taira no Munemori Taira no Noritsune[1]: 122–125
Strength
140 ships, 1,000 Cavalry, 30,000 horses[2]	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Satō Tsugunobu	Unknown
class=notpageimage| Location within Japan

Battle of Yashima (屋島の戦い) was one of the battles of theGenpei War on March 22, 1185, in theHeian period. It occurred inSanuki Province (Shikoku), which is nowTakamatsu, Kagawa.

Following a long string of defeats, theTaira clan retreated to Yashima, today'sTakamatsu, just off the coast ofShikoku. Here they had afortress, and an improvised palace forEmperor Antoku and theimperial regalia, which they had taken earlier in the war.

On the 18th, a Minamoto force tried to cross the sea but many of the boats were damaged in a storm.Kajiwara Kagetoki then suggested adding "reverse oars" to the boats, which prompted an argument fromMinamoto no Yoshitsune. Finally after the boats were repaired and despite the high winds, Yoshitsune departed with only five of the 200 boats carrying about 150 of his men. After arriving in Tsubaki Bay, inAwa Province, Yoshitsune advanced intoSanuki Province through the night reaching the bay with the Imperial Palace at Yashima, and the houses inMure andTakamatsu.^[3]

TheTaira were expecting a naval attack, and soYoshitsune lit bonfires onShikoku, essentially in their rear, fooling theTaira into believing that a large force was approaching on land. They abandoned their palace, and took to their ships, along with Emperor Antoku and the imperial regalia.^[4]

In a memorable account in theHeike monogatari, a "very beautiful lady" in aHeike boat, placed a fan atop a pole, and dared theMinamoto to knock it off. In one of the most famous archery feats in all of Japanese history,Nasu no Yoichi rode out into the sea on horseback, and did just that in one shot.^[1] TheMinamoto were victorious, but the majority of theTaira fleet escaped toDan-no-ura, where they were defeated one month later in theBattle of Dan-no-ura.^[5][6]

• 
  Location of the battlefield
• 
  Movement of Minamoto forces in blue
• 
  Battle movement at Yashima
• 
  Nasu no Yoichi firing his famous shot at a fan atop the mast of a Taira ship. From a hanging scroll, Watanabe Museum, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.
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  Battle of Yashima by Utagawa Kunisada

• Satō Tsugunobu
• The Tale of Heike

• Naval battles of the Genpei War
• 1180s in Japan
• 1185 in Asia
• Conflicts in 1185
• Sanuki Province
• Takamatsu, Kagawa
• Military history of Kagawa Prefecture

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 errors: ISBN date
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Military articles needing translation from Japanese Wikipedia
• Coordinates on Wikidata