Zenkunen War

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Zenkunen War
partof=Clan disputes of the Heian period


caption=
date=1051-1063
place=Mutsu province, Tohoku region, Japan
casus=Disputes over control of Mutsu province
territory=
result=Imperial victory
combatant1=Japanese Imperial government
combatant2=Abe clan
commander1=Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, Minamoto no Yoshiie
commander2=Abe no Yoritoki, Abe no Sadato
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=
casualties3=
notes=

The Zenkunen War (前九年合戦, "zenkunen kassen"), also known by the English translation Early Nine-Years War, was fought from 1051 to 1063, in Japan's Mutsu province, at the far north of the main island of Honshū. Like the other major conflicts of the Heian period, such as the Gosannen War and the Genpei War, the Zenkunen war was a struggle for power within the samurai clans.

While most provinces were overseen by just a Governor, Mutsu, in what is now the Tohoku region, had a military general in charge of controlling the Ainu natives, who had been subjugated when the Japanese took over the area in the ninth century. Historically, this post was always held by a member of the Abe clan, and there were many conflicts between the Abe general and the Governor over administrative control of the province.

In 1050, the general overseeing the Ainu was Abe no Yoritoki, who levied taxes and confiscated property on his own, rarely paying any heed to the wishes of the province's Governor. The Governor sent word to the capital in Kyoto asking for help, and as a result Minamoto no Yoriyoshi was appointed both Governor and commander-in-chief over controlling the natives. He was sent with his son Yoshiie, then age fifteen, to stop Abe.

The fighting lasted for twelve years, or nine if one subtracts short periods of ceasefire and peace. Skirmishes were fierce and many, but few major battles were fought until the battle of Kawasaki in 1057. Abe no Yoritoki had been killed shortly before, and the Minamoto were now fighting his son, Abe no Sadato, who defeated them at Kawasaki and pursued them through a blizzard.

The government forces, led by the Minamoto, had much trouble for quite some time, due to the harsh terrain and weather, but were eventually reinforced with new troops, including many offered by the Governor, a member of the Kiyohara family, of the nearby Dewa province. In 1062, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, along with his son, led an assault on an Abe fortress on the Kuriyagawa. They diverted the water supply, stormed the earthworks and stockade, and set the fortress aflame. After two days of fighting, Sadato surrendered.

Minamoto no Yoshiie is thus considered the founder of the Minamoto clan's great martial legacy, and is worshiped as a particularly special and powerful ancestor "kami" of the clan. As a "kami" and a legend, he is often called "Hachimantarō", "Child of Hachiman, the god of war."

References

*Sansom, George (1958). 'A History of Japan to 1334'. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.