Probably won't be updating this until end of July

Well, it happened. Due to some terribly insane surge in workplace cases, I decided to help out for the next two months. This probably means I won't be updating this blog until July says bye instead of hi.

At the same time, High Isle will come out on 6th June. This means I'm going to spend quite a bit of time running through the new zones, doing quests, and playing Tales of Tribute. Not to mention as well rap building for the new companions. And yes, sealing all the Mount Fujis as well. Who would have imagined volcanic activities beyond Morrowind? Then again, Japan isn't the only nation with volcanoes.

Basically, this post is bibimbap of different stuff.

Analysing stuff

I still don't know how Pastor Lee and Mr Chin knew my penchant for analysing things and posting them on Facebook. In case you've yet to notice it, Twitter is never constructive for analysis. There could only be two possibilities: Either they knew I was masquerading as Pang Tong and Fa Zheng or there's a secret stalker/admirer/guardian/Xi Shi in the church.

As for Ryan, I didn't recall saying I was an honest person. I still remember that was a YAF program taught by Mr Lee (i.e. before he was ordained as Pastor Lee) stressing the importance of affirming people (i.e. no one can say people aren't capable of being terrible because we really are). So what was Ryan's affirmation to me? My honesty. I'm never the most honest person in the world, but I can assure everybody I'd never say I'm honest. So who told Ryan that? And he's not the only one saying that. It's baffling. I'm not Pang Tong or Fa Zheng, but I don't need the calibre of Liu Bei's strategist to know how Ryan expresses himself. If Ryan doesn't talk like Ryan, it means something isn't right. In this case, Ryan clearly didn't talk like Ryan. In fact, Ryan admitted that he's never good at affirming others. And I knew why he said that.

So why do I have the urge to analyse things all over the world? Hero worship is not recommended especially in the light of the SBC sexual abuse scandal, but it's true I admired three senior individuals in my church for their willingness to challenge the narrative and speak as if they knew what they were talking about. The impact left by Mr Soh, Mr Lee, and Mr Tay still remain in me. Is it a sin to challenge the narrative? Only if you don't know the common ground between mainstream media and alternate media. The whole thing, to put it in hyperbolic form, was like pursuing the shadows of the Three Heroes of Early Han. No one in my schooling days had been so inspiring, hence my hyperbolic praise.

So does acting on the urge of analysing things make me a henjin? Well, the answer would be yes. As a certified henjin, I don't have to deny being one. It's not that I'm extraordinary. I'm just... well, idiosyncratic. But give me a choice between surviving like an animal and living as a henjin? I'd take the henjin option, thank you very much.

Translating (into) English on Facebook

Don't ask me how I stumbled upon this. You wouldn't want to and I don't want to explain myself until the cow comes home. It's going to be a nightmare for someone ten times more capable of expressing himself in written words than spoken speech.

I recently came across an interesting aspect of politicians of non-English speaking descent interacting with their followers on Facebook. Not every politician is Lee Hsien Loong, Boris Johnson, or Joe Biden. We also have Volodymyr Zelensky, Kishida Fumio, and Yoon Suk-Yeol. When you look at anything written by PM Lee (or his wife as well for that matter), there's no translation dropdown user interface. Why? Because they're of English speaking descent. Actually, all we Singaporeans are.

But what if there's this drop-down user interface? In this case, we have two possible situations:

1. You'll see the post in its original text and equally original language. By original language, I clearly don't mean the likes of 死に頃.

2. You'll see the translated post with the original text viewable via the dropdown user interface. Interestingly, the FB mobile platform would reveal both since the mobile format seems to function differently from the desktop version (e.g. whether you can detect a comment was hidden or deleted).

For the sake of convenience, let's call the first possibility Route A and the second one Route B.

Why are there two different routes of reaching out? When you see a post, the first impression counts unless your post is of an edited photo without telling people it's edited. If Route A implies reaching out to a local audience, then Route B would be reaching out to an international audience. The usage of the dropdown box would be more of a necessary formality for Route A. But for Route B, is it the same? It depends on the context of the post. If we're talking about sharing a link which is in the original language, that'd imply the audience to be both the locals and diaspora. Autotranslation is never an option. The last time I came across news of autotranslation, the Osaka Metro effectively became a meme.

There's such a thing called growing your personal brand. This is not your grandchildren's social influencer playground, this is your grandparents' political marketing. In the world of social media gone global (and equally insane), the need to interact with locals and diaspora is very real. If you don't grow your brand, your career progress would be harder because everyone else is jumping onto the bandwagon. Even the PAP which used to be wary of social media during the GE 2011 is now using it.

Interestingly, it seems that heavyweight politicians are now using Route B more often than Route A. I did a bit of "investigation" and the results are surprising. For President Zelensky, it's natural for his FB page to feature the Route B posts 99% of the time due to the current war. For PM Kishida, he's not that far off. Around 80% by my guess. For President Yoon, he's surprisingly homogenous at an estimated 60% although it must be stated his inauguration was less than a month ago. Reaching out to both the locals and diaspora is to grow their personal brand. Circumstantially, you can say it's creating positive PR. Psychologically, it may be a show of ambition depending on the person. Despite what you may think due to social influencers and celebrities, marketing isn't an obscenity. At least not by default.

 

Note: Above post is brought to you by courtesy of Henjin Inc.

Should I have done this sooner?

Closer to home literally, there's playing ESO. I admit I've gotten too dogmatic on using the Backstabber CP due to the 15% additional critical damage (going down to 10% in the next patch). One thing about dealing DoT damage is that Thaumaturge does make a very big difference. Without it, your DoT damage is going to result in a DPS deficit in any group run. Recently (ok, not so recently), I decided to revert to using full Ilambris for my Magicka Sorcerer main. The initial assumption was that the DPS would be better than the two previous builds involving Ring of the Wild Hunt and full Slimcraw respectively. However, things didn't seem to turn out that well.

This was when I decided to ditch Backstabber. The assumption of using Thaumaturge over Backstabber was down to two things:

1. Ilambris proc is DoT damage, hence I need Thaumaturge to even things out.

2. The build I'm currently running should be more on consistent damage than critical damage despite a critical chance of 54% or so. This is due to how Ilambris function with either morph of Force Shock (i.e. 66% chance to proc=insanity).

At the same time, I'm running Crushing Shock (because Force Pulse won't affect the primary target) with Degeneration (for the Major Sorcery) and Crystal Fragments with Bound Aegis, Camouflage Hunter, and the Greater Storm Atronach ultimate (i.e. this is the front bar). This means I'm doing DD-DoT hybrid damage build with a focus on maximised Ilambris proc.

Currently, I've only run through a veteran non-DLC dungeon since I respec my main. However, the results were exceptionally good to the point of surreality. Why surreality? This was due to running it with a Necromancer of post-1800 CP. I'm not an elitist as in I don't believe having a higher CP means having an advantage where myself is concerned. But if the other person has the higher CP, I'd take notice. Truth to be spoken, I went in without expectations. Then the next thing I realised, I out-DPS'ed the Necromancer. The surreal part came in the form of 54% DPS. Even today, I still can't believe myself the インポシブル can be made ポシブル. While it remains to be seen in the longer run, I believe I might have done something which should have been done in the first place. With that being said, I suspect it's Degeneration making this insanity possible. Seriously, it feels truly insane.

Moral of the story: Ilambris isn't for everyone. Don't believe me, go ask Alcast.

 

Note: Is it possible to use Ilambris without Degeneration? Assuming it's something like Crystal Fragments, Crushing Shock, Haunting Curse, Bound Aegis, and Camouflage Hunter with Flawless Dawnbreaker ultimate, I wouldn't be surprised if Nerien'eth would be a better choice.

Fun Fact 1: My Khajiit alt is now running on Crushing Shock with Harpooner's Wading Kilt on a 5-piece medium and 2-piece light. It's quite easy to push up the critical chance and critical damage for a catblade build if you can spec the critter right complete with the Shadow Mundus stone effect.

Fun Fact 2: I always relish running a veteran dungeon with a Necromancer as the other DPS for a reason. It's called a worthy challenge. For some reason, I don't have a good head-to-head DPS record with Necromancers with Nightblades being the other bunch.

Plans for Update 34

My plan is to run High Isle with all my toons. Right now, my Khajiit alt is in the middle of doing the Craglorn storyline while my High Elf alt should be able to enter the Systres fray soon since she already cleared all the POI quests in Summerset with the storyline quests left. For my Dark Elf main, he's definitely the first to go. And besides, he already established a close friendship with Jakarn starting from their hijinks in Stros M'kai. For my Orc Nightblade, he's raring to go since starting Morrowind can wait (i.e. I ran that with 3 toons out of 5). My Breton Warden is the slowest in progress since the plan was to finish all the POI quests and main storyline for the entire Daggerfall Covenant maps (I managed to achieve this in Aldmeri Dominion maps for my Khajiit alt). Of course, I may do a U-turn since I already did that for my Dark Elf main (i.e. he's part of the Covenant instead of the Pact) Currently, the dude is stuck at Alik'r Desert until at least my catblade finishes the Craglorn storyline.

As for the Planemeld storyline, I think I'm going to populate Hollow City 100% and stop there for all my alts. The same goes for Orsinium (i.e. there's always a completionist in me). But these two can wait with Orsinium intended to be a higher priority for my Orc Nightblade alone for storytelling purposes.

A Requiem From Winter Past

It's weird, I know. Someone of my situation and nationality should do more teen-friendly stuff like Crazy Rich Asians and The Fraud Squad. But no, I insisted on following the path of G.R.R "not J.R.R" Martin and Miura Kentaro instead of Kevin "unrelated to Guan Yu unless proven by science" Kwan and Kyla "unrelated to Zhao Yun unless proven by science" Zhao. To set the record straight, there is more than one way for me to know the plot and characters. Due to personal reasons, my information came from the series fandom sites and YouTube videos.

When it comes to appreciating great storytelling, I function like a henjin. I still remember coming across an article on the play Hamilton where it stated that one side of the Potomac criticised it as liberalism while the other side criticised it as not doing enough to highlight racial injustice. As for this henjin, I recognise the fact that dealing with fiction is effectively dealing with human beings since one is the product of the other. Unattainable idealism dictates a must for the other party to agree with you at least 90% of the time while politically incorrect realism says unattainable idealism is literally... well, unattainable. As a henjin, I don't agree with both sides of the Potomac where such criticism was concerned. As a henjin, I don't have issues with Alucard's final battle against Alexander Anderson in Hellsing Ultimate. The occultic theme of Hellsing to me is merely an obstacle I can easily bypass because I know the real theme of the series. In this sense, maybe it's true my brain doesn't function like that of a normal human being. Personally, I believe Japanese storytelling within the darker side seems to have a fondness for Friedrich Nietzsche's famously understated words on monsters and staring at the abyss.

I don't agree with him when he said God is dead, but I agree with him on the above statement.

I like Japanese storytelling. I really do. It's not a case of poring over individual works. Rather, it's what I see as the collective. Western storytelling tends to be idealistic and preachy (a funny thing considering the fact Hollywood is doing the same thing as churches every Sunday). I don't mind dealing with preachy plots. To deny it would be calling myself a liar because I really don't mind reading The Chronicles of Narnia. But try to convince me that CRT is a must? Not every revolution was a success because you don't mistake the battle for the war. Ever wondered why voters did the unthinkable by voting the son of a dictator as the new pangulo?

For the Japanese, they can be refreshingly philosophic. It took me years after watching works like Jin-Roh, End of Evangelion (not the 2.0 version), and Kara no Kyoukai to start understanding what I was dealing with. Before that, I was just a moron derided by a toxic educational culture. Even today, I can't reach a clear understanding of the famous last words of Ryougi Shiki's grandfather. Instead, I did a brute force interpretation of what he said. Works like Attack On Titan and Tokyo Ghoul are popular because the likes of Isayama "Hametsu no Hajime" Hajime and Ishida "unrelated to Mitsunari unless proven by science" Sui are native Japanese instead of Japanese living elsewhere. Japan is indeed insular, but it can surprisingly work in both ways instead of one. It's just that we human beings are cursed by the risk of subjective bias, thus the difficulty in seeing the other side of the coin.

Interestingly, this is also a key reason why I enjoy playing ESO. While Neverwinter remains the MMO I've played the longest from 2014 to 2019, ESO is doubtlessly the best MMO I've played so far. This is not to shoot other titles down because you know what people say about taste. The fact is that apart from the Gates of Oblivion arc, I was able to immerse myself entirely into the game. There's something interestingly Japanese about ESO. The storytelling I've grown to appreciate does have shades of the Japanese style here and there. This is also the reason why I'm having high hopes for High Isle. This is the first time I'm saying it for a new episode. Granted people do say Final Fantasy 14 has a better plot. Granted Fire Emblem Heroes and Another Eden do have better storytelling than ESO (Note: Fire Emblem Heroes and Another Eden are NOT MMOs). But we're dealing with actual Japanese, hence an actual Japanese storytelling culture. The thing with storytelling is that you always have to start from your local audience whether you like it or not.

This comes to A Requiem From Winter Past. Truth to be told, I have no hopes of getting it published. The reason why is that the local demand for fantasy is restricted to foreign works. There's something amusing I detect about the term foreign talent: Why is it that foreigners are the ones regaling us with tales of Jon Snow and Guts? You can have a market for fantasy works in Singapore, but you cannot break into the market if you're a Singaporean? I personally find this weird. Is it due to a lack of ambition or have we gotten used to what we've done instead of what we can do? In terms of fantasy works from beyond Singapore, we're very globalised. When it comes to local ambition, we seem to be insular. We're not Japan but part of us functions like Japan.

Clearly, there's no way I'm able to gauge my writing ability with others because what I write has no local market value. But do I regret writing A Requiem From Winter Past? The answer is no. Whether the likes of Kadokawa and Neil "the Guy" Gaiman will take notice of a Singaporean henjin doesn't matter an inch. I'm merely doing something I have an affinity for.

Flushing too much of myself into Jack instead of the opposite

In Tropic Thunder, there's a famous (or infamous depending on your sensitivities) scene involving Ben "not Sasse" Stiller and Robert "I am Iron Man" Downey Jr. In that scene where Simple Jack and an equally simple Hollywood culture caused Sean "I Am Sam" Penn going home empty-handed, Stiller's character mentioned flushing so much of Jack into himself that he couldn't revert to his actual self. Beyond the usage of the R-word reportedly 17 times, I believe we should really have a civilised discourse on how Hollywood romanticises things.

For A Requiem From Winter Past, it's the other way around. Instead of Ben flushing too much Jack into himself, I flushed too much of myself into my characters. It's not deliberate. But was it instinctive? The answer is yes. I still remember a Hong Kong movie I watched while I was either a child or tween. In that movie, the protagonist was a comic artist drawing up images of sex and violence. At the first glance, this is something for moralism to hammer. In reality, this was a person cursed with a dysfunctional childhood where no one understood him. Now let me point out that I don't believe in cheap grace. At the same time, however, I don't believe legalism works.

I realised that there's a part of myself in that person. Not only him but also the likes of Salvador Ramos and Elliot Rodger. Is it a scary thing? This reminds me of what Drizzt Do'Urden saw in his nemesis Artemis Entreri during the events of the novel The Silent Blade by R.A "not rated R" Salvatore. I'm not boasting when I say what Drizzt saw in Artemis was what I see in these people. Like how Drizzt didn't walk Artemis' dark path, I didn't walk the path of these individuals. Like Drizzt seeing part of himself in Artemis nevertheless, I saw part of myself in them.

I don't regret flushing too much of myself into my characters. The reason is that storytelling is what makes us humane, be we the tellers or the audience. Even if someone says storytelling alone isn't enough, I'd insist that storytelling is more of a driving concept than something we can easily see. Even if someone derides fiction because they prefer biographies, my question is this: Is a biography not a form of storytelling as well?

I find it far easier if things can be seen in terms of their nature instead of form. As for the end of this post, I'm going to up some songs synonymous with my characters.

This is for Aeravor

 

 

 

This is for Cale Ryvers

Fun Fact: Drengr is how I would describe Cale's character.

 This is for Lars Alies

This is for Irlia Eliaden

Fun Fact: This is what a bluebird means.

Current chapters of A Requiem From Winter Past

Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 6

Minamoto mina-san: 最終回

Part 1 

Part 2 

Ok, it's the end. By the time you read this, it's probably 3rd May. Or hopefully a day or two after. It's been a very long time since I blogged about history. I still remember leaving the Zhang Liang series half-done, so perhaps I'll redo what I left hanging dry.

In this 最終回, I'm going to deal with one of, if not the most sensitive aspects of the Yamato-Ainu relationship. It's a very tricky terrain to navigate, so let's hope I don't blow things up. In the worst-case scenario, the likes of William the Pastor and Pastor Lee are going to grill me next Sunday.

Tragic parallels between two geniuses

When it comes to comparisons between geniuses, there is more than one thing in common between Yoshitsune and Han Xin. Not only were they proven geniuses, but the manner of their demise was also eerily similar, if not identical.

For Han Xin, his problem was a low EQ. While it's true many highly intelligent people do have higher EQ, we need to accept the fact that... well, it's not 100% applicable. How do you know it's not? Just look at how Han Xin dealt with his boss Liu Bang. If there's one thing you shouldn't do, it'd be telling him how capable you are compared to him. In fact, Han Xin actually boasted he could command a far larger army than his boss. If that's not low EQ, I don't know what else is. Does that mean Han Xin was an idiot? We all know he's a genius. Of course, the counter-argument would be that he didn't have the relevant background. It's like comparing a genius without a degree with a PhD student. Which one do you think would have a higher EQ? Regardless of intelligence, surely it's the PhD student. If the said genius was a victim of the educational system instead of being the beneficiary due to bullying and teachers not doing anything resulting in parents not knowing anything, I don't think one can fault him/her for having a low EQ. There's a difference between one g-word and the other G-word. No genius can ever be called God and only God can control circumstances beyond anyone's control.

As for Yoshitsune, his background didn't fare much better. Unlike his half-brother Yoritomo, he was raised in a religious institute instead of a political clan like the Hojo (i.e. that's actually how Yoritomo got married). The monks at Kurama Temple back then were probably far more isolated than actual evangelicals of today. As for Sōjōbō, he probably didn't fare any better if he was a human being. As a tengu? Well, we all can guess the average tengu's EQ level.

Why did I mention two geniuses cursed with a low EQ? The reason was that a low EQ happened to be the cause of their own downfall. One challenge for people with low EQ would be dealing with inter-human relationships. For Yoshitsune and his Han dynasty counterpart, trouble ensued in the form of dealing with their superiors. Liu Bang for Han Xin's case and Yoritomo for Yoshitsune's case.

Let's talk about Han Xin first to get a better idea afterwards. After Liu Bang unified a chaotic China by defeating Xiang Yu at Gaixia and forcing him to suicide at the bank of Wu River, he proceeded to weaken Han Xin's military authority. At the first glance, that's because the boss had a problem with his subordinate. In reality, it's likelier due to paranoia and it showed via Liu Bang's treatment of Xiao He despite having NO reason to suspect his loyalty. Xiao He didn't die but he was jailed due to Liu Bang's paranoia. There's a very good Chinese saying, "Accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger". Every member of the famed Three Heroes of Early Han had to deal with this. Xiao He was wrongfully jailed like Parti Liyani. Thankfully, Liu Bang released him soon after because he was smart enough to know this was a dumb thing to do. Zhang Liang being the person who understood Liu Bang best decided to say "I quit" like a French. Because of Liu Bang's respect and deference to him, Zhang Liang managed to escape from the political intrigue of the royal court like Fan Li minus a beautiful Xi Shi twelve years younger. As for Han Xin, he retaliated. That's the cause of his own downfall and eventual death along with the likes of Ying Bu and Peng Yue.

Han Xin's response was identical to Yoshitsune's reaction when Yoritomo decided to strip his half-brother of the honours and titles bestowed upon him by Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Just a bit of introduction of the Emperor here to give you an idea of the situation: Unlike the current Emperor Naruhito and his father Emperor Emeritus Akihito, Emperor Go-Shirakawa was a politically shrewd person known for playing a game of politics with his vassals. Simply put, he's a very political Emperor. The rise of the Taira clan before the Kamakura shogunate was already a threat to the Emperor. At the same time, Yoritomo was also very suspicious of Go-Shirakawa. This was proven by his famously damning verdict of Go-Shirakawa's character: The biggest goblin of Japan. In short, Yoshitsune was likely a mere political pawn in the hands of Go-Shirakawa. In a certain sense, Yoritomo might have been had by this Imperial goblin. What if Go-Shirakawa's intent was to sow division among the brothers? If Tokugawa Ieyasu was a tanuki-oyaji, Go-Shirakawa would have qualified as a kitsune-oyaji. Go-Shirakawa wasn't senile, he knew Yoritomo was a political animal while Yoshitsune was a military beast. If brother and brother joined hands like Sun Ce and Sun Quan after their father Sun Jian died a horrible death, would he be the next Taira no Munemori? Regicide wouldn't be an option, but exile was 100% plausible. Better to deal with Yoritomo than to deal with Yoritomo and Yoshitsune (although that's probably because there's no chance in Inzanami's home Go-Shirakawa could deal with Yoshitsune instead). By exploiting Yoritomo's animosity towards him, Go-Shirakawa would have succeeded in sowing discord. As for Yoshitsune, he retaliated. Why? There were two possibilities:

1. This was an act of intentional rebellion. Hence, justifying Yoritomo declaring his half-brother an enemy of the state.

2. Yoshitsune was only trying to make his half-brother give back what was rightfully his.

Before we make a conclusion, let me point out an important factor of no return. Namely, Yoshitsune's decision was legitimised by imperial decree. If this was Go-Shirakawa's plan, he clearly executed it flawlessly. Subjectively, it's only natural for us to assume the latter. Objectively, we realised we can't make the correct call. That's how cunning Go-Shirakawa was if he's really hell-bent on playing his game. Ever tried wondering how a dead person could trick future generations of the living to this very day? Interestingly, actual events might have been darker than we'd like to believe.

Let's fast forward this to Yoshitsune running away. He's now a fugitive on the run together with his retainers and family. Now let me point out two prominent names: Sato Gozen who was his wife and Shizuka Gozen who was the woman Yoshitsune loved most. This will be important later on.

He soon made his way to the Ōshū region which was the modern-day Tōhoku region. This was also the focus of Koizumi "more maverick than his grandfather" Junichiro's activism and the reason why the MFA will be very busy next year. The previous patriarch of the Northern Fujiwara clan (i.e. the clan ruling over the entire Tōhoku region) Fujiwara no Hidehira was an appreciator of Yoshitsune's capability. It was Hidehira who housed Yoshitsune before Imperial Prince Mochihito issued a call to arms to the remnants of the Minamoto clan. And it was Hidehira who sheltered Yoshitsune when he became a wanted man. All that changed when Hidehira passed away in 1187 AD. To put things in perspective, the Battle of Dan-no-ura was fought and concluded in 1184 AD with Yoshitsune's death in 1189 AD. That's how fast things unravelled.

When Fujiwara no Yasuhira assumed the clan leadership, he was initially determined to honour the wish of his deceased father till the very bitter end (i.e. the promise to protect Yoshitsune no matter the cost). But there's a problem: Yoritomo was clearly a master of politics. By applying pressure on Yasuhira, it'd imply he already secured the loyalty of the Imperial court. This effectively meant Go-Shirakawa's political scheme went up in smoke and fire. Incidentally, Yoritomo and Go-Shirakawa managed to mend the fences after Yoshitsune's death. This paved the way for the first shogunate in the history of Japan: Kamakura. Also known as part of the Koizumi family's home prefecture.

Back to Yoshitsune. Now not everyone in the Northern Fujiwara family agreed with Yasuhira when he said, "We got no choice". Yasuhira had a younger brother Tadahira. He was the only one disagreeing with the betrayal. In case you assume Tadahira was being emotional, allow me to point out one danger behind Yasuhira's stance: Will Yoritomo turn against the Northern Fujiwara clan afterwards?

There's no way to assume one thing or the other. If the Northern Fujiwara chose not to obey Yoritomo, they'd be in danger of annihilation. If they chose to, what's there to guarantee the safety of the clan? As it turned out, democracy won and Tadahira was clearly left seething at the winning majority.

In 1189 AD, Yoshitsune was prepared to die. The final battle of his life was nigh: The Battle of Koromogawa. One by one, his retainers fell. His most famous follower Benkei died. When they first met, it was on a bridge. Benkei was on a revenge quest against the samurai whom he saw as arrogant as a tengu. By defeating them and taking their swords, Benkei desired to prove one thing: They're just nobodies. His goal was 1000 victories resulting in 1000 swords. At his 999th, he saw Yoshitsune bearing a gilded blade. Instead of duelling at a shrine, they fought on a bridge. Benkei lost but he wasn't about to concede. The second time they fought, Yoshitsune won again. Something might have been said, for hereafter Benkei loyally followed Yoshitsune. From Ichi-no-tani to Koromogawa, from victory to defeat, and from life to death. It was ironic to see where he died for Yoshitsune was where he fought Yoshitsune. On a bridge, Oniwaka fought Ushiwaka. On a bridge, Oniwaka fought for Ushiwaka.

Death or cheated death?

Meanwhile, Yoshitsune was prepared to die. Entering the Jibutsu-do hall, he slew his wife and daughter. Sato Gozen who faithfully followed him and the child she bore with him. The woman he loved was abandoned to the mercy of his foes, Shizuka Gozen with their unborn child. Then the Hero of the Genpei War ended his own life. With that, his head was taken and sent to Yoritomo encased in a lacquered box filled with sake. Alas, Yoritomo wasn't satisfied. The next day, he declared the Northern Fujiwara as rebels who daringly sheltered a traitor despite treason. Gathering his forces, he destroyed the Northern Fujiwara clan. Yoritomo secured his grip on power. With no one to challenge him, not even the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa, the Kamakura shogunate was formed. As history would tell us, power soon changed hands from the Minamoto to the Hojo. The latter thrived but the former was destroyed without descendants.

Yet it wasn't the Hojo who made sure of that. The Minamoto clan had a history of turning against each other. During the Hogen Rebellion, son turned against father, Yoshitomo against Tameyoshi. During the Genpei War, Yoshinaka broke ranks with Yoritomo and paid with his life. Yoritomo's decision to persecute Yoshitsune was dissented by his birth brother Noriyori. As for Noriyori, he brazenly consoled his brother's wife when a false rumour of Yoritomo's death made its way through. Yoritomo was thrice-blessed to escape death. With that, Noriyori's fate was sealed and eventually he was executed on suspicion of treason.

When Yoritomo died, he left behind two sons. The Hojo patriarch Tokimasa schemed against the firstborn, Minamoto no Yoriie. Siding with the younger son Sanetomo, word had it that Tokimasa ordered the assassination of Yoriie. When it was likely Sanetomo would share his brother's fate, Yoritomo's widowed wife and her brother acted. Together Masako and Yoshitoki forced their father to abdicate. To take the tonsure and swear never again to play the game of kings.

When peace seemed to have returned, death came for the Minamoto clan. A seemingly harmless priest, Kugyo turned out to be Zensai, the son of Yoriie who was brutally murdered. Like Yoshitomo against Tameyoshi and Yoritomo against Yoshitsune, so it was with Zensai against Sanetomo. Zensai's anger raged at his uncle, his wrath directed at the Hojo. In one single blow, he slew Sanetomo. With a stroke, he declared himself the Shogun. Alas, betrayal arrived. When justice demanded its due, Zensai was betrayed by his ally. Miura Yoshimura turned against him with false words and Nagao Sadakage took his head.

And with that, the Minamoto clan perished. A wise man once said those who live by the sword shall die by it. Such was the truth of the Minamoto clan. By the sword, it thrived. By the sword, it perished. By the sword, one turned against the other. By the sword, no one was left.

Then rumour swirled from the north, a realm beyond Oshu where men and women of the bear resided. The Ainu claimed a Yamato as their own, a man of their enemy as Okikurmi. They called him Yoshitsune and his companion Benkei. But how could it be? For how could the dead be revived? Unless someone died in his stead, one who looked like him. True or false, brazen lie or daring truth, who could tell? Yet the Ainu said Yoshitsune was Okikurmi and Okikurmi was Yoshitsune.

DISCLAIMER!

The following part is a conjecture of conjectures. I don't claim to be a PhD student in psychology. Therefore, please proceed at your own risk of racial sentiments. At the same time, I doubt my words will sound pretty. This is due to my manner of expression able to function only within either extreme instead of finding a middle ground. I've lived long enough to know this is a flaw beyond repair. Just don't ask me whether I'm mildly bipolar.

Remember what I said about Shizuka Gozen? Going by the events leading to her capture, it's interesting to see that while she was abandoned to the mercy of Yoritomo's soldiers, the opposite went for Sato Gozen. Given how the various tales went, the time gap shouldn't be that large. More specifically, it would seem that:

1. Yoshitsune intended to end the life of Sato Gozen and their daughter.

2. Yoshitsune's wish for Shizuka Gozen and their unborn child was for them to live on.

If Yoshitsune's desire was to orchestrate a family death, why was Shizuka Gozen spared? But since Yoshitsune was hell-bent on killing Sato Gozen and their daughter, why did he let Shizuka Gozen and their unborn child live? Even if Yoshitsune's undying love for Shizuka Gozen was a factor, you can't assume his relationship with Sato Gozen to be that of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Lady Tsukiyama. Because there's no proof.

On the other hand, how should we see the Ainu claiming Yoshitsune living among them? Finding the relevant evidence can be hard since everyone knows the Maori but not the Ainu. In fact, the Samurai Shodown series was the reason why I knew about the Ainu. If not for my exceptional memory, I wouldn't be typing this. Thankfully, my persistence paid off. Now, this is the only Ainu work I discovered telling us the Ainu narrative of Yoshitsune after a massive Hassou-tobi from Aomori to Hokkaido. One thing about the Ainu tales is that like the Celtic people, legends and folktales were passed down through oral means. As a result, not even Bronisław Piłsudski could tell us the Tales of Yoshitsune. The reason was that the Japanese government enforced a policy of assimilation on anyone not of Yamato blood. As a result, the Ainu got clobbered by a senseless policy. All in the name of racial harmony. Or something like that.

The history between the Ainu and the Yamato is nothing to scoff about. While I disagree with CRT, that doesn't mean the Ainu weren't suffering for many years. For how long? Longer than the Japanese occupation of Korea and Singapore combined by my guess. At best, they're never on talking terms. At worst, they'd be on fighting terms. Three notable events came to mind for the latter: Koshamain's War, Shakushain's revolt, and the Menashi-Kunashir rebellion. Out of the three, Koshamain's War might have been the most significant as Koshamain was a man of legend who sacked twelve forts manned by a superior Yamato army.

From the perspective of racial relationships, it'd make no sense for the Ainu to claim Yoshitsune as one of their own. Let alone Okikurmi. But if there's one thing I've learnt about life, it'd be the difference between the absurd and seemingly absurd. There's only this much we can dismiss until reality says so otherwise. If the Yamato claimed the Ainu account makes no sense, they're correct. But because they're actually right, it resulted in the need to make sense of what the Ainu said. One thing I've learnt in dealing with people is this: You don't speak as if the other person should listen to you. When someone speaks, listen. If you want to shoot down the person's words, then don't expect that person to trust you. And without trust, actual discourse can never take place. Trust, that's what separates civilised society from a kingdom of intelligent neanderthals.

But if Yoshitsune did escape, how did he pull it off? I stumbled upon an article suggesting the usage of political decoys may be more ancient than one might think. Granted this applies only to celebrities and historical figures, but do you know what's that one thing they have in common? The fact they're human beings.

This comes to Samai. Why would Benkei be there? I'd say that's the wrong question to ask. Instead, we need to ask how did the Ainu know he was Benkei? The only reason was the same reason why they claimed Yoshitsune was among them: Because he said so.

This comes to mind a person of interest: Hitachibō Kaison. Out of Yoshitsune's retainers, he's the only one to survive. But how considering the circumstances? Notably, he's a monk like Benkei. If Benkei truly died (and I believe this to be so), this would mean Samai was never the real Benkei. This was an imposter carrying on the dying wish of Benkei.

As for why Yoshitsune would be called Okikurmi, I need to point out the original Okikurmi was a demi-god figure teaching the Ainu the ways of civilisation as they knew it. In other words, this was a prehistorical mythical figure no different from Gilgamesh from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Therefore, it'd make perfect sense to assume Yoshitsune was never the original version. Instead, Okikurmi could be either a title of reverence or how the Ainu saw him: The reincarnation of an Ainu god.

This comes to the moral of the Ainu poem. Namely, do not take this story lightly. We all know certain kids nowadays. Always creating trouble because they're bored. Assuming Ainu kids are better behaved than Singaporean ones, it'd mean the moral of the story wasn't directed at them. Instead, it could be directed at any Yamato scoffing at such a tale. After all, Yoshitsune died.

Of course, that'd come to the question of why Yoshitsune would kill Sato Gozen and their daughter. I have to admit this is a question to which I don't have an answer. Assuming Shizuka Gozen didn't know what Yoshitsune was going to do, it'd only make sense for Sato Gozen to be fooled as well. This is why the issue of whether Yoshitsune died should be seen as a matter of public discourse. We're not talking about denial of the Holocaust where an agenda is clearly present. For the Ainu to challenge the Yamato narrative, one must ask whether there's an agenda? If so, then where?

Credit to Type-Moon for giving me that music coffee I needed.

And this unforgettable scene as well.

Minamoto mina-san (Gonna try finishing this by 3rd May)

Before I start, allow me to state why I'm going to try finishing this by tomorrow. If you need proof that there's something surreal about Singaporean holidays, look no further than the 9th of August. That day is famous for two things and less known for the third:

1. It's the day Singapore declared independence through non-violent means due to violent riots.

2. It's the day the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew cried on public TV.

3. It's the same day Singapore would be liberated from Japanese rule twenty years ago. Don't believe me?

 They bombed Nagasaki 20 years before Singapore became independent. Literally.

While there's nothing surreal about Zouk continuing its closed borders policy until 10th May, 3rd May in Singapore is a public holiday just like 3rd May is a public holiday in Japan. One is called Hari Raya Puasa, and the other is called Constitution Memorial Day.

Since I'll only resume work on Wednesday, I decided to try and see whether I can finish this by my country's 3rd May instead of Japan's 3rd May. Hopefully, Evan "he truly answered NHK's call" Call can push me all the way.

In the last two final parts, I'll be dealing with two things: Minamoto no Yoshitsune's rise as a military genius and his tragic fall from grace. Depending on whether you're pro-Yamato or pro-Ainu, either he died or he... well, didn't. Hopefully, the second part won't come out wrong due to Japan's racial history.

The image of Samurai Charming and sheer genius

In the previous post, I did mention Minamoto no Yoshitsune's legendary status as a lady's man. Not only did he probably "resemble" the Korean Suga, he's known to be a fast mover as Saitō Musashibō Benkei would find out on a bridge. At the age of 15, boys would be busy talking about girls and girls would be busy talking about boys. At the age of 15, Yoshitsune demonstrated his skill as a swordsman against a bandit chief called Kumasaka Chohan. Needless to say, a 15 year old boy bested a mafia boss.

While plenty of details about Yoshitsune were embellished, one thing which I believe wasn't would be his status as a military genius. In fact, I'd compare him to Han Xin, the undisputed military genius of his time. In this part, I will go over three notable battles he fought: Battle of Ichi-no-tani, Battle of Yashima, and Battle of Dan-no-ura.

What defines a military genius?

If there's one weird thing about military geniuses, it'd be why they tend to be short. Napoleon Bonaparte was only 1.68m. That's short by a white person's standard. Alexander the Great was only 5ft+ together with his fellow Greeks. Cao Cao was said to be 1.55m. Tokugawa Ieyasu was 1.56m-160m while Date Masamune was shorter at 1.59m. As for Yoshitsune, he's actually not as tall as Suda "his real name is Taishō" Masaki at 1.76m or even Takizawa "unrelated to Karen" Hideaki at 1.66m. He's only as tall as me at 1.60m. Of course, not every military genius was short. Oda Nobunaga was said to be 1.70m although he's probably as thin as me according to his Roman Catholic friend Luís Fróis.

Ultimately, the proof of genius lies in what the person is capable of instead of the things he/she can't do. One stupid thing I noticed about the idea of a genius was the assumption that one is defined by romanticisation. I've got no problem in recognising Max "Imperial Maximus" Zeng as a true genius. But what about Vincent van Gogh? Did having mental disorders mean he's an idiot? We all know Vincent van Gogh was a genius, but how many of us had the guts to acknowledge his mental problems?

Another dumb thing about misunderstanding a genius is the instinctive assumption of genius=prodigy instead of prodigy=genius. Just because a seven-year-old displayed exceptional intellect doesn't mean every genius functions the same way. Thomas Edison was believed to be mentally addled by his educational system. Oda Nobunaga was called the Fool of Owari while Liu Bang was seen as a useless bum of little to no education. As for Han Xin, he clearly had no university degree and a victim of schoolyard bullying.

For Yoshitsune, he ended up in the "worst" place to nurture a genius. Namely, a religious institute. As a child, Yoshitsune didn't have the best deal. His father Minamoto no Yoshitomo died as a result of the Heiji Rebellion. The winner, Taira no Kiyomori, was attracted to his enemy's concubine. In the classic moment of "my enemy's wife is my wife", Kiyomori took Tokiwa Gozen as his wife due to her exceptional beauty. One of her sons with Yoshitomo was none other than Yoshitsune who was exiled to the Kurama Temple due to his identity as Yoshitomo's child. Nicknamed Ushiwakamaru, young Yoshitsune was clearly uninterested in religion.

Location wise, Kurama Temple was situated at the foot of its namesake mountain in Kyoto. Interestingly, Kyoto was still the capital of Japan back then, a reality which remained consistent before the bakufu era consisting of Kamakura, Muromachi, and Edo respectively. However, it could also be said that it's far better to send a dangerous kid to a religious institute rather than somewhere else more dangerous.

Mount Kurama is know for two things: Its temple and its tengu. The former is self-explanatory. As for the tengu, they'd be what the West called goblins. Mythical beings of chaotic neutral morality, the tengu were portrayed as troublemakers. From possessing innocent maidens to seduce equally innocent monks to abducting religious figures, they're a mythical force of nature to reckon with. In fact, the Japanese has a phrase "tengu ni naru". While that's a polite way of calling a person an arrogant bastard, it literally means "becoming a tengu".

Interestingly, the mythical king of tengu wasn't interested in committing child abuse. Instead of emotionally torturing Yoshitsune, the grand Sōjōbō taught him all that he needed to be great one day. This was interestingly reminiscent of how an unknown old man seemingly trolled Zhang Liang when he was as impetuous as yours truly ten years ago. His respect for the elderly paid off when he was given the Strategems of Taigong manual. Zhang Liang would eventually went on to become Liu Bang's number one strategist and was known as the Saint of Strategies. Remember what Daily Mail said? If the Book of Eight Styles of Kurama was real, that'd make it the Japanese version of Strategems of Taigong.

So what did Yoshitsune learn under Sōjōbō? Skills like military tactics, swordsmanship, and... magic. Seriously, what would you expect otherwise from a magical being? Because the legend of Yoshitsune was clearly way more embellished than the Legend of Koizumi manga, a question about where Yoshitsune learnt his craft would be this: What if Sōjōbō was a human being just like me and you?

While that'd dismiss Yoshitsune's jumping ability as some sort of grand sorcery, it wouldn't dismiss the fact that swordsmanship and military tactics could be taught without magic tricks. While I used to dismiss Yoshitsune's major feat at the Battle of Dan-no-ura (no pun intended), a part of myself wondered what if it's real? Would that be an implied moment of ninjutsu usage? For a samurai to attempt something like this was preposterous. But that's due to a matter of training (i.e. no samurai would be trained to do this).

Then you have the issue of military tactics. As a child exiled to a religious institute, what were the chances of him learning such things? The monks of Kurama Temple were esoteric, but that didn't mean they're a bunch of violent people. I do have a strong reason to believe:

1. Sōjōbō did exist and he taught Yoshitsune the arts of fighting, jumping, and military tactics.

2. Sōjōbō didn't need to be a tengu to pull that off.

Moment of genius: Battle of Ichi-no-tani

Now the information I gleaned was very little, so I have to try making the most of what I have.

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Ichi-no-Tani

Ichi-no-tani was a Taira fortress easily defensible. Hence, it's imagineable how confident the Taira was in holding fort. In fact, the kanji Ichi indicated the manner of the fortress location wedged between two mountains. Because that'd effectively be a defensive point within a valley, hence the kanji Tani. Literally translated, Ichi-no-tani means Valley of One as in how the number would look in kanji form.

Due to how narrow the Taira bulwark was, mobility itself would be a massive problem. But because a highly defensible position would offset this (only in theory as Yoshitsune would very soon proved just that), the assumption would be nothing was going to happen so long the infantry could hold ranks and the archers firing away. The difficulty in mobility, at the same time, would also present a case of mutual handicap. The reason behind the Taira faction's confidence, in this case, would be a case of subtraction math.

In a daring moment of military deployment, however, the Minamoto army split itself into two forces. One led by Minamoto no Noriyori and the other his most famous half-brother Yoshitsune. Noriyori's mobilisation route was clearly the direct one heading straight for the jugular. Interestingly, the map labeled 7th February indicated Noriyori was engaging the Taira a distance away from Ichi-no-tani. At the same time, the map labelled 4th February to 7th February implied that Yoshitsune managed to route the opponent forces en route to Ichi-no-tani. This indicated Yoshitsune possibly had the majority half of the army as it'd make splitting his force into three much easier.

By attacking the west along the coast, Yoshitsune effectively cut off the enemy lines linking to Ichi-no-tani. That's the first detachment under his command. The second detachment would attack the other flank. This resulted in the enemy fortress being isolated (refer to the green arrows on the map labeled 7th February). Then you have the third group in charge of overlooking Ichi-no-tani from the north. Interestingly, it was implied that all three groups converged to set fire on the namesake fortress. This comes to the question of how if Yoshitsune and Noriyori's forces were still in the state of engagement. Because the plan was to set fire on the fortress, eliminating the enemy troops beforehand was both unnecessary and impossible. By burning the fortress while the Minamotos kept hammering away, that'd imply a group splitting off from two detachments each. More specifically from both of Yoshitsune's forces with the third group being those near Ichi-no-tani. Because mobility was a massive handicap for the Taira, setting Ichi-no-tani on fire effectively rendered the subtraction math moot. In other words, the Minamoto forces in charge of the fighting were never intended to target the enemy base. They're intended to distract the defensive forces while at the same time crippling their response via three fronts (i.e. you have three green arrows from Yoshitsune and one blue arrow from Noriyori). While Ichi-no-tani was indeed notoriously hard to maneuver, the same couldn't be about the surrounding region.

This comes to mind the nature of Yoshitsune's genius. The Taira's belief in their invincibility was based on an assumption: The Minamoto army would try to storm the fort. Why? Because they assumed this was the only way. But what if Yoshitsune already knew what the Taira were thinking? If you can't beat them at their own game, defeat them through yours. The Taira's game was absolute defence. Yoshitsune's game was burning down their defence. It didn't matter how the battle went along the enemy lines. Ichi-no-tani was behind the enemy lines. Once the base went up in fire and panic, how many remaining troops the enemy had was moot.

Note: Interestingly, this was also the battle where Benkei famously fought alongside Yoshitsune. This actually reminded me of a Kumamon meme.

Moment of genius: Battle of Yashima

https://www.yashima-navi.jp/en/history/entry-154.html

If there's a battle proving the CIA wasn't lying when it said Yoshitsune was a master of shock tactics, the Battle of Yashima would be it. This battle took place after the Battle of Ichi-no-tani. By then, the Taira were already pinned against the ropes. The strength of the Taira was based on one person: Kiyomori. If you need proof that no titan can ever sustain a kingdom, you don't have to ask Singaporeans whether they feel this way. Look no further than two names: Imagawa and Taira. For the Imagawa, Yoshimoto's disastrous defeat (and subsequent death) at the hands of Oda Nobunaga was that one block creating a domino effect. For the Taira, it'd be Kiyomori's death. Depending on whether you believe the narrative from Heike Monogatari, the elder statesman might or might not had a peaceful death.

At the same time, Kiyomori was both the reason why the Taira became great and the architect of its downfall. The Heiji Rebellion propelled him to the highest point of political power where being a no-man could result in suspicions that you're a *gasp!* Minamoto sympathiser. Kiyomori being the cause of his own clan's downfall was down to two reasons:

1. Autocracy. If you need proof that autocracy is bad for your country, look no further than Kiyomori. By appointing his clan members to important positions, Kiyomori clearly hoped to cement his position and that of the Taira. But because there are only this many names one can cram into any political cabinet, this resulted in unwanted isolation. There were indeed those who admired Kiyomori at first but later believed he had changed. Way too much.

2. Mercy. What if Kiyomori decided to execute Yoritomo and Yoshitsune? While killing children would constitute to a crime against humanity, it remained true that mercy played a major role. One would eventually be the hand bringing down the Taira and the other the blade held by that very hand. In retrospect, however, mercy would have been a moot factor if Kiyomori chose not to be an autocrat. Or at least not autocratic to the point where even the Imperial family couldn't take it.

The starting point was at modern day Osaka, the very same place the guy who played Yoshitsune in The 13 Lords of the Shogun was born. But there's a problem: In the same manner William the Conqueror had to stare at the storm blowing against him during the Battle of Hastings, Yoshitsune had to do the same.

Interestingly, the Minamoto decided to set sail during the middle of the night. However, Yoshitsune only set off with 50 boats. In total, only 50 horses and 150 soldiers crossed the sea. That'd amount to 50 mounted troops and 100 infantry troops. Not the best way to start a fight.

The storm apparently didn't die down. Yet the time took to reach Katsuura was surprisingly short. This meant the wind was clearly blowing hard along that direction. But there's a problem: Yashima was at modern-day Kagawa prefecture while Yoshitsune landed at the modern-day Tokushima prefecture. This was where usage of shock tactics came into place. In short, it's blindsiding the opposition. Tokushima is situated just behind Kagawa. This was like the Allied forces landing at Normandy with German backs facing then. A large part of this was down to the help of the Watanabe family who had extensive knowledge of the sea area. Just don't ask me whether he charmed a Watanabe ojou-san to pull this off.

Yoshitsune was a charismatic leader who knew how to galvanise his troops. The typical commander has to stayed in the rear in order to direct the process. But not Yoshitsune. Unlike how Russian commanders got themselves killed, morale wasn't the reason why Yoshitsune decided to be that 死に急ぎ野郎. No one forced his hand. But because no one forced his hand, his men were all the more willing to...

1. Fight alongside him.

2. Die for him.

He ain't our boss. He's our leader.

Once landed on Katsuura, Yoshitsune made haste to attack the Taira. One person of note was Kondo Chikaie, a local of the region. Like how the Watanabe family aided the Minamoto in dealing with the sea, Kondo helped them in navigating the land. Once they reached Yashima, Yoshitsune did NOT attack. Instead he did something... well, very controversial. More specifically, he told his men to set fire on the surrounding commoners' homes. Note that this wasn't Ichi-no-tani where a fire was set upon military infrastructure. This was Yashima where fire was set upon civilian infrastructure. I don't know how the Minamoto soldiers saw it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Yoritomo wasn't amused by his half-brother's act of arson.

Unlike your typical bored delinquent, Yoshitsune wasn't doing this for fun. Instead, it was to bluff the enemy in thinking:

1. The enemy had attacked.

2. The enemy had an army of 25000 instead of just 150.

The first point was logical, the second a case of jumping the gun. The enemy's assumption was that without an army, the Minamoto wouldn't come knocking at their doorstep with a sledgehammer. One vital ingredient in making shock tactics work isn't about getting things done fast. Proper usage of shock tactics involve a mind going against the fast-food mentality culture we're all living in. If you want to make things work, you don't have to do it fast. Yoshitsune's intention was never to attack. Rather, it's making the enemy think he'd attack. A force of 150 would be one associated with reconnaissance, not combat. Just like Ichi-no-tani, Yoshitsune exploited the weakness of subjective assumption. At the same time, the Taira expected the Minamoto to attack from the north while Yoshitsune actually landed at the south. Hence, the panic factor made it even harder for the Taira clan to make the correct call. Coupled with the fact that the child Emperor Antoku was with them, the reaction was only to be expected.

After setting fire on the surrounding civilian housing, the Minamoto proceeded to set fire on the Taira palace (I believe you all have seen a consistent theme of arson here). By doing so, the Taira had no turning back. Remember what I said about Yoshitsune's men being willing to die for him? Well, that literally happened when Taira no Noritsune took aim and fired an arrow. Had not Satō Tsugunobu taken the arrow willingly, Yoshitsune would have died. Sadly, Satō wasn't as lucky as Fa Zheng when a similar thing happened. He died like Pang Tong.

Needless to say, the Taira tried seizing back Yashima with no success. With that being said, at least part of the remaining Minamoto troops might have managed to land and reach Yashima as it'd make retaking Yashima much more difficult for the Taira.

Moment of genius: Battle of Dan-no-ura

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Dan-no-ura

It's now 12.38 am and my brain is swimming. So this part most probably wouldn't be that good. Because I wanted to finish this Minamoto mina-san series by 3rd May, I decided to soldier on.

The Battle of Dan-no-ura was clearly the final battle of the Genpei War with the defeat of the Taira and Taira no Munemori (played by none other than the firstborn son of Japan's most popular politician). Unlike the previous two battles, arson wasn't part of the fight. If the climax battle was the Battle of Yashima, then Dan-no-ura would be the Battle of Hakodate to Yashima's Battle of Toba–Fushimi.

The battle was one where shock tactics were... well, useless. This was a battle of attrition where victory and defeat would be decided by the turning of the tide. Literally. And therein Yoshitsune had a problem. A very massive and decisive one: The tide was in favour of the Taira. Munemori knew this as well. If there's a chance for the Taira to recoup its losses, the Battle of Dan-no-ura would be it. Defeat for the Minamoto would be a massive setback, but defeat for the Taira would be the end. Munemori clearly had so much more to lose than Yoritomo.

Because the Battle of Dan-no-ura mostly involved artillery and soldiers fighting on their sampans, there's nothing much for me to say. There are three things of note:

1. The nature of the tide proves Yoshitsune's genius in another way.

2. The defection of Taguchi Shigeyoshi

3. Dan-no-ura Hassou-tobi

The nature of the tide flowed in two interesting directions. The first would be to the Taira faction's advantage. The tide ended up pushing the Minamoto side all the way to the north. Interestingly, the Minamoto fleet had plenty of space around it. On one hand, it allowed the Taira to surround them. On the other, however, it still gave the Minamoto enough space to manoeuvre. For the Taira to win, they had to make sure the tide wouldn't turn against them. For the Minamoto to win, they had to weather the storm. Not because they're forced to but because they had to. This battle would be one where the longer it took, the likelier a Minamoto victory.

Then it happened. The tide turned. And the Taira... well, they're screwed. When the tide turned in favour of the Minamoto, the Taira got themselves into a geographical pinch. If you look at the third tactical map, you could see clearly the tide took the Taira fleet straight into a literal bottleneck. Wedged between two coasts, the Minamoto could seize the initiative and do two things:

1. Surround them.

2. Force them into the corner. Literally.

This comes to Yoshitsune's understanding of the tide. Considering the Battle of Yashima resulted in other powerful families defecting from the Taira, it's only natural someone would inform the Minamoto how the tide functioned. This was a case of simple calculation, high risk attrition. What Yoshitsune knew, the Taira should understand as well. But once both sides entered the fight, that's it. Both had to accept the tide would never be with them forever. Psychologically, it could be advantageous to the Minamoto instead of the Taira. The reason was that for the Taira, they're racing against time. For the Minamoto, it's all about holding firm and keeping faith in the tide. Terrain wise, the Taira had the upper hand. Psychologically, Yoshitsune clearly had the advantage.

The second part would be the defection of Taguchi Shigeyoshi. The one problem the Taira had with him was his loyalty. Or rather the lack thereof. Apparently, he was captured by the Minamoto only for him to be either released or rescued. There was a capable commander called Taira no Tomomori. Apparently, he had no problem with everyone on board except for Shigeyoshi. Although Tomomori's stance was of suspicion instead of suspicion proven, Taira no Munemori committed a fatal mistake. By reinstating Shigeyoshi, he proved Tomomori to be correct. So how did Shigeyoshi betray his liege? One important part of political legitimacy in the history of Japan would be the Emperor. In the present, Emperor Naruhito is a constitutional monarch just like Queen Elizabeth II of the UK and King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands. Before Japan's defeat in World War II, however, it was a different ball game. To have the Emperor at your side means having the mandate to govern the nation. In this sense, there's no difference between the Meiji era and the Tokugawa shogunate. Therefore, the presence of the Emperor was an important part of legitimising the Taira rule. At the same time, the child Emperor Antoku was the grandchild of Kiyomori when he arranged a marriage between the previous Emperor and his daughter.

The struggle between the Minamoto and Taira boiled down to two heirs apparent: Antoku backed by the Taira and Go-Toba backed by the Minamoto. For the Minamoto to win, they had to do something about Antoku. It clearly didn't matter to them we're talking about a six-year-old. Long story short, Shigeyoshi told Yoshitsune that...

1. Antoku wasn't in the boat he should be in.

2. The kid was at another boat. Simply put, the Taira tried to game Yoshitsune at his... well, own game.

With this knowledge, the Minamoto artillery was directed at the correct boat. Chaos reigned and tragedy ensued. Kiyomori's widow, Taira no Tokiko committed suicide by drowning herself. And with her, poor little Antoku was dragged into a watery grave.

Then we have the third part: Dan-no-ura Hassou-tobi. More specifically, was it physically possible? Initially, I believed it's physically impossible due to a samurai's armour weight. To leap from one boat to the eighth would be more insane than trying to finish a PhD within 2 years. 3 years, possible. But 2 years? If it's jumping from one boat to the next to reach the eighth, that's equally implausible in face of the laws of physics. On the other hand, Yoshitsune's jumping ability shouldn't be dismissed as nonsense. Even the most outlandish myths would have a grain of truth justifying either the lie or embellished.

Notably, Yoshitsune's childhood name was Ushiwakamaru. Maru is a nickname for a boy instead of a cat while Ushiwaka means young bull. If this was an indication of anything factual, chances were that Yoshitsune's insane athleticism would have something to do with the relevant level of strength. This comes to mind the Ainu folksong involving him escaping to Ainu-Mosir (i.e. the modern day Hokkaido).

Next: The final part.

To be continued...