Taira no Tadanori was a military commander of the Heike clan during the Heian period. Half-brother of Taira no Kiyomori. He was born in 1144 as the sixth son of Taira no Tadamori, the leader of the Ise Taira clan.
His mother was the daughter of Fujiwara no Tamechu (or, according to another theory, the daughter of Ryoken Takanari (Tachikida Takanari). She is said to have been born and raised in the Kumano region of Kii province, and seems to have once taken as her wife a woman who was the daughter of Kumano Betsudo Tan’ichi and also Tanmasu’s sister.
Taira no Tadanori (平 忠度 1144–1184)
In the 2nd year of his reign (1178), he was on the fourth position. In the 3rd year of the reign (1179), Berkeley Mamoru. In the fourth year of the reign (1180), the fourth position was taken by Satsuma.
He was also an excellent poet and studied under Fujiwara no Toshinari. After the fall of the Heike clan to the capital, he returned to the capital with six followers and went to Toshinari’s residence, where he entrusted Toshinari with a scroll containing more than 100 of his own poems. In the Senjoku Wakashu, the compiler Toshinari published only one poem entitled ‘Hometown Flowers’, which he did not know, because he was afraid of the name of Tadatoshi, who had become a dynastic enemy.
Eleven of his poems have been included in the Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry since the Senjo Waka Shu. After the New Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry, he was listed as ‘Satsuma-mori Tadatoku’.
He participated in the Battle of Fuji River to defeat Minamoto no Yoritomo and the Battle of Kutsukara Pass to defeat Minamoto no Yoshinaka.
At the Battle of Ichinotani, he fought Okabe Tadasumi on the Minamoto clan side and was killed at the age of 41.
According to Heike Monogatari (Tales of the Heike), he had adopted a strategy of blending in with the Minamoto clan, but was detected because he wore tooth black, which most Minamoto did not wear.
Tadatada went via Akashi to present-day Nagata Ward, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, where he attempted to obtain a ship for his escape, but was killed by Tadasumi on the way. The scene of the battle was near present-day Tembunmachi, Akashi, and was called Ryoma River, after the battle between Tadatō and Tadasumi. When the quiver tied to the quiver at that time was untied, a poem entitled ‘Hana (Flowers) of the Travelling Inn’ was written.
Taira no Tadanori under a cherry tree by Kobayashi Kiyochika 1884
Taira no Tadanori under a cherry tree.
Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika (Japan, 1847-1915) Title: Warrior Taira-no-Tadanori about to Sleep under a Cherry Tree. Japan, 1884. Woodcuts Triptych.
