“His simple tomb stands at the top of a knoll on the slope of hills a few hundred yards distant from the great temple at Kamakura, overlooking the fields on which a mighty city once rose, when called into being by his genius and energy, which flourished for centuries, and disappeared, to allow luxuriant nature to again assert her sway.”
– William Elliot Griffis
“The Mikado’s Empire: History of Japan”
“The tomb dedicated to hero, Yoritomo, rested under the old tower of the fine elements”, Kamakura, c. 1930. Yoritomo (1147-1199), rewarded with the very first shogunate in 1192 by Emperor Go-Toba, ushered in Japan’s subsequent nearly seven-hundred-year feudal bakufu era of military rule by the samurai class.
See also:
“Tomb of Soga Brothers”, Hakone, c. 1920.
The 47 Ronin (Genroku Ako Vendetta), Sengakuji, Tokyo.
Japanese master swordsman Hibino “Raifu” Masayoshi, c. 1910.
“Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) was the founder and the first shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199.
“Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji’s prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After setting himself the rightful heir of the Minamoto clan, he led his clan against the Taira clan from his capital in Kamakura, beginning the Genpei War in 1180.
“After five years of war, he finally defeated the Taira clan in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo thus established the supremacy of the warrior samurai caste and the first bakufu (shogunate) at Kamakura, beginning the feudal age in Japan which lasted until the mid-19th century – almost seven hundred years.”
– Wikipedia
“Grave of General [Shogun] Yoritomo”, Kamakura, c. 1930.