The new year begins with the Taira at Yashima and Noriyori and Yoshitsune in the capital. They take leave of Go-Shirakawa and head west to acquire and equip boats so that they can cross to Yashima in Shikoku and attack the Taira. As they prepare the boats, Yoshitsune and Kajiwara no Kagetoki, one of Yoritomo’s trusted retainers, almost come to blows: Kajiwara wants to equip the boats with oars at the bow as well, so that they can be maneuvered more easily (in case of the need to retreat); Yoshitsune calls this cowardly. In the middle of a gale, Yoshitsune leads five boats across the straits to Shikoku; the rest of the army under Kajiwara holds back.
Yoshitsune and his men have landed near a Taira garrison, which they quickly overtake, taking Kondōroku Chikaie, who is amenable to joining them, into their force. He brings with him a number of fighters. The men then move toward Yashima under his guidance, taking out another garrison along the way. En route, they also overtake a letter carrier headed for Yashima and take a letter for the Taira commander, Munemori, from him. The letter warns Munemori of Yoshitsune’s craftiness; they are happy to have intercepted it. Kondōroku informs Yoshitsune that the water between the island of Yashima and the mainland is shallow; Yoshitsune then leads his men toward Yashima, burning peasant houses as they proceed. The Taira nobles retreat to boats as their warriors prepare for battle.
Yoshitsune and his men attack and Noritsune comes forth to engage them. The armies exchange insults, then begin to fight. Noritsune mortally wounds Yoshitsune’s retainer Tsuginobu. When Noritsune’s page rushes forward to take Tsuginobu’s head, he is killed by an arrow by Tadanobu, Tsuginobu’s brother. Both sides retreat to mourn their losses; Yoshitsune dedicates his fine steed to have the Lotus Sutra copied as a prayer for Tsuginobu’s soul.
With the Taira on boats and the Minamoto on the shore, there is a lull in the battle. They Taira send a young woman out on one of the boats; she holds up a fan and beckons the Minamoto to hit it. Fearing this is a tactic to draw Yoshitsune forward, the Minamoto instead call on the great archer Yōichi to shoot it. He accepts this command, prays to his local deities for divine assistance, and is able to hit the target at sea. All watching cheer his performance.
Following Yōichi’s impressive feat of archery, a man comes out onto the Taira boat and dances; Yoshitsune orders him shot. This brings the angry Taira to land, with Kagekiyo in the lead. The two sides skirmish, and the Taira are forced back to their boats with the Minamoto in pursuit. In the fray, Yoshitsune drops his bow and risks his life to save it. Criticized by senior retainers, he explains that since it is such a small bow, he had to retrieve it to avoid the embarrassment of having the Taira find it. Night falls, and the Taira plan a night attack against the exhausted Minamoto. A dispute between their commanders delays them until daybreak, thus losing them their critical advantage.
Yoshitsune’s forces scare the Taira who have retreated to Shido bay back out onto their boats. He sends Yoshimori to intercept Noriyoshi, who is returning to Yashima, but unaware of the events there of the past several days. Yoshimori convinces him that the Taira have surrendered, and he surrenders with his men as well. He is held captive, while his men are now under Yoshitsune’s command. Kajiwara’s boats finally arrive from Watanabe (on Honshu), and he is met with derision by Yoshitsune’s men. A favorable omen at the Sumiyoshi Shrine suggests that the defeat of the Taira is near.
Yoshitsune crosses back to Honshu and joins forces with his brother, Noriyori. They move westward to Suō province and encamp. The Taira camp a bit further west, in Nagato province. Meanwhile, Tanzō, superintendent of the Kumano Shrines has divinations performed to see which side the gods favor; both an oracle and a cock fight divination foretell a Minamoto victory. He takes his men to Dan-no-ura, where the two sides lay facing each other, and joins the Minamoto forces, as does Kawano no Shirō Michinobu, of Shikoku. The battle begins. The Minamoto outnumber the Taira three to one, but the Taira warriors make a valiant first effort, and appear to be taking the lead.
Wada no Kotaro Yoshimori of the Genji rather than boarding a boat, remains on the shore and assaults the Heike with arrows. One of Yoshimori’s arrows flies so far that the Heike feel that they have to shoot it back as a sort of challenge. Tomomori has Nii no Kishiro Chikakiyo shoot it back. The return shot hits Miura no Ishizakon no Taro, who was standing far behind Yoshimori. Embarrassed, Yoshimori gets in a boat, and shoots even more arrows at the Heike, killing many. Meanwhile, an arrow from Nii no Kishiro Chikakiyo hits Yoshitsune’s boat. Similar to the Heike, Yoshitsune feels that he has to challenge the shot by shooting an arrow an equal distance. Yoshitsune calls Asari no Yoichi who shoots one of his own arrows because he thinks that Shikakiyo’s arrow is too weak. Yoichi’s shot hits Chikakiyo square in the chest.
The Genji and Heike are locked in a stalemate until a white banner falls from somewhere and lands on a Genji boat. Seeing this as a sign from Hachiman, the Genji are encouraged. Around the same time, one thousand dolphins surface from beneath the Genji boats and swim towards the Heike boats. Munemori calls a diviner to interpret the strange occurrence. The diviner tells Munemori that if the dolphins turn back, the Genji will be defeated, but if the dolphins dive under the Heike boats, then the Heike will lose. Immediately after the diviner finished his sentence, all of the dolphins’ dive under the Heike boats, signalling to them that the battle is lost. In addition to this, Shigeyoshi joins the Genji in hopes of saving his son Noriyoshi who had been captured. Before the battle, the Heike placed all of their nobles in war boots and their soldiers in Chinese ships in hopes of catching the Genji off guard. As a final blow to the Heike, the Genji ignore the Chinese ships and go straight for the war boats. Seeing that the Heike are clearly on the losing side, the men of Shikoku and Kyushu abandon the Heike and join the Genji.
Great archers Yoshimori (Minamoto), Chikakiyo (Taira), and Asari no Yoichi exchange shots demonstrating their great strength and range. The battle rages, with neither side having the advantage, but then omens suggest that the Minamoto will win, and Yoshitsune takes heart. Taira retainers, starting with Shigeyoshi, defect, and it becomes clear that Minamoto victory is at hand.
The Taira defeat being imminent, Tomomori returns to clean the imperial barge. Lady Nii takes Emperor Antoku in her arms, thrusts two of the imperial regalia in her clothing, and instructs Antoku to say goodbye to the realm of the living. He prays first to Ise Shrine and then to Amida, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, and then Lady Nii jumps with him into the water. The narrator laments the tragic end of the emperor.
The rest of the Taira nobles try to commit suicide. Kenreimon-in, Dainagon-no-suke, Munemori, and his son Kiyomune are not successful and are taken prisoner. Danagon-no-suke had been carrying the sacred mirror (one of the three regalia), and the Minamoto secure it. Noritsune then tries to find Yoshitsune and attack him. He comes close, but Yoshitsune leaps away. Noritsune challenges the Minamoto to take him prisoner, and when three stalwart warriors together try to do so, he kills one and grips the other two as he jumps into the sea.
The Taira prisoners are listed, and the report goes to the capital that the war has ended and the regalia been restored. The party with prisoners of war heads towards the capital. As they pass Akashi, just west of where Fukuhara and the Ichi-no-tani fortress had been, the women lament their fate in poetry. The mirror and jewel are brought to the capital, but the sword has been lost.
This episode recounts the history of the lost sword, Kusanagi. It tells the story of its discovery by the god Susano-o in the tail of a serpent he slayed; its presentation to Amaterasu; its magical powers during the campaigns of the mythical hero Yamatodake-no-mikoto, and its awesome presence in the imperial palace. A compensatory narrative explaining that its loss was actually its recuperation from the slain serpent is put forth by one yin-yang master.
The second prince taken by the Taira when they fled is returned to the capital and welcomed by his mother and grandfather (Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa). The Taira prisoners are paraded through the capital in open carriages. Everyone is moved by the depths to which these former lords have sunk, and even Go-Shirakawa feels pity. Munemori and Kiyomune are housed with Yoshitsune, and their plight moves everyone to tears.
This episode recounts the divine origin of the sacred mirror, one of the regalia returned safely to the capital. It was forged by Amaterasu, divine ancestor of the imperial family.
Taira no Tokitada learns that Yoshitsune has confiscated some letters that could implicate him and others. Worried that if Yoritomo sees them, he will be punished, he ends up marrying one of his daughters to Yoshitsune and instructing her to ask for the letters from Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune complies and the letters are burned. Yoritomo hears rumors that Yoshitsune is quite popular among the capital aristocrats and becomes suspicious; he awaits Yoshitsune’s trip to Kamakura with his prisoners.
This is one of the most heart-wrenching episodes so far. Munemori’s beloved eight-year-old son, Fukushō, taken captive at Dan-no-ura, is beheaded. His innocence and his father’s and nurses’ obvious love for him, combined with his inability to comprehend why he is to be beheaded, bring home the cruelty of the ending of this war.
Yoshitsune takes Munemori and Kiyomune down the Tōkaidō (LINK) to Kamakura. The michiyuki (travel song) here resembles Shigehira’s, but is shorter. Munemori is disconsolate and begs Yoshitsune to plead for his life. Yoshitsune promises to do so. However, Kajiwara no Kagetoki has been slandering Yoshitsune to Yoritomo, and Yoritomo does not permit Yoshitsune to enter Kamakura, but rather detains him outside at Koshigoe. Yoshitsune composes a letter protesting his innocence and has it presented to one of Yoritomo’s trusted retainers, Oe no Hiromoto.
Yoshitsune is sent back towards the capital with Munemori and Kiyomune. Close to the capital, the two are separated and know the end is near. A holy man administers the precepts to Munemori, and although he tries to clear his mind, he dies asking after Kiyomune. Kiyomune dies with more resolve. The heads are taken to the capital and displayed. Display of heads of such high-ranking nobles is unprecedented and is criticized by the narrator.
Shigehira, having been held in Izu province, is finally given to the Nara monks. The warriors guarding Shigehira allow him to go see his wife in Hino one last time. Shigehira gives his wife a lock of his hair, the clothes he was wearing, and a poem to remember him by and tells her to pray that the will be together in their next lives. At the Kizu river where he is to be executed, Shigehira has an image of Amida brought before him so that he can die worshipping the Buddha. Shigehira is executed and his head is nailed before the great torii of Hannyaji. Lady Dainagon-no-suke convinces the monks to give Shigehira’s head and body to her, has great monks perform last rites, has the head and body burned, and then becomes a nun and prays for Shigehira’s next life.