Episode Summaries

Episode 1: The Pardon

The Book opens at the New Year, 1178. Kiyomori’s daughter, the empress, is pregnant and is experiencing complications, possibly caused by demons and ghosts angered by the actions of Kiyomori.

The primary concern is the importance of having a male heir for Kiyomori. The best way for him to ensure a successful childbirth and a male child is to appease the living and the dead. Kiyomori is convinced that to assure a safe delivery, the Kikai-ga-shima exiles should be pardoned. He decides Naritsune and Yasuyori should be brought back from exile. However, Shunkan's crime is too great to be forgiven, and he is to be left on Kikai-ga-shima.

Episode 1 Notes:

The appearance of a comet was seen as an omen. "Chi You's Banner" was a type of comet with a curving tail, first mentioned in the Springs and Autumns of Master Lu, a Chinese work from the 3rd century BCE. In that text it is interpreted as an omen that the emperor will subdue enemies in the four directions (David Pankenier, Astrology and Cosmology in Early China, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 114).
Sutra reading, rituals, and prayers were performed to ensure the safe birth of a prince. Such practices were common for aristocrats in Heian Japan, but of course were more pronounced in the case of the pregnancy of an imperial consort.
Shukaku (1150-1202), was a son of Go-Shirakawa. He became head administrator of Ninnaji in 1170 and abbot in 1195. During the Heian period, Ninnaji is the head temple of the Omuro school of Shingon Buddhism, and during the Heian period, was overseen by abbots and administrators who were often princes of the blood; the ties between the temple and the imperial family were very strong. It lies in the northwest sector of Kyoto. For more information, see: http://www.ninnaji.jp/en/learn/.
Kakukai (1134-1181) was a son of Emperor Toba and served as abbot of Hosshōji temple. He is famously the tutor of Jien (1155-1225), an important thinker and historian who authored the first kami (native god)-centered history of Japan, Gukanshō. For more on Jien, see: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jien.
Lady Li of Han was the beloved consort of Emperor Wu (r. 141-187 CE). His grief at her death is immortalized in a poem, and the story of their romance is recorded in the Han shu, the record of the Former Han. The story, and the character of the beloved but doomed consort, was beloved in Heian Japan.
Yang Guifei, like Lady Li, is a tragic beauty very familiar to Heian period Japanese. Here, the pregnant Kenreimon-in is compared to these two Chinese consorts. More on Yang Guifei can be found here: Link to final note of episode 2, book 2.
The emperor banished to Sanuki was Sutoku, exiled because of his participation in the Hōgen rebellion (1156). The Haughty Left Minister from Uji was Narichika's father, and was killed in the Hōgen rebellion, having sided with the losing faction under Sutoku. Narichika and Saikō were executed in Book 2 for their participation in the Shishi-no-tani plot. All of these (and others) were called forth as part of exorcisms of the pregnant empress. Kiyomori attempts to appease them through posthumous promotion or restoration of status.
Retired Emperor Reizei and Cloistered Emperor Kazan were both thought to have suffered from mental illnesses.

Episode 2: Stamping in Frenzy

The messenger bearing the pardon arrives at Kikai-ga-shima, and is greeted by Shunkan. Discovering that his name is not included in the pardon, Shunkan falls apart. Naritsune and Yasuyori arrive and are elated to have been pardoned. They promise Shunkan that they will plead for his release as well upon their return. Shunkan implores them to take him as far as Kyushu, but they depart. Although not stated, the implication is that Naritsune and Yasuyori's religious practices were effective and Shunkan's refusal to participate doomed him.

Episode 2 Notes:

The Lotus Sutra was one of the most revered Buddhist texts in Japan, and the basis for the Tendai sect.

Episode 3: The Imperial Birth

11th month, 12th day, labor begins for the empress. 20 shrines and 16 temples were involved in the praying for a successful birth.

Shigemori is acting father to the empress during childbirth and brings her many gifts. Kiyomori states that “he would be less terrified in the thick of battle” than of the birth of his potential heir.

The male heir is finally born after much prayer and worry, and the Taira rejoice; many gifts are presented.

Episode 3 Notes:

Taikenmon-in was consort to Emperor Toba and mother of Emperor Sutoku and Emperor Go-Shirakawa.
Yawata (Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine), Hirano (Hirano Shrine), and Oharano (Oharano shrine) are popular pilgrimage destinations near the capital.
Ise Shrine is in present-day Mie Prefecture and is the main place of worship of Amaterasu, the sun goddess and godly ancestor of the imperial family; it has long been an important shrine for the imperial family in particular.
Tōdaiji and Kōfukuji are in Nara and were two of the oldest temples in Japan. Kōfukuji was very powerful and also closely connected with the Fujiwara clan, the most powerful non-royal family in Japan until the Taira usurped that position.
Lord Michinaga was Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027), the most powerful of the Fujiwara clan leaders, who rose to the positions of regent and Great Minister of State (Daijō daijin) . The Fujiwara controlled the highest government positions (including Chancellor and Regent) for generations during the Heian period. One of their most successful methods for doing so was marrying daughters to emperors and then pushing to have sons of those daughters named heir apparent -- a situation analogous to Kiyomori's here. Jōtōmon-in (aka Fujiwara Shōshi. 988-1074) was his eldest daughter and become empress to Emperor Ichijō. She gave birth to the future emperors Go-ichijō and Go-Suzaku. Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji, was a member of Jōtōmon-in's salon, and Sei Shonagon, author of The Pillow Book, served in the salon of Jōtōmon-in's rival, Empress Teishi. This period under Michinaga's effective rule is considered the greatest flowering of Japanese literature. Eiga monogatari (The Tale of Flowering Fortunes) and Okagami (The Great Mirror) are both roughly contemporary accounts of the life and times of Michinaga; both have been translated by Helen C. McCullough. For more information on Michinaga, see: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fujiwara-Michinaga; http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/nara_and_heian_japan_710ad_-_1185_ad#sthash.FWAvkaeF.dpbs. For more on the literature of the period, see: http://etc.ancient.eu/interviews/women-writers-ancient-japan/.
Gifts are given both to the Empress and on her behalf. Many of the gifts given on her behalf go to shrines and temples in recognition of their prayers for safe delivery of a child. Both lists is particularly extravagant, suggesting the power the Taira held. The list of rites performed and the status of the performers also attests to the extreme measures taken to assure a safe birth. We met the abbot of Ninnaji and Kakukai in Episode 1.
The goma ritual is a votive ritual where offerings are thrown into a fire and the deity Fudō Myōō (不動明王, lit. immovable wisdom king) is invoked. It appears in many Heain-period and medieval texts and is still performed today.
The Medicine King (Yakushi) and the Five Mantra Kings (五大明王) are all Buddhas dedicated to the protection of the weak or sick. For more information, see: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/yakushi.shtml, http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/myo-o.shtml
Yin-Yang Office was established in the Nara period and reflects the importance of Yin-Yang theory (Onmyōdō) in the early Japanese courts. YIn-Yang theory came to Japan from the continent and was responsible for astronomical/astrological and calendrical matters. They were responsible for making calendars, predicting eclipses, and interpreting phenomena like comets. For more information on the roles of the Yin-Yang Office in the Heian period and beyond, see: http://www.cultureandcosmos.org/pdfs/10/07_Hayashi_Makoto.pdf.
Dongfang Shuo was a statesman and scholar in service to the Wu Emperor of Han, in ancient China. He was believed to be versed in the arts of immortality. For more information, see:http://chinesereferenceshelf.brillonline.com/ancient-literature/entries/SIM-300073;jsessionid=3845433466E41B799EB52B222A369CAC.
Shooting a mugwort arrow from a mulberry bow in the four directions is a ritual performed to ensure a baby's health.
For more on childbirth in Heian Japan, see: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/50dc/134c56468eaaa245377d4a400d3d14b37507.pdf

Episode 4: The Roster of Great Lords

Anyone who is anyone comes together to pay respects to the birth of the child. Those who were unable to attend visited and paid their respects privately to Lord Kiyomori.

Episode 4 Notes:

Imperial and other aristocratic babies were nursed by women of a slightly lower status than their mothers.
Kiyomori's presentation of a lavish gift to Go-Shirakawa, the retired emperor and the baby's paternal grandfather, was seen to be in poor taste because it did not show proper deference to Go-Shirakawa's higher rank. Something less ostentatious, humbly offered, would have been more appropriate.
The series of irregularities outlined here are considered a bad omen (and the child will in fact die with his maternal relatives at the end of the war).
This is another episode that is essentially a long list (monozukushi) of those who paid homage to the newborn prince. Its length as well as the status of the men included underline the Taira's status at this moment, the height of their glory.

Episode 5: The Rebuilding of the Great Pagoda

The last day of prayers for the empress and the distribution of many rewards. Kiyomori is to rebuild the great pagoda on Mount Koya, which would take 6 years. He is then visited in a dream by the triple goddess (of Itsukushima Shrine), who gave him a blade and told him “he shall be the emperor's protector, but if you conduct yourself ill, however, you will do your descendants no good."

Episode 5 Notes:

The privilege of entering and leaving the palace grounds in an ox-drawn carriage is reserved for only those of the very highest rank.
Enryō (link)
Kiyomori and Lady Nii's earlier pilgrimages to the Taira's tutelary shrine, Itsukushima, were repaid with the birth of their grandson. We then encounter another digressive origin story of the Taira's connection to Itsukushima.
For more on Mt. Koya, an important pilgrimage site and center for Shingon Buddhism, see: (link).
Kōbō Daishi ("The Great Teacher, Kōbō), was Kukai, founder of the Mt. Koya temple complex. For more on Kukai, see: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kukai.
Dainichi Nyōrai (Skt: Vairocana) is the buddha of the "great sun," and in Japan is often seen as the Buddhist manifestation of the Japanese god Amaterasu, also a sun deity. Dainichi is a common object of worship at many temples, especially Shingon temples. For more on Dainichi, see: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/dainichi.shtml.
The twin mandalas (両界曼荼羅 Ryōkai mandara) are the Taizōkai (胎蔵界曼荼羅 Womb) and Kongōkai (金剛界曼荼羅 Diamond) mandalas. (link to image). Mandala are pictorial representations of cosmic worlds of the buddhas. For more information, see: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/mandala1.shtml#kongoTaizo2
The lance Kiyomori receives here also figured in 2:6.

Episode 6: Raigō

The year is 1072: a story of the past. Lord Morazane’s daughter becomes empress. He enlists a powerful monk named Raigō to pray for him to conceive a prince, promising whatever he wants upon the successful birth of his heir. After the birth, Raigō asks for an ordination platform for Miidera, but the emperor refuses. Raigō curses the child for not having his wishes met and dies soon thereafter. The child also falls ill and died. In a second pregnancy, prayers from a mount Hiei priest named Ryoshin prayed for a successful male birth, which in turn was a success.

The moral of this digression is that Kiyomori should have also pardoned Shunkan and that not doing so bodes ill for the Heike.

Episode 6 Notes:

Lord Morozane is Fujiwara no Morozane (1042-1101), who also served as regent. His daughter gave birth to the future Emperor Horikawa. He was also a poet and left an important diary. For more information, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiwara_no_Morozane.
Note the emperor's concern about causing discord between Enryakuji and Miidera: the conflict between these two temples predates Kiyomori's time.
Oe no Masafusa (10-41-1111) was a scion of the scholarly Oe clan, and served as tutor to three emperors. His writings, including Gōke shidai and Gōdansho, are important historical sources for his times.
Lord Morosuke is Fujiwara no Morosuke (909-960) served as Minister of the Right. His daughter, empress of Emperor Murakami, was the mother of the emperors Reizei and En'yū.

Episode 7: Naritsune's Return

On his way home from exile on Kikai-ga-shima, Naritsune stops by where his father had lived and learns of his life in exile. His father's grave was unmarked and has no mound. Naritsune and Yasuyori gave his father a proper funeral and send off.

He next visited Toba, where his father had a mountain villa, Suhama Hall, which had been abandoned for several years. Upon reaching the capital, he visited his father-in-law, Norimori. He also met his three-year-old son for the first time. He eventually returned to a semi normal life, rising to the position of consultant and captain.

Episode 7 Notes:

Naritsune and Yasuyori have waited out the winter in Hizen, but now that the year has turned, they make their way towards home. Note that the New Year on the lunar calendar followed by the Japanese at this time falls about a month (or even more) after January 1.
Amida (link)
Toba (link to map) which map
The Kamo riverbed at Shichijō is where the carriages officially enter the capital from the West. Yasuyori parts ways with Naritsune here. (link to map) which map
Naritsune goes to his father-in-law's house because that is where his family will be, since it is his wife's home (link to earlier note about duolocal marriage).
Young boys wore their hair in loops at the side; later it was put up in a topknot (link).
For Sōrinji's website (in Japanese), see: https://www.sourinji.com/.
A Precious Treasury is Hōbutsushū, a collection of Buddhist stories and parables.
Note the long segments in "song" here and below; "song" is customarily used to perform deeply emotional passages like Naritsune's return.

Episode 8: Ariō

When Shunkan does not return with the other two, Ariō, who had been an acolyte in his service, decides to make the trip to Kikai-ga-shima to see for himself what had happened to Shunkan. Ariō finds Shunkan on the beach, looking terrible, malnourished, near death, and living in a poorly constructed hut made of bamboo that does not keep the weather out. Shunkan has given up on everything.

Episode 8 Notes:

Ariō had served Shunkan at Hoshhōji from the time he was a young boy. Such relationships were generally quite intimate, and could range from something like a father/son relationship to a romantic one.
Rokuhara (link)
The Satsuma coast is the southern coast of Kyushu, nearest Kikai-ga-shima (link to map) which map
"Song" patterning is used again here to describe Ariō's anxious search for Shunkan.
Shunkan's appearance here resembles that of a "hungry ghost," an inhabitant of one of the Buddhist realms where beings suffered eternally from hunger and thirst. They were commonly portrayed in art and look like this: (link).
Ashuras, also frightening creatures, occupy one of the other Buddhist realms. They are generally locked in eternal combat and are depicted like this (link).
Sulfur was used medicinally and much was exported to China at this time. See Billy K. L, So, Prosperity, Region, and Institutions in Maritime China: the South Fukien Pattern, 946-1368 (Harvard University East Asia Center, 2000), p. 63.

Episode 9: The Death of Shunkan

Ariō gives Shunkan the letter from his daughter and tells him of the fate of his wife and son. He dies soon after, leaving Ariō to cremate him in his hut. Ariō leaves the island and goes home to tell of Shunkans death. His daughter became a nun and Ariō became a traveling monk. The episode ends with a comment that the Taira have caused much sorrow for many.

Episode 9 Notes:

Mount Kurama is north of the capital and home to Kuramadera (temple). Minamoto Yoshitsune, the field general for the Minamoto side in the Genpei War, also spent some of his childhood there after his father was defeated in the Heiji rebellion; he allegedly received military training from tengu (link) there. For more information on Kurama, see: https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1116/
Shunkan's daughter is naive to think he could return, and he worries that a young woman of her age would be so immature. Children came of age as adults at 12-13 years of age, so she should be more savvy by this time, and he worries that she is not prepared to be an adult. Note that even though he is superintendant of a temple, he has a family; this was common, as celibacy was not universally practiced by Buddhist monks. It does indicate, however, a lack of seriousness about his religious role
Ariō cremates Shunkan's body, as was customary at the time (and continues to be so) in Japan. He hangs Shunkan's ashes around his neck to carry them to Mt. Koya, where they will be interred. Rengedani is a monastery on Mt. Koya. Ariō's actions paint him as a Kōya hijiri (高野聖), a "holy man of Kōya," who traveled around the realm preaching and praying. This description suggests that Kōya hijiri and the stories they carried were components used in compiling the Tale of the Heike.
Hokkeji is located in Nara. For more information, see: http://www.hokkeji-nara.jp/en/about/; see also: Lori Meeks, Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan (University of Hawai'i Press, 2010).

Episode 10: The Whirlwind

The year is 1179. A huge whirlwind destroys large parts of the capital, killing many people and livestock. Kioyomori is warned of future perils and should be cautious.

Episode 10 Notes:

A very similar account of this event can be found in the Hōjōki (link)
(link to map of fire from HJK) which map
The Buddha's and Sovereign's Ways (link to earlier mention).

Episode 11: To Consult or Not the Chinese Physician

Shigemori makes the pilgrimage to Kumano in order to pray for Kiyomori to see the error of his ways. He is concerned about how his father conducts himself, and prays that the deity will help Kiyomori mend his ways. If that cannot be, Shigemori requests that the deity allow him to die. Soon, his call is answered, and he falls ill.

Kiyomori wants to call on a visiting Chinese physician to heal his son. Shigemori says it would be dishonorable to be seen by a foreign physician. He says that his illness is karmic and cannot be healed. After Shigemori dies, the people worried about what would befall the realm, due to Kiyomori and not having Shigemori to temper his arrogance and rashness. The episode ends with praise for Shigemori's virtue.

Episode 11 Notes:

Kumano was an important pilgrimage site (link).
The Shōjōden 証誠殿 is the hall at the Kumano Hongū shrine where Amida is worshipped.
Kongō Dōji is a protective youth (dōji) often associated with aescetic practitioners, yamabushi, who, among others, resided at Kumano.
Emperor Daigo was famed as a wise ruler, and his reign looked back to as a golden age; the Tale of Genji is indeed set in this period. For more information, see: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daigo
Han Gaozu (link) was the first emperor of Han. Pian Que was a famous physician of the Warring States Period. For more information, see: http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/personspianque.html.
Shakyamuni is the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. For more information, see: https://www.ancient.eu/Siddhartha_Gautama/

Episode 12: The Sword of Mourning

We now have a flashback: Shigemori once had a dream that his father was beheaded for his evil deeds. Oddly enough Seno-o Taro Kaneyasu had the same dream. Shigemori gifted his son Koremori with his funeral sword, saying he could not bear to live and witness the destruction of his house. His son, Koremori did not understand at the time, but after his father’s death and witnessing the the events that followed, soon understood.

Episode 12 Notes:

This analepsis (a flashback or backtracking in the story to a point earlier than the general time of the narrative) is used to demonstrate Shigemori's great virtue. Stories like this, celebrating the goodness of someone who has just died, appear frequently in the tale. They are of course eulogistic, but also placatory: recounting them also served the purpose of soothing the departed soul in the afterlife.
Heirloom swords were often given names (like Kogarasu, "little crow," here) and held as family treasures.

Episode 13: The Lanterns

Trying to build a better world and accrue good karma for his next life, Shigemori built a large temple and decorated it with many lanterns, leading him to became know is the Lantern Minister. This is another eulogistic, placatory episode commemorating Shigemori.

Episode 13 Notes:

The 48-bay hall was at his Komatsu residence at Rokuhara.
In Buddhism, the three worlds are the truth that existence is endless, everchanging, and uncertain, and the six realms are those of heavenly beings, humans, ashuras, hungry ghosts, animals, and hells (link to initiates' explanation of rokudo).

Episode 14: Gold to China

Shigemori set up as many good karma roots as he could while alive in order to assure his spiritual care in the afterlife. He gifted a thousand taels of gold to the monks of Mount Yuwang for the emperor to buy paddy fields for the monastery. Approximately 1250 acres were acquired for the monks. This is another eulogistic/placatory episode.

Episode 14 Notes:

a tael is a Chinese unit of measure that varied over time, but was equivalent to about 1.3 oz. of silver. For more information, see: https://www.britannica.com/topic/tael.
Mt. Yuwang was the site of the Guanglisi monastery in China.

Episode 15: The Confrontation with Jōken

It is late in the year 1179. Powerful earthquakes strike the capital. Soon after this the head of the Ying-Yang office declared it an ill omen and Kiyomori began marching to the capital with troops, wishing to settle scores with the imperial house. The cloistered emperor Go-Shirakawa sends out a messenger to ask Kiyomori his reasons. Kiyomori responds back that he is displeased with his treatment from the emperor, with three complaints.

Jōken was sent back with the emperor's reply, telling Kiyomori to be grateful to him and to stop opposing his sovereign.

Episode 15 Notes:

For Fukuhara, see: (link)
For the Yin-Yang office, see: (link)
Lord Motofusa (link) is Fujiwara no Motofusa.
The Sun Goddess is Amaterasu, ancestral deity of the imperial family (link). The great god of Kasuga is worshipped at Kasuga Shrine (Kasuga Taisha), in Nara, a shrine that was built by the Fujiwara and enjoyed Fujiwara as well as imperial patronage during this period. For more information on Kasuga, see: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4102.html.
Jōken (b. 1124) served as a mediator for Go-Shirakawa throughout the Genpei War. According to Jien's Gukanshō, it was his villa rather than Shunkan's that hosted the Shishi-no-tani plotters. The final record of his activity is 1201, at a poetry contest.
Taizong, second emperor of Tang, is one of China's best-loved emperors for bringing reforms and religious tolerance; the realm prospered under his reign. Wei Zheng was his beloved minister; Kiyomori here positions himself as Taizong and Shigemori as Wei Zheng. For more on Taizong, see: https://www.ancient.eu/Taizong/; see also: http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/features/thousand-yes-men-cannot-equal-one-honest-advisor.
Akiyori is Fujiwara no Akiyori, minister under Emperor Toba.
Yawata is Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine (link).
The palace minister wandering the bardo here is Shigemori.

Episode 16: The Ministers Banished

Kiyomori banishes 43 ministers and officials from office. After doing so he promotes his son-in-law Motomichi to regent. The banishments of the regent, Motofusa, and the Chancellor, Moronaga receive the most attention. Their fate is compared to that of other exiles and the episode is in large part a lament for wrongly banished ministers.

Episode 16 Notes:

Soga no Akae 蘇我赤兄 was exiled following the Jinshin Incident (672 CE), an imperial dispute. See: https://www.britannica.com/event/Jinshin-no-ran. Toyonari is Fujiwara no Toyonari (藤原豊成, 704–765). He was exiled in 757 and spent the rest of his life secluded at Naniwa (present-day Osaka). Fujiwara no Uona was exiled in 782. We have already encountered Michizane and Takaakira. Fujiwara no Korechika (974-1010) was exiled by his uncle, Fujiwara no Michinaga (Takaakira had been exiled by Michinaga's father, Fujiwara no Kaneie).
Motomichi is Konoe no Motomichi (近衛基通, 1160 – 1233), who was married to Kiyomori's fourth daughter. His father, Motozane, was married to Kiyomori's third daughter.
Kanemichi is Fujiwara no Kanemichi (藤原兼通, 925 – 977). His brother Kaneie outlived him, and the Fujiwara dominance continued through Kaneie's line.
Chancellor Moronaga's story is delivered as "song." Although exiled twice -- once to Tosa, on Shikoku island, and now to Owari, where present-day Nagoya is located -- he also had an extraordinary political career.
Bo (or Bai) Juyi (772-846 CE) of Tang is among the best-loved poets from the Tang dynasty (in China). He, too, was sent into exile. One of his most famous poems is about playing the biwa, which makes him a good antecedent for this story: Moronaga, too, was a famed biwa player. For more on Bo Juyi, see: https://www.ancient.eu/Bai_Juyi/. For an English translation of his "Ballad of the Pipa (the Chinese word for Biwa)," see: http://www.philmultic.com/pipa/pipa_song.html
Atsuta Shrine is said to house one of the three imperial regalia (a sword), gifts of the sun goddess Amaterasu as tokens of her favor for the imperial house. It is one of Japan's most important shrines. For more on Atsuta Shrine, see: https://www.atsutajingu.or.jp/en/intro/.
Hu Ba is a legendary (Chinese) kin (zither; J: koto) player. The description quoted here -- that "the finny tribe leaped n joyous sport -- comes from the Taoist classic Liezi 列子. Yu Gong's ability to make the dust dance on the rafters is mentioned in the Qi Lue 七略 (another ancient Chinese text). These are both oft-cited examples of superlative musicianship in Heian and medieval Japan.
Sukekata departs the capital and travels north, finally reaching Shinano, present-day Nagano prefecture (link to map). which map

Episode 17: Yukitaka

Oe no Tōnari and his son Ienari commit suicide by burning themselves alive inside their home upon hearing that Kiyomori has sent men to seize them. “Talk had spread that some demon had got into Kiyomori.”

Kiyomori sends a messenger to Yukitaka, who had been unemployed for 15 years, asking him to come back to his service. He bestows much power, land, food, and wealth upon him.

Episode 17 Notes:

Mt. Inari is southeast of Kyoto, in Fushimi; it is the site of the Fushimi Inari Shrine. See: http://inari.jp/en/.
The men consider throwing their lot with Minamoto no Yoritomo; this is the first real mention of the warrior who will rise to subdue the Taira (and then establish the first shogunal government in Japan). He has been in exile in Izu province (link to map) since his father's defeat in the Heiji rebellion (1159-1160). Yoritomo and his younger brothers were all spared and sent into various kinds of exile following the rebellion; his father and older brothers all either met their ends on the battlefield or were executed. For more on Yoritomo, see: (create link)
Emperor Sutoku (link).
Haughty Left Minister from Uji (link)
Yukitaka, in his destitution, does not have silk or rice (he probably is reduce to eating millet). Note that the rewards Kiyomori grants him specifically address that problem. And he is given an ox and carriage, allowing him to rejoin the aristocracy.

Episode 18: The Exile of the Cloistered Emperor

Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa's Hōjūji residence is surrounded, and Munemori, Shigemori's replacement, moves him to the Toba Mansion on Kiyomori's orders. Go-Shirakawa refuses to eat or drink, and only prays. Jōken pleads with Kiyomori to be allowed to stay with Go-Shirakawa, and is permitted. Emperor Takakura is extremely distressed that his father is being so treated.

Episode 18 Notes:

The emperor's Hōjūji residence is here: (link to map) which map
In the Heiji Rebellion (1159-1160), Fujiwara no Nobuyori (1133-1160) and his allies attacked the Sanjō palace, took Go-Shirakawa hostage, and set flame to the palace. This scene is famously illustrated in the Heiji monogatari emaki (Illustrated Tale of the Heiji Rebellion). For the scroll, see: http://learn.bowdoin.edu/heijiscroll/
Gentlewomen and maids would be expected to cover their heads (and faces) outside or when outsiders were present; feminine allure (and appropriate behavior) involved being not seen.
Munemori, the new heir apparent to the Taira hegemony, here first exhibits his weakness as a leader and righteous man.
Go-Shirakawa's journey: (link to map). which map?
The Toba mansion is southwest of Kyoto (link to earlier description).
The Goddess of the Sun (link), Hachiman (link), and Sannō deities are all invoked to protect the sovereign and restore peace and order.
The One Vehicle is an important conceptualization of the Buddhist cosmology as expressed in the Lotus Sutra. For more on the One Vehicle, see: http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=One_vehicle. For the Lotus Sutra, see: (link).
Emperor Takakura is Go-Shirakawa's son, the reigning emperor, and the father of the newborn prince. The order of succession is: Go-Shirakawa (r. 1155-1158); Nijō, son of Go-Shirakawa (r. 1158-1165); Rokujō, son of Nijō (r. 1165-1168); Takakura, son of Go-Shirakawa (r. 1168-1180).

Episode 19: The Seinan Deatached Palace

The Cloistered Emperor is confined to the Seinan Detached Palace and his authority is greatly limited. He stays there for many months wondering when it will all end. The year is the beginning of 1180.

Episode 19 Notes:

Tang Yao and Yu Shun (check).
Uda (r. 887-897) abdicated, eventually took the tonsure, and founded Ninnaji temple. Kazan (r. 984-984) also abdicated and took the tonsure; he spent some of his retirement going on pilgrimages. See: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Uda-emperor-of-Japan.
The Book of History (史記; Ch: Shiji, aka Records of the Grand Historian). A well-known and oft-quoted history by Chinese historian Sima Qian. See: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shiji.
Seirai and Shinpan retreat to Mt. Koya, on the Kii peninsula and Ohara, northeast of the capital and become Buddhist recluses.
Mt. Shang was the legendary retreat of four aged sages during Gaosu's rule (Han period, China). In Japan, it was a powerful trope in literature (as it is used here) as well as painting. For more information, see: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/handscroll-the-four-sages-of-shang-shan/xwHOwbpXgDj1uA.
The Ying River refers to the Yu You story encountered earlier (link).

Taira no Kiyomori

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taira_no_Kiyomori

Emperor Go-Shirakawa (The Cloistered Emperor)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Go-Shirakawa

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