Name: Taira no Shigemori (平 重盛)
Birth/ Death: (1138-1179)
Appearance: Book 1 Episode 5, 9, 11-12, 15, 16; Book 2 Episode 4-8, 10, 11, 16; Book 3 Episode 1, 3, 4, 11-15, 18; Book 4 Episode 6; Book 5 Episode 10; Book 6 Episode 10; Book 10 Episode 10-12, 14
Bio:
Shigemori makes a significant appearance in Episode 7 of Book 2, "The Signal Fires". In this chapter, he is essentially torn between his obligations to Kiyomori and Go-Shirakawa and if Kiyomori should attack. His sense of loyalty and honor moved everyone to tears and took drastic measures to prove to Kiyomori that his leadership is flawed. He demonstrates how serious he is by threatening to go to war against by calling up his men to test to see how many followed him. This chapter shows that many men would follow him into battle, even though no violence occurred.
He knew that his father's behavior would lead to problems for the Taira clan, so he asked the gods to either correct Kiyomori's manner of ruling or take Shigemori's life. He refused to let a Chinese physician treat him and the eventual result is his own death.
After Shigemori's death, the story of the Tale of the Heike temporarily gets put on hold to briefly describe a few benevolent acts that Shigemori did in his lifetime. A possible reason for this praise is to keep Shigemori's spirit from becoming angry (which is what much of Tale of the Heike is already doing with other people).