Battle of Fujikawa

Battle of Fujigawa

Date	November 9, 1180
Location	Fujigawa, beneath Mount Fuji
Result	Taira flee without engaging the enemy

Belligerents

Minamoto clan, with aid from Takeda clan of Kai

Taira clan

Commanders and leaders

Minamoto no Yoritomo

Taira no Koremori

Genpei War

1st Uji Nara Ishibashiyama Fujikawa Sunomata-gawa Yahagi-gawa Hiuchi Kurikara Shinohara Mizushima Fukuryūji Muroyama Hōjūjidono 2nd Uji Awazu Ichi-no-Tani Kojima Yashima Dan-no-ura

The Battle of Fujigawa (富士川の戦い, Fujigawa no tatakai) was a battle of the Genpei War of the Heian period of Japanese history. It took place in 1180, in what is now Shizuoka Prefecture.

Attempting to recover quickly from his exile, and to rebuild his army, Minamoto no Yoritomo sent out messengers to recruit other families. As he continued through the region below Mount Fuji and into Suruga Province, he planned a rendezvous with the Takeda clan and other families of the provinces of Kai and Kozuke to the north. These allies arrived just in time to fight off the pursuing Taira army. Supposedly, in the night, the Taira mistook the sound of a flock of birds for that of a Minamoto surprise attack, and fled, with no actual battle taking place.

References

Sansom, George (1958). 'A History of Japan to 1334'. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.