The Taira Leave Kyoto with Antoku and the Regalia

In the seventh month of 1183, Minamoto no Yoshinaka’s advance made the Taira position in Kyoto untenable. Kiyomori had died in 1181; the retreat was led by surviving members of his family. They departed with Emperor Antoku, his mother Tokuko, his grandmother Tokiko and the imperial regalia. Their household and troops moved west toward the Inland Sea, where the Taira retained bases and maritime connections.

Retired emperor Go-Shirakawa remained outside their custody and returned to political activity in Kyoto. He arranged the accession of another grandson as Emperor Go-Toba, although the regalia remained with Antoku. There were now two imperial claimants supported by different political and military networks. The Taira’s possession of Antoku sustained their claim even after the loss of the capital.

The western court depended on the same routes, vessels and bases as the retreating force. Court attendants and the child’s household had to move with it, while commanders sought supplies and allies. Later losses at Ichi-no-Tani and Yashima reduced its secure land bases, before Dan-no-ura ended the coalition in 1185.

The 1183 departure changed the setting of succession. An emperor and regalia were no longer at the center of a settled Kyoto court; their custody became part of an armed coalition’s survival. Go-Toba’s accession also showed that political authority in Kyoto could establish a succession while the physical regalia remained elsewhere.