Yoshitsune’s Attack on Yashima

By early 1185, the Taira had lost their positions around Fukuhara and Ichi-no-Tani but retained ships and a base at Yashima in Sanuki. Antoku and the regalia remained with them. Minamoto forces had to reach a coalition whose movement and supplies depended on the Inland Sea.

In the second month, Yoshitsune crossed from the Settsu side to Awa. His exact landing place is uncertain, but local historical accounts trace the subsequent advance through the lowlands south of the Yoshino River and across Ōsaka Pass toward Sanuki. The route brought his force toward Yashima by land, rather than requiring it to defeat the whole Taira fleet at sea first.

The attack set buildings at the base on fire and pushed the Taira away from their shore position. They withdrew by ship with the imperial household and continued west. A report of the campaign recorded in Azuma Kagami reached Kamakura in the following month. It describes the crossing, advance and burning from the victorious side’s later institutional record.

Yashima is also remembered through Heike episodes such as Nasu no Yoichi’s shot at a fan. Such scenes gave the battle a distinct literary afterlife, but the military result was the loss of another shore base. The Taira fleet still survived; the final engagement followed at Dan-no-ura on the twenty-fourth day of the third month.