The Genpei War and the Tale of the Heike, Japans Greatest War Story

This short lecture discusses what is widely considered to be the greatest war story in Japanese historyThe Tale of the Heikeand history of the samurai battles from the 10th and 11th centuries that inspired it. Sources used: McCullough, Helen Craig. The Tale of the Heike. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988. Oyler, Elizabeth. Swords, Oaths, and Prophetic Visions: Authoring Warrior Rule in Medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006. Tyler, Royall. The Tale of the Heike. New York: Viking, 2012. Varley, H. Paul. Warriors of Japan: As Portrayed in the War Tales. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994. Performance of the opening lines of the Tale of the Heike from Yoko Hiraoka performing Gion Shoja on Chikuzen Biwa, Accessed 3 May 2016. The Ohio State University s East Asian Studies Center (EASC) and Columbus State Community College (CSCC) collaborated to develop modules on Japanese history to be incorpor