Genpei War in Literature
Many stories and works of art depict this conflict. The Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari, 平家物語) is one of the most famous, though many Kabuki and bunraku plays reproduce events of the war as well. Ichinotani futaba gunki (Chronicle of the battle of Ichi-no-Tani) by Namiki Sōsuke may be one of the more famous of these.
"Shike" by Robert Shea features a somewhat fictionalised account of the wars, as seen from the perspectives of his two main characters, the Zinja Monk Jebu, and the Noblewoman Lady Shima Taniko. The names of the two rival clans have been changed, "Minamoto" to "Muratomo" and "Taira" to "Takashi".
Another fictionalized account of the conflict forms the central plot of Civil War (also known as Turbulent Times), the ninth volume of Osamu Tezuka's celebrated Phoenix series.
The Genpei War is the backdrop for much of Katherine Patterson's young adult novel, Of Nightingales That Weep.
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Famous quotes containing the words war and/or literature:
“War talk by men who have been in a war is always interesting; whereas moon talk by a poet who has not been in the moon is likely to be dull.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“The literature of women’s lives is a tradition of escapees, women who have lived to tell the tale.”
—Phyllis Rose (b. 1942)