Shin Heike Monogatari, in English, The New Tale of Taira, is a historical and war novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. His work first appeared in the magazine Shukan Asahi from 1950 to 1957. The author reinterpreted the classic war novel Heike Monogatari, The Tale of Taira, The Tale of the Heike. Kodansha published the first edition in paperback (16 volumes) in 1989. Shincho Bunko followed in 2014 with 20 volumes.

Origin

Eiji Yoshikawa wrote The New Tale of Taira, Shin Heike Monogatari, in new Japanese. Based on Heike Monogatari, The Tale of the Heike, told in old Japanese, Eiji Yoshikawa harmonized the plots with the contents of other old stories from the same period. These include The Story of Hogen (Japanese 保元物語), The Story of Heiji (Japanese 平治物語), The Monograph of Yoshitsune Minamoto (Japanese 義経記), the historical document Azuma Kagami (Japanese 吾妻鏡), Genpei Josuiki (Japanese 源平盛衰記) and the diary of Kanezane Kujo, Gyokuyo (Japanese 玉葉). The New Tale of Taira is many times longer than Heike Monogatari.

It is not just a translation of the old texts into a modern language. According to Keiji Shimauchi (Japanese: 島内景二), a Japanese literary scholar, the novelist put an end to "the aesthetics of doom" (Japanese: 滅びの美学), which dominated Japanese literature for too long, and attempted to portray historical figures from a new perspective. According to Eiji Yoshikawa, Kiyomori Taira and Minamoto's samurai were active, ambitious warriors. The emperors and the ordinary people became the plaything of fate. They fought their way through troubled times as lively players. According to Shimauchi, Eiji Yoshikawa called for the liberation of Heike Monogatari with his novel. The title means The Anti Tale of the Heike. The author does not want to hear about the impermanence of all living beings (Japanese 諸行無常). Then the title is The Tale Against Impermanence.

The author described the historical events by working out from the surviving old documents what the individual protagonists might have done, thought, and felt in the process. It is his literary reconstruction of the historical events and how the Japanese of that time, as reported in the old books, lived. The novel tells of brave men and lovely women fighting, loving, and suffering. The author dedicated the end of the story to the victorious general of the Genpei War, Yoshitsune Minamoto, the younger brother of the first shogun, Yoritomo Minamoto. The Kamakura government exiled Yoshitsune, and he died in Hiraizumi in the North. The local ruler attacked the tragic general. He did not want to provoke a new war. He deliberately renounced weapons and resistance against Kamakura and overcame a samurai's humiliation for the world's peace.

Eiji Yoshikawa quoted the first paragraph from Heike Monogatari instead of the preface. The sentence's venerable rhyme implies that the novel would start with the traditional Japanese view of history and life. The story would deal with the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence (Japanese: 諸行無常) and the inevitable downfall of those in power (Japanese: 盛者必衰). In contrast, the author developed a different view of life, death, and fate. According to the novelist, Kiyomori Taira created the new society. He grew from a poor warrior tribe into a powerful ruler. He abolished the regency of the Fujiwara nobility. The head of Taira became the prime minister and father-in-law of the emperor. Kiyomori Taira ascended to the highest position of a subject at that time. Kiyomori established his capital in Fukuhara (present-day Kobe city) and built a port in Owada, near Fukuhara, which withstood a typhoon. The new stable port enabled trade with the Song Dynasty of China. In this way, the Taira tribe built up power and prosperity. However, after Kiyomori Taira's death, the Tairas were threatened by Yoritomo Minamoto. The Tairas became half nobles and half samurai over time.

Yoritomo Minamoto united the powerful samurai tribes of the eastern provinces under his leadership. Yoshinaka Minamoto of Kiso conquered the provinces of the northern coastal region (Hokuriku region) and marched with breathtaking speed towards the capital, Kyoto. Yoshinaka drove the Taira tribe out of Kyoto to the West. The Shogun of the Rising Sun (Japanese 朝日将軍), the official title of Yoshinaka Minamoto, was defeated by Yoshitsune Minamoto and Nobuyori in less than two years of his reign in Kyoto at Uji and Seta. In the meantime, Taira reorganized his army and navy around the Seto Inland Sea and attacked from Yashima (Japanese: 屋島) the armies approaching from the East. Under the leadership of Yoshitsune Minamoto, the troops and navy of the East destroyed Taira's forces in the battles of Ichinotani, Yashima, and Dannoura. An irony of Taira's fate was that Yoritomo and Yoshitsune Minamoto destroyed Taira's armies and killed the most Tairas. Kiyomori could have executed Minamoto's two sons after the victory of the Heiji War in 1160, but he pardoned them for exile instead.

Yoshikawa described in detail the growing up of Yoritomo Minamoto and Yoshitsune Minamoto under Taira's rule. The warrior tribes in the provinces who played an active role in the Genpei War were headstrong warriors. They survived as territorial lords in the glamorous aristocratic society of the Heian period. These warrior lords won victories in the battles of the Genpei War, and many stories are told about their exploits.

The author recounted the lives of the fallen noble samurai of the Taira family. The Tairas merged with the aristocracy over time. They wrote poetry and loved making music. The waka poems and the mournful sounds of gagaku music, written and played before fateful battles, are passed down to posterity. The victorious commander-in-chief general, Yoshitsune Minamoto, was slandered by Kagetoki Kajiwara. His brother Yoritomo Minamoto suspected Yoshitsune of disloyalty and banished him from the Minamoto tribe and the Kamakura government. Yoshitsune fled north with Benkei, Saburo Ise, and other retainers disguised as mountain ascetics (shugenja) and found protection with the lord there. Still, the new lord killed Yoshitsune a few years later. Despite Yoritomo's humiliation, Yoshitsune did not resort to offensive weapons against Kamakura and renounced arms. He never wanted to fight another war that would cause so many human casualties.

The novel tells of women whom the storm of time tossed to and fro. Their lovers and husbands tried to seize power and became embroiled in endless battles. The first character in the novel, Kiyomori's mother, Lady Gion, was an energetic woman. From her, the mood of transience of all living things does not emerge at all. In contrast to her, Kesa, Masaruko Fujiwara, Tokiwa, Gio, Shizuka, Senju, and Yurino Kawagoe each lead heartbreaking, tragic lives. Masako Hojo moved Japan’s fate as Yoritomo Minamoto’s wife. Yoshinaka Minamoto's wife and beloved, Tomoe and Aoi, were strong warriors who grew up with Yoshinaka in the mountain village of Kiso. They were different from the women of the noble Fujiwara family. They fought in battles for Yoshinaka with all their love. The enslaved woman, Yamabuki, was jealous. She did not shy away from vile methods. She wanted to win Yoshinaka Minamoto's love for herself. Kiyomori Taira's wife, Tokiko, lived half her life as a good wife and mother. She bore many children. After Kiyomori's death, she was honored as the second rank nun. She threw herself into the sea in the sea battle of Dannoura. She took little Tenno Antoku with her to his death. Kiyomori's daughter Tokuko, later Tenno's wife Kenreimonin, jumped into the sea when her son, Tenno Antoku, died. She survived the demise of her family. Saigyo and Mongaku were two samurai. They were ordained as monks. In this way, they tried to escape the whirlpool of desire in samurai society. The author created a fictional character, Asatori Abe, as his ideal image. Asatori followed the path of humanity. He escaped the scourge of war as a doctor and found modest happiness after the end of the Genpei War.

Author

Eiji Yoshikawa (1892 - 1962) is one of the best-known writers in Japan. He wrote novels about historical characters and themes from an early age. He published Miyamoto Musashi's story in a weekly newspaper from 1935 to 1939. No other serial novel was as widely read as Miyamoto Musashi. His portrayal of the famous swordsman resonated strongly with the Japanese. As a popular literature novel, Miyamoto Musashi was a great success. Eiji Yoshikawa was very disappointed by the defeat of the Second World War. The Allies dropped atomic bombs on Japan. The author was unable to pick up a pen for a long time. He only began writing Shin Heike Monogatari in 1950. After seven years, he completed the publication, which also appeared as a newspaper series. In this novel, Eiji Yoshikawa wrote about the Taira samurai tribe. The chief Kiyomori won the Hogen and Heiji rebellion. In the end, however, Taira perished in the Genpei War. This samurai saga appealed to many Japanese who were badly shaken in the post-war years. The author's life's work was honored with several literary awards.

Yutaka Hayauchi was born in 1951 in Masuda, Japan, where he enjoyed his school education up to high school. He began studying chemistry at the University of Osaka, Japan, at eighteen. When he was twenty, he moved to Hamburg and continued his studies at the University of Hamburg, where he also obtained a doctorate in organic chemistry. During his studies, he translated scientific literature and patent specifications. He was an interpreter for business negotiations and a simultaneous interpreter for congresses. In 1984, he joined Bayer AG with a doctorate in chemistry. He was in charge of drug approval for Bayer in Japan (1988 to 1991). His work took him to various development laboratories for new drugs in Leverkusen and Wuppertal (1991 to 2016) until his retirement. He is married, has two daughters, and lives in Leverkusen.

The translator became acquainted with Eiji Yoshikawa's samurai saga Shin Heike Monogatari, which has been filmed several times and is highly regarded in Japan when he was living with his family in Kyoto. His mother told him about the tragic General Yoshitsune when he was a schoolboy. He was already fascinated by the story back then. When he translated the novel, he remembered Kyoto. After thirty years, he published an unabridged German translation.