A Preliminery Essay on the Plot of Heike Monogatari

Abstract

I discuss the basic plot of the story by studying the transmission of the sacred sword which Kiyomori was given by the god of Itsukushima and the arms - a suit of armor named Karakawa and a sword named Kogarasu - which were transmitted from one descendant to another in the direct line of the Taira family, in connection with the descriptive parts of the story. The story of the Komatsu family, which becomes apparent in this text, suggests the tranferring the rein of government from the Taira family to Yoritomo and contains the felicita- tion to the new generation represented by Yoritomo, in which I think lies the essence of this story.