Japanese power struggle
The Tale of the Heike is based on the actual struggle for power between the Taira and Minamoto families of Japan in the middle and late 1100's. With the defeat of the Taira, Minamoto Yoritomo, the leader of the Minamoto clan, rose to power as the first shogun of Japan. Shoguns were warrior rulers who led Japan in the name of the emperors from the late 1100's to the mid-1800's.