“The Tale of Heike” is one of the war chronicles about Taira-Minamoto War. The title was connected with Taira family that was called Heike. There was a lot of theory about which ages it was written in and who the author was. Although it was transmitted orally at the beginning, almost scholars say it was written in 13th century.

Taira-Minamoto War is the most famous incident in Japan. A lot of stories were written about it. They all were written based in “The Tale of Heike”.

“The Tale of Heike” is a history of Taira family, the rise and the fall. It was recited by blind persons accompanying of the biwa that was one of the string instruments. They were called biwa minstrels. The story recounts in the context of the Buddhism philosophy of impermanence.

Minamoto family has been called Genji. So the incident is called Genji-Heike clan war. Most foreigners know the title “The Tale of Genji”. But it wasn’t a war chronicle. It was a fiction about a lot of love affairs of Genji. He was an emperor’s son. He didn't have any relation to Minamoto family. Some people give it a kind of authority. But I think it is porno story. Then“The Tale of Genji” has been read for a long time.