藤原为信、豪信 · Public domain
Late Heian period · 1118–1181
Taira no Kiyomori
平清盛 · Japan
Founder of Japan's first samurai-led government
Rising to Grand Chancellor, he became Japan's de facto ruler from 1167 and set up the first government in Japanese history dominated by samurai. The Taira actively developed maritime trade with Song China and tried to monopolise foreign trade along the Seto Inland Sea.
Where the story happened
Los lugares que dejó
Historia · Itsukushima Shrine
Taira no Kiyomori's shrine on the sea
Itsukushima Shrine's present scale is usually credited to Taira no Kiyomori: as governor of Aki Province in 1168 he funded major construction, and a torii has stood in the sea here since that year (the present one was built in 1875). The Taira controlled trade with Song China across the Seto Inland Sea, and Miyajima became the Taira clan's guardian shrine.
