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During the 12th Century, the Gempei War had ended a long rivalry between the Taira and Genji clans. It is the most celebrated of all the encounters fought between samurai. It was the consummation of the samurai ideal, a fight to death between two entire clans.

On April 24th, 1185, the Taira fleet, commanded by Taira Tomomori, approached the Shimonoseki Strait where it would battle with the Genji clan. The following day, after hours of fighting Tomomori announced to his crew all was lost and suicide was the only answer. Thus began the most tragic mass suicide in the history of the Samurai. Beginning with the Emperor and his grandmother and ending with Taira Tomomori himself, the Taira clan leapt to their dea th into the ocean and sank beneath the waves. With this, the name of Taira disappeared from Japanese history.

The Gempei War had now come to an end making Minamoto Yoritomo, the leader if the Genji clan, the effective ruler of Japan. In 1192, Yoritomo was proclaimed Seii-tai-shogun, also known as shogun.