Paper short abstract:

This paper analyzes the myth of Minamoto no Yoshitsune's survival in relation to the shifting borders to the north of Japan during the Edo and Meiji periods, and how Yoshitsune acted as a placeholder for the Japanese claim to new territory: through war, marriage, and descendants.

Paper long abstract:

The Zoku honchō tsūgan 続本朝通鑑, compiled in 1670, is one of the earliest known written sources of a strange tale. A short annotation to the main text mentions a popular belief that Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源義経 (1159-1189) did not die in Hiraizumi 平泉, but fled to Ezo 蝦夷 (present-day Hokkaido), where his descendants still resided five hundred years later. By the end of the Edo period, this simple narrative had diversified significantly. Now, Yoshitsune did not only flee to Ezo and became revered as a god there, he also (alternatively) became a general of the Chinese Jin dynasty 金朝 (1115-1234) or produced offspring that would eventually found the Manchurian Qing dynasty 清朝 (1636-1912). By the time the Meiji period arrived, he had also gained an additional identity: he had now become Genghis Khan (c. 1162-1227), the founder of the Mongolian empire.

Despite the extremely shaky historical foundation of these theories, they were accompanied both by lively academic discourse and a sustained output of media relating to the topic. After the Second World War, these theories have become mostly discredited, although the Genghis Khan theory has a notable following to this very day.

The timing of the development of these narratives is not coincidental. Yoshitsune set foot on what would become Hokkaido precisely when Japanese interest in the northern region spiked, and as Japanese interest in the Asian continent grew, his own journey to the north and west became longer in response. This paper aims to analyze the myth of Yoshitsune's survival in relation to the shifting borders to the north of Japan, and how Yoshitsune acted as a placeholder for the Japanese claim to new territory: through war, marriage, and descendants.