源頼政

Minamoto no Yorimasa was a warrior of the late Heian period celebrated equally as a master archer and as a poet of the imperial anthology. His most famous deed was shooting down the nue — a chimeric monster with a monkey's head, a tanuki's body, a serpent's tail, and tiger's paws — that haunted the Imperial Palace at night and afflicted the Emperor with illness. In 1180, at the astonishing age of seventy-seven, Yorimasa raised arms against the Taira by supporting Prince Mochihito's call to arms. Defeated at the Battle of Uji, he retired to Byōdō-in temple, composed a celebrated death poem, and took his own life — the first warrior of the Genpei War to die in battle. His act ignited the nationwide uprising that would ultimately destroy the Taira. His swords were the elegant tachi of Ko-Bizen smiths, and the nue motif he made famous has been engraved on Japanese blades for centuries since.