EPISODE 107: The Forge of the Samurai: The Genpei War Part 2

“This is how 70,000 horsemen of the Taira died, buried in this one deep valley; the mountain creeks ran red with their blood and the mound of their corpses was like a small hill.” - The Tale of the Heike “Tomoe had long black hair and a fair complexion, and her face was very lovely; but she was also a fearless rider, who could not be thrown by neither the fiercest horse nor the roughest ground; and with such skill she handled sword and bow that she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to battle against gods and demons. Many times she had taken the field, fully armed, and won great fame in duels against the bravest captains, and so in this last fight, when all the others had been killed or had fled, among the last seven there rode Tomoe.” - Tale of the Heike “Cut off my head and show it to Yoritomo!" - Kiso Yoshinaka in The Tale of the Heike “The feat they were accomplishing seemed beyond mortal capacity, a fit undertaking for demons.” The Tale of the Heike “I whipped my mount over precipitous cliffs, heedless of life in the face of the enemy; I braved the perils of wind and wave on the boundless sea, ready to sink to the bottom as food for monsters of the deep. Battle dress was my…