“The Tale of the Heike,” a historical epic chronicling the rise and fall of the Taira clan (Heike) during the late 12th century, contains this intriguing episode. In the imperial ...

When they were chanted in a melody, however, they gave me a profound sense of pathos about how the doom of the Taira clan was sealed by its defeat in the Battle of Dannoura (1185). Goto allowed me ...