Born in 1154, son of Minamoto no Yoshikata and cousin of Yoritomo and Yoshitsune. His father was killed by Yoshihira (Yoritomo's elder brother), and the orphaned child was raised by Nakahara Kanetoo in Kiso, Shinano (present-day Kiso-cho, Nagano). In 1180, he raised an army in response to Prince Mochihito's decree, rapidly swelling his forces. At Kurikara Pass (1183), he crushed a large Taira force using the audacious "fire-ox" night raid. He swept into Kyoto and was hailed as the "Rising Sun General." However, unable to maintain his army's discipline, rampant looting by his troops provoked fierce opposition from courtiers and monks, and his relationship with Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa collapsed. In 1184, when Yoritomo dispatched an army under Noriyori and Yoshitsune, Yoshinaka was driven out of Kyoto. He fought his final battle at Awazu (present-day Otsu, Shiga) and fell in combat at age 31. His farewell to his consort Tomoe Gozen is one of the Tale of the Heike's most celebrated scenes.

A wild and bold warrior. Raised in the mountains, he was unfamiliar with Kyoto manners, and his conduct was seen as crude. Yet his battlefield tactics, including the fire-ox charge at Kurikara, were brilliant.

Depicted as a tragic hero in "The Tale of the Heike," especially his farewell scene with Tomoe Gozen. His story of a mountain-bred warrior who fell in the capital resonates with Japanese sympathy for the underdog.