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Izu: Where Yoritomo Rose, Birthplace of Medieval Japan
The Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka was a "distant exile" site from ancient times, hosting Tachibana no Hayanari (842), [Yoritomo](/character/yoritomo) (20 years from 1160), [Mongaku](/character/mongaku) (c. 1173), and [Nichiren](/character/nichiren) (1261). Yoritomo's 20 years here led directly to the founding of the Kamakura shogunate.
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Author
Taketoki
| Samurai History
The Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka was designated a “distant exile” site from ancient times. Tachibana no Hayanari was sentenced to Izu in 842 (dying en route), but the most important Izu exile was Minamoto no Yoritomo (1160-1180) — banished at age 14 after his father’s death in the Heiji Rebellion. During his 20 years in Izu under the surveillance of Hojo Tokimasa, he fell in love with and married Tokimasa’s daughter Masako, met fellow exile Mongaku, and ultimately rose in 1180 to found the Kamakura shogunate. Nichiren was exiled to Ito in 1261. From the Edo period, the role of exile destination shifted from the Izu mainland to the Izu Islands, especially Hachijojima, which became the largest exile site of the early modern era.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Izu Peninsula — major exile site, where Yoritomo rose
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Hirugakojima — Yoritomo's 20-year exile site
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Yoritomo — from 20-year exile to first Kamakura shogun
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Butsugenji in Ito — site of Nichiren's Izu exile
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Shuzenji — site of Yoriie's assassination, key Izu history
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
── 了 ──
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Author
Taketoki（たけとき）
Samurai History
Toku editorial team — samurai history. Insists on primary sources and castle-layout diagrams, walking battlefields from Yoritomo's Izu exile sites to the late-Edo battlegrounds.
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