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'I Have Seen All There Is to See' — Taira no Tomomori's Final Moments and the Samurai Aesthetic

When Taira no Tomomori had fought to the end at Dan-no-ura, he tied an anchor to his armor and said 'I have seen all there is to see' before leaping into the sea. Not resignation but completion.

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Taira no Tomomori commanded the Taira at Dan-no-ura until all was lost. He had the decks cleaned before the end — ‘don’t show the enemy a dirty ship’ — and said ‘I have seen all there is to see’ before wrapping an anchor rope around his armor and sinking into the sea. His vengeful spirit haunts the Noh stage in ‘Funa Benkei’ to this day.

Noh performance — Tomomori lives on as the vengeful ghost in Noh's 'Funa Benkei,' a symbolic figure of the Taira's destruction

Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Minamoto clan kabuto — symbol of the victors at Dan-no-ura, where Tomomori fought his last battle

Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Portrait of Minamoto no Yoritomo — the head of the Minamoto against whom Tomomori fought to the end. The Taira's destruction established Yoritomo's rule.

Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

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Key Figures

Taira no Tomomori

Last Pillar of the Taira

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