Minamoto no Yoshitsune led the Genji to victory over the Taira at Dan-no-ura, ending the Genpei War. Reading the tidal flows and targeting the enemy oarsmen, his tactical brilliance here gave rise to the legendary eight-ship leap. The Taira were annihilated, opening the way for Genji rule.

Taira no Kiyomori had died six years before Dan-no-ura, but his grandson Emperor Antoku and the entire Taira clan met their end here. The battlefield marks the end of the Taira glory Kiyomori had built, symbolizing the impermanence of power at the heart of The Tale of the Heike.

Taira no Tomomori (1152–1185), Kiyomori's fourth son and the most militarily gifted general of the Taira clan, commanded the Taira forces at Dan-no-ura. Despite successive defeats at Ichinotani and Yashima, he fought on until the end. When the battle was lost, he reportedly declared 'I have seen all there is to see' — then tied a heavy anchor to his armor and sank into the Kanmon Strait. The bronze statue of Tomomori at Mimosuogawa Park, shown shouldering an anchor, commemorates his extraordinary final moments.