Kikuchi clan
At the end of the twelfth-century events far away in eastern Japan led to the establishment of Japan's first military government, the Kamakura shogunate, which, during the initial stages at least, ran in tandem with the old imperial administration. The wars surrounding the birth of this new regime saw the Kikuchi clan coalesce into a powerful warrior league or bushidan. In 1181–82, their leader Kikuchi Takanao, joined with Ogata Koreyoshi of Bungo, another important local warrior, in rebellion against the Taira, which converted them into de facto allies of Minamoto Yoritomo, founder of the Bakafu. This rising was, however, crushed by Haruda Tanenao. Then, perversely, as the fighting drew to a close and the Taira star waned, the Kikuchi chose to align themselves with the erstwhile enemies and, together with the leading Kyūshū warriors including the Haruda, Yamaga, and Itai, suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the now triumphant Bakafu. The battle took place off the coast of Kyūshū, at Dannoura, and it saw the emergence of Minamoto no Yoritomo as Japan's unquestioned military leader. His forces were drawn largely from the east, while, in the dying moments, the Taira had relied almost exclusively on warriors from Kyūshū. The new military regime, therefore, titled decidedly toward the east and against the west, a fact that was to have profound consequences for the island's future.