Japan, 1180: The samurai warlord Kiyomori is at the height of his power - he has exiled or executed his opponents, imprisoned the retired Emperor, and has begun his grandest project - the creation of a new capital city in his image. But hundreds of miles to the east, the exiled Yoritomo is planning to strike back against Kiyomori's Heike. He launches a daring night-time raid - one of the earliest Ninja-style stealth attacks in Japan's history - but will it succeed, and how will Kiyomori respond?

Main characters in this episode:

For the Genji:
Minamoto no Yoritomo - Genji heir; the future First Shogun
Hojo Masako - Yoritomo's wife; daughter of Tokimasa
Hojo Tokimasa - Yoritomo's father-in-law
Takatsuna, Sadatsuna, Moritsuna, Tsunetaka - samurai brothers

For the Heike:
Taira no Kiyomori - Heike Lord
Taira no Kanetaka - Governor of Izu
Tsutsumi Nobuto - Izu vice-governor
Oba no Kagechika - veteran samurai

The First Shogun podcast website: https://firstshogun.buzzsprout.com