Taira Tadamori (平忠盛) (role 1096 – 1153)

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Biography:

The historical figure

"Served the emperors Shirakawa, Horikawa and Toba; governed the provinces of Harima, Ise and Bizen, and was named Kebiishi. In 1129 he was ordered to suppress the high-sea pirates, who infested the coasts of San-yō-dō and Nankai-dō. The ex-emperor Toba ordered him to build the San-jū-san-gen-dō, and in reward he received the governorship of Tajima (1132). The credit enjoyed created enemies who tried to kill him, but he escaped their snares."

Quoted from: Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan by E. Papinot, p. 620.

[The kebiishi (検非違使) was the police and judicial chief during the Heian and Kamakura periods.]

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A "...warrior whose military and diplomatic skills made the Taira clan the most powerful family in Japan and laid the groundwork for his son Kiyomori’s assumption of virtual control over the country.

After the death of his father, Masamori, who had established the family along the Inland Sea in western Japan, Tadamori helped the Imperial court by subduing the pirates menacing navigation. In so doing, he gained many retainers for his clan and new titles and grants from the Imperial government, which was pleased that trade with China again flourished. Tadamori also shared in the lucrative China trade, and he further enhanced his position by consistently supporting the court against the challenges of rival clans, particularly the Minamotos.

Unlike his provincial rivals, who were bedazzled by the magnificence of the capital, Tadamori was highly cultivated and schooled in classical learning. As the Emperor’s personal bodyguard and confidant, he was accepted as an equal by the court aristocracy. Thus, he elevated the influence of the Taira clan, giving its members a psychological advantage over their warrior rivals."

Quoted from the Encyclopedia Britannica online.

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"The narrative in Heike from the account of the first Heike history to the story of Tadamori's promotion to the high aristocracy at the beginning of the work, and the particulars of this promotion and the opposition of the aristocrats... does more than merely show Kiyomori's roots. It also shows that the family does not fall within the initial pledge of the gods. It is understood that such a family assumed the seat of glory on the basis of the efforts of a new set of deities, who ultimately had no connection with the imperial authority but who had recently begun to harvest such authority. The narration holds that the greatest significance here is in the efforts of the deities Kumano Gongen and Itsukushima Myōjin, particularly the latter."

Quoted from the translation of "The World of the Genpei Jōsuiki" by Minobe Shigekatsu in the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2/3, Religion and Literature in Japan (Jun. - Sep., 1982), p. 215

In other words, the Taira claim to power was spurious based on spurious gods and they were therefore doomed to fail.