Hiraki Makino (Japanese: 牧野平木, 1159-1251) was a peasant from Owari Province who was loyal to the Shiba clan during the Genpei War era of the 1180s. Makino was famed for being the last survivor of the Battle of Minokamo, which signalled the fall of the Shiba clan, and he would live until the age of 92.
Biography[]
Hiraki Makino was born in Owari Province, Japan to a family of peasants that worked the land of the Shiba clan. In 1176, he was called up to serve Shiba Terasu when the Kiso Minamoto invaded Owari, and he fought under Terasu at the bloody Battle of Minokamo. He was the only man in his unit of 150 naginata levies to survive the battle, with the Minamoto chasing down the fleeing Shiba and killing most of them. Makino fled, supposedly to continue the fight, and many poems were written about him, either calling him a brave hero who lived to fight another day or calling him a coward. He either died at the siege of Inazawa shortly after the battle, became a bandit who fought against the Taira and Kamakura Shogunate, or retired and died at the age of 92 in 1251.