"Yoshitsune" takes place a few years after the end of the Genpei War. Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the famous general, is being pursued by agents of his brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo, who has recently established himself as "shōgun". Yoshitsune travels with his mistress Shizuka and loyal retainer Benkei in search of three Taira generals who escaped justice at the end of the war, and who he believes may pose a threat to the shogunate. This aspect of the plot is the primary departure from both history and from the epic. In reality, the three generals Taira no Koremori, Taira no Tomomori, and Taira no Noritsune, along with the young Emperor Antoku and his nursemaid who feature in the play, all perished in the war, most of them sacrificing themselves in the battle of Dan-no-ura.