Page "Battle of Kurikara" Paragraph 3

Approaching the mountain passes which connect western Honshū to the east, Koremori split his forces in two, one part taking the Kurikara Pass up to Tonamiyama, the other entering Etchū Province through Noto Province to the north.

Minamoto no Yoshinaka, seeing the Taira forces coming up the pass, displayed a large number of white flags ( white was the Minamoto clan color ), on a hill a few kilometers away to trick his enemies into believing that his force was larger than it really was.

This was a delaying tactic, aimed at keeping the Taira atop the pass until night fell, so that the second part of his strategy could fall into place.