, popularly called Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk (sōhei) who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty, and a popular subject of Japanese folklore. His life has been embellished and distorted by kabuki and Noh drama, so that truth cannot be distinguished from legend.
Biography
Stories about Benkei's birth vary considerably. One tells how his
father was the head of a temple shrine who had raped his mother,
the daughter of a blacksmith. Another sees him as the offspring of
a temple god. Many give him the attributes of a
demon, a monster child with wild hair and long teeth.
In his youth Benkei may have been called —"demon/ogre child".
He joined the cloister at an early age and travelled widely among
the monasteries of Japan. During this period, the
Buddhist monasteries of Japan were
important centres of administration and culture, but also military
powers in their own right. Like many other monks, Benkei was
probably trained in the use of the
naginata. At the age of seventeen, he was said to
have been over two metres (or 6.6 feet) tall. At this point he left
the Buddhist monastery and became a
yamabushi, a sect of mountain monks, who were
recognised by their black caps. Japanese prints often show Benkei
wearing this cap.
Benkei is said to have posted himself at
Gōjō Bridge in
Kyoto, where he deprived every passing swordsman of
his weapon, eventually collecting 999 swords. On his 1000th duel,
Benkei was defeated by
Minamoto
no Yoshitsune, a son of the
warlord
Minamoto no Yoshitomo.
Henceforth, he became a retainer of Yoshitsune and fought with him
in the
Genpei War against the
Taira clan. Yoshitsune is credited with most of
the Minamoto clan's successes against the Taira, especially the
final naval battle of
Dannoura.
After their ultimate triumph, however, Yoshitsune's elder brother
Minamoto no Yoritomo turned
against him.
During the two year ordeal that followed, Benkei accompanied
Yoshitsune as an outlaw. In the end they were encircled in the
castle of
Koromogawa no
tate. As Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep of the
castle to commit ritual suicide (
seppuku) on his own, Benkei fought on at the
bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune. It is said
that the soldiers were afraid to traverse the bridge to confront
him, and all that did met swift death at the hands of the gigantic
man. Long after the battle should have been over, the soldiers
noticed that the arrow-riddled, wound-covered Benkei was standing
still. When the soldiers dared to cross the bridge and look more
closely, the giant fell to the ground, having been dead in a
standing position for some time before that. This is known as the
"Standing Death of Benkei" (弁慶の立往生,
Benkei no Tachi
Ōjō).
It is Benkei's loyalty and honour which makes him most attractive
in Japanese folklore. One kabuki play places Benkei in a moral
dilemma, caught between lying and protecting his lord in order to
cross a bridge. The critical moment of the drama is its climax,
where the monk realises his situation and vows to do what he must.
In another play, Benkei even slays his own child to save the
daughter of a lord. In the kabuki play
Kanjinchō, filmed by
Akira Kurosawa as
The Men Who Tread on the
Tiger's Tail, Benkei must beat his own master (disguised
as a porter) in order to avoid breaking his disguise.
In the media
The
Tale of Benkei was serialized in the first three issues of the
short-lived British
comic book series Tornado in 1979.
Benkei is playable character in
Koei's
Warriors Orochi Z, a
Japanese exclusive game for the
PlayStation 3.
Benkei was featured as the bridge-keeper in Zazen Town in the
Nintendo 64 game
Mystical Ninja Starring
Goemon. His appearance as a large, brutish man with a
staff parallels the engraving by Kikuchi Yosai. His name appears
among several other references to legendary Japanese figures
including most prominently
Sasuke
and
Goemon.
The third pilot of the original
Getter
team was Tomoe Musashi, and his successor after his death was
Kuruma Benkei. Both are characterized as loyal, steadfast friends
with preternatural toughness and endurance (Musashi's introductory
battle in the manga showcases him maintaining his consciousness
when even the ridiculously strong Ryouma and Hayato pass out from
the electrical energy coursing through the machine, and Benkei is
introduced in the TV show as sleeping through an intense spinning
machine for an extended period of time at speeds that would be
fatal to most.) The two characters are combined for a more direct
tribute in the character of Musashibou Benkei in the OAV
New Getter Robo, who is also a monk.
In the video game
Okami, Benkei is
first seen on a bridge (which is also called the Gōjō Bridge) wear
his trademark black cap, fishing for his 1000th sword. In this
case, it was a legendary fish known as the "
Living
Sword" (a fish which has a sword-like appearance, named
the
Cutlass Fish). He prevents the protagonist (a wolf
avatar of the Shinto sun god, Okami Amaterasu) from crossing the
bridge until he catches it. In order to pass him, Amaterasu must
buy the fishing rod called
Blinding Snow (which he
couldn't afford himself, for 5000 Yen) from the Tool Merchant for
him. After giving him the rod, Amaterasu must uses her Celestial
Brush powers to help Benkei catch fish (the player has limited
control over Benkei during this portion of the game, mainly holding
the rod & pulling in the hooked fish). After he catches the
legendary fish (with Amaterasu's help), he claims to realize how
foolish his obsession with swords is & decides fishing is a
much worthier pursuit (apparently having givin up his passion for
swordfighting in favor of his newfound love of fishing). He can
later be found fishing on a nearby dock.
He is a playable character in the video game,
Genji: Dawn of the Samurai,
and the sequel
Genji: Days
of the Blade, where he is portrayed as a large
club-wielding warrior monk, and a faithful companion to the main
character, Yoshitsune.
He also appears in the collectible card game,
Yu-Gi-Oh!, as a DARK-type Warrior monster by
the name of "Armed Samurai - Ben Kei". The monster's special effect
allows it to attack one additional time for each card equipped to
it. The original Japanese version of the card depicted a warrior
monk pierced with many arrows, referencing Benkei's famous death.
The arrows were removed for the international release, ostensibly
for being too graphic.
The manga "
Air Gear" features a team of
characters with the names Benkei and Yoshitsune
Notes
- Kitagawa, Hiroshi et al. (1975). The Tale of the
Heike, pp. 535, 540, 654, 656, 669.
-
http://www.siliconera.com/2009/06/09/koei-cancels-warriors-orochi-z-for-north-america/
References
- Ribner, Susan, Richard Chin and Melanie Gaines Arwin. (1978).
The Martial Arts. New York: Harper & Row. 10-ISBN 0-0602-4999-4;
13-ISBN 978-0-0602-4999-1.
- Kitagawa, Hiroshi and Bruce T. Tsuchida. (1975). The Tale
of the Heike. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. ISBN
0-86008-189-3.
- Yoshikawa, Eiji. (1956). The
Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the Classic Tale of Love and
War. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf. ASIN B0007BR0W8 (cloth).
- _____. (1981). The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the
Classic Tale of Love and War. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing. 10-ISBN 0-8048-1376-0;
13-ISBN 978-0048-1376-1 (paper).
- _____. (2002). The Heike Story: A Modern Translation of the
Classic Tale of Love and War. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.
10-ISBN 0-8048-3318-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-8048-3318-9 (paper).
- _____. (1989) Yoshikawa Eiji Rekishi Jidai Bunko
(Eiji Yoshikawa's Historical Fiction), Vols. 47–62
Shin Heike monogatari (新家物語). Tokyo: Kodansha. 10-ISBN 4-0619-6577-8; 13-ISBN
978-4-0619-6577-5.
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