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44-590: The earliest records of Benkei are in the Azuma Kagami , The Tale of the Heike , and the Genpei Jōsuiki —all sources from around a century or more after Benkei's life. These sources generally only indicate Benkei was one of Yoshitsune's retainers and was a thin monk, although they do indicate Yoshitsune was aided and protected by a band of rogueish sōhei (warrior-monks) near Mount Hiei after he fled

88-458: A Mongol occupation army garrisoning their country, had sent much intelligence information to Japan, so that along with messages from Japanese spies in the Korean peninsula, the shogunate had a good picture of the situation of the pending Mongol invasion. The shogunate had rejected Kublai's demands to submit with contempt. The Mongol landings of 1274 met with some success, however there was no rout of

132-436: A broad axe ( masakari ), a rake ( kumade ), a sickle ( nagigama ), a wooden mallet ( hizuchi ), a saw ( nokogiri ), an iron staff ( tetsubō ), and a Japanese glaive ( naginata ). Benkei was said to have wandered around Kyoto every night on a personal quest to take 1000 swords from samurai warriors, who he believed were arrogant and unworthy. After collecting 999 swords through duels and looking for his final prize, he met

176-436: A closer look, the heroic warrior fell to the ground, having died standing upright. This is known as the "Standing Death of Benkei" ( 弁慶の立往生 , Benkei no Tachi Ōjō ). Benkei died at the age of 34. Atago-do, now called Benkei-do, features a statue of Benkei six feet two inches in height in the posture he stood in when he died at Koromogawa. It was built in the era of Shotoku (1711–1716), replacing an older monument. In olden times

220-572: A copy of the book in China, and found it valuable but marred by errors. After struggling to obtain a complete copy, he decided to correct, expand and amend it using other Japanese and Chinese texts dealing with Japan. After seven years of work, in 1814 he finished the Wuqi jing bu , or "Emendations to the Azuma Kagami ". The Wuqi jing bu had, as far as we know, two editions, one consisting of 28 and

264-614: A new shōgun, and assumed the post of shikken . Sanetomo was only twelve at this point, and accordingly power factually rested with his mother Hōjō Masako. The Minamoto remained the titular shōguns, with the Hōjō holding the real power. In 1204, loyalists of Yoriie attempted an uprising to topple the Hōjō domination, but the latter defeated the rebels and assassinated Yoriie. In 1205, Hōjō Tokimasa attempted to depose Sanetomo, hoping to install his son-in-law as new shogun. However, his daughter Hōjō Masako saw this as threat to her own status; she arranged

308-524: A plot to overthrow them, but the plot was discovered almost immediately and foiled. The Mongols under Kublai Khan attempted sea-borne invasions in 1274 and 1281. Fifty years before, the shogunate had agreed to Korean demands that the Wokou be dealt with to stop their raids, and this bit of good diplomacy had created a cooperative relationship between the two states, such that the Koreans, helpless with

352-517: A young man playing a flute at Gojotenjin Shrine in Kyoto. The much shorter man supposedly carried a gilded sword around his waist. Instead of dueling at the shrine itself, the two walked to Gojo Bridge in the city where the bigger Benkei ultimately lost to the smaller warrior, who happened to be Minamoto no Yoshitsune , a son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo . Some sources claim that the fight took place not at

396-528: Is also called Hōjōbon ( 北条本 ) after the Later Hōjō family of Odawara ( Kanagawa prefecture ), in whose possession it used to be before it was donated to Tokugawa Ieyasu . It originally consisted of 52 chapters, but the 45th is lost. In spite of its many flaws , the document is considered the most important existing document concerning the Kamakura period . The Azuma Kagami was compiled after 1266 under

440-490: The Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yoritomo after victory in the Genpei War and appointing himself as shōgun . Yoritomo governed Japan as military dictator from the eastern city of Kamakura with the emperor of Japan and his Imperial Court in the official capital city of Heian-kyō ( Kyoto ) as figureheads . The Kamakura shōguns were members of

484-605: The Kenmu Restoration under Emperor Go-Daigo in 1333, re-establishing Imperial rule until Ashikaga Takauji and his offspring overthrew the imperial government and founded the Ashikaga shogunate in 1336 ( Nanboku-chō period ). There are various theories as to the year in which the Kamakura period and Kamakura shogunate began. In the past, the most popular theory was that the year was 1192, when Minamoto no Yoritomo

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528-616: The Minamoto clan until 1226, the Fujiwara clan until 1252, and the last six were minor princes of the imperial family. The Hōjō clan were the de facto rulers of Japan as shikken ( regent ) of the shōgun from 1203. The Kamakura shogunate saw the Jōkyū War in 1221 and the Mongol invasions of Japan under Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281. The Kamakura shogunate was overthrown in

572-631: The "nun shogun" in the place of her son Yoriie. As Minamoto no Yoriie grew older, however, he attempted to exert real power, resulting in a power struggle with the Hōjō clan of his own mother. These conflicts caused considerable tensions within the shogunate. In 1201, the Jo clan unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the Minamoto clan in the Kennin Rebellion . Eventually, Tokimasa deposed Yoriie, backed up his younger brother, Minamoto no Sanetomo , as

616-760: The Benkei-do was at the foot of Chusonji hill until it was demolished. The ruins and a single pine tree still remain. Azuma Kagami Azuma Kagami ( 吾妻鏡/東鑑 , literally, "Mirror of the East") is a Japanese historical chronicle. The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo 's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in 1266. The work

660-518: The Gojo Bridge, but instead at Matsubara Bridge. Not long after the duel, Benkei, frustrated and looking for revenge, waited for Yoshitsune at the Buddhist temple of Kiyomizu , where he lost yet again. Henceforth, he became Yoshitsune's retainer and fought with him in the Genpei War against the Taira clan . From 1185 until his death in 1189, Benkei accompanied Yoshitsune as an outlaw. In

704-583: The Japanese defenders, who in any case greatly outnumbered the 40,000 combined invasion force of Mongols and Korean conscripts. Noting an impending storm, the Korean admirals advised the Mongols to re-embark so that the fleet could be protected away from shore; however, the typhoon was so destructive that one-third of the Mongol force was destroyed. After the surviving forces returned to Mongol territory, Kublai

748-450: The Minamoto clan weakened. Hōjō Tokimasa , the father of Yoritomo's widow, Hōjō Masako , and former guardian and protector of Yoritomo, claimed the title of regent ( shikken ) to Yoritomo's son Minamoto no Yoriie , eventually making that claim hereditary to the Hōjō clan . At the same time, Hōjō Masako maneuvered herself into such a powerful, albeit informal, position that people began calling her

792-437: The Mongols made no strategic headway. Again, a typhoon approached, and the Koreans and Chinese re-embarked the combined Mongol invasion forces in an attempt to deal with the storm in the open sea. At least one-third of the Mongol force was destroyed, and perhaps half of the conscripted Song forces to the south over a two-day period of August 15–16. Thousands of invading troops were not able to embark in time and were slaughtered by

836-468: The bloodline pure and give legitimacy to the rule. This succession proceeded for more than a century. As a result, the Kamakura shogunate rested on an unusual pyramid of regents and de facto usurpation: The true rulers, namely the Hōjō regents, had usurped power from the Minamoto, who had usurped it from the Emperor, descending from Emperor Kōkō , who usurped it from the children of Emperor Seiwa . At

880-507: The capital—perhaps the historical core of the Benkei legend. Many of the detailed anecdotes and stories of Benkei are from the Gikeiki , an even later 14th-century work. As no contemporary records of Benkei are extant, it is difficult to know which elements of the stories are historical and which are embellished. Stories about Benkei's birth vary considerably. One tells how his father

924-416: The civil government in Kyoto. Kamakura also appointed stewards, or jitō , to positions in the manors ( shōen ). These stewards received revenues from the manors in return for their military service. They served along with the holders of similar office, gesu , who delivered dues from the manor to the proprietor in Kyoto. Thus the dual governmental system reached to the manor level. In legal matters,

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968-493: The directive of the Hōjō shikken (officially a regent to a shōgun, but the de facto ruler) and is a record in diary form of events occurring in Japan. Written in a Japanized version of classical Chinese known as hentai kanbun ( 変体漢文 ) , the massive work was incomprehensible to most Japanese until an edition with furigana glosses was published in 1626. It was given in present to shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603, who obtained

1012-403: The end, Benkei and Yoshitsune were encircled in the castle of Koromogawa no tate . As Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep of the castle to commit honorable ritual suicide ( seppuku ) on his own, Benkei stood guard on the bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune. It is said that the soldiers were afraid to cross the bridge to confront him, and that all who did met a swift death at

1056-480: The exiled emperor's rescue, and in response the Hōjō sent forces again commanded by Takauji to attack Kyoto. Once there, however, Takauji decided to switch sides and support Go-Daigo. At the same time another warlord loyal to the emperor, Nitta Yoshisada , attacked Kamakura and took it. About 870 Hōjō clan, including the last three Regents, committed suicide at their family temple, Tōshō-ji , whose ruins were found in today's Ōmachi. In 1336, Ashikaga Takauji assumed

1100-449: The half-moon spear. At the age of seventeen, Benkei was said to have been 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall. At this point, he left the monasteries, and became a yamabushi , a member of a sect of mountain ascetics . Benkei was commonly depicted wearing a black cap that was a signature theme of such mountain ascetics. Benkei armed himself with seven weapons, and is often depicted carrying these on his back. In addition to his sword, he carried

1144-410: The hands of the gigantic man, who killed in excess of 300 trained soldiers. Realizing that close combat would mean suicide, the warriors following Minamoto no Yoritomo decided to shoot and kill Benkei with arrows instead. Long after the battle should have been over, the soldiers noticed that the arrow-riddled, wound-covered Benkei was still standing. When the soldiers dared to cross the bridge and take

1188-445: The helm. Since the Hōjō family did not have the rank to nominate a shōgun from among its members, Masako had to find a convenient puppet. The problem was solved by choosing Kujo Yoritsune, a distant relation of the Minamoto, who would be the fourth shōgun and figurehead, while Hōjō Yoshitoki would take care of day-to-day business. However powerless, future shōguns would always be chosen from either Fujiwara or imperial lineage to keep

1232-466: The military and the financial expenditures weakened the regime considerably. Additionally, the defensive war left no gains to distribute to the warriors who had fought it, leading to discontent. Construction of defensive walls added further expenses to the strained regime. In 1331, Emperor Go-Daigo took arms against Kamakura, but was defeated by Kamakura's Ashikaga Takauji and exiled to Oki Island , in today's Shimane Prefecture . A warlord then went to

1276-632: The missing section from other daimyos and then ordered the preparation and publication of the Fushimi version of the Azuma Kagami in Kokatsujiban , the old movable-type printing. This edition in turn became the basis for the present printed editions. Ieyasu considered the book as the product of historical wisdom, kept it at his side, and consulted it often. The Azuma Kagami is an enormously detailed record of different activities centering on

1320-443: The other of 30 chapters, both handwritten. Because Weng had never been to Japan, the book had major limitations in various areas, but it nonetheless became a valuable introduction to Japan and its culture. This book has only been reprinted once, by a Japanese publisher. Kamakura Shogunate The Kamakura shogunate ( Japanese : 鎌倉幕府 , Hepburn : Kamakura bakufu ) was the feudal military government of Japan during

1364-472: The position of shōgun himself, establishing the Ashikaga shogunate . The Kamakura shogunate functioned within the framework of the Heian system of Imperial rule. Yoritomo established a chancellery, or mandokoro , as his principal organ of government. Later, under the Hōjō, a separate institution, the hyōjōshū became the focus of government. The shogunate appointed new military governors ( shugo ) over

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1408-466: The pretender's murder and banished her father to a monastery. In 1219, Sanetomo was assassinated by his nephew Kugyō . Since Sanetomo died childless, the line of shōguns from the Minamoto clan ended with him. From this point onwards, the Hōjō were in total control. With Sanetomo's death in 1219, his mother Hōjō Masako continued to serve as the shogunate's real center of power. As long as she lived, regents and shōguns would come and go, while she stayed at

1452-438: The provinces/states. These were selected mostly from powerful families in the different provinces, or the title was bestowed upon a general and his family after a successful campaign. Although they managed their own affairs, in theory they were still obliged to the central government through their allegiance to the shōgun. The military governors paralleled the existing system of governors and vice-governors ( kokushi ) appointed by

1496-475: The same time, the regents, shoguns, and emperors all still maintained their nominal positions and existed alongside each other. The regime nonetheless proved to be stable enough to last a total of 135 years, 9 shōguns and 16 regents. In 1221, Emperor Go-Toba tried to regain power in what would be called the Jōkyū War ( 承久の乱 , Jōkyū no Ran ) , but the attempt failed. The power of the Hōjō remained unchallenged until 1324, when Emperor Go-Daigo orchestrated

1540-399: The samurai. Such losses in men, material, and the exhaustion of the Korean state in provisioning the two invasions put an end to the Mongols' attempts to conquer Japan. The "divine wind", or kamikaze , was credited for saving Japan from foreign invasion. For two further decades the Kamakura shogunate maintained a watch in case the Mongols attempted another invasion. However, the strain on

1584-451: The shōgun with almost daily entries that include even notes on the weather. It used to be considered an official Kamakura Bakufu diary, but it contains sections about events in distant areas written on the day of occurrence. Such entries are therefore believed to have been added later. Its content goes from the words and the deeds of the shōgun, officials, and military men to poems, literary pieces, descriptions of hunts, banquets and notes on

1628-503: The weather. It is therefore likely to be a compilation of information about the Hōjō regency period taken from Hōjō, Adachi and other noble houses archives, plus temple and shrine records. Predictably, it is heavily biased towards a Hōjō point of view but, because of its painstaking attention to details, it is nonetheless an important document to understand the Kamakura Bakufu . Chinese scholar Weng Guangping (1760–1847) read

1672-528: The year the Kamakura shogunate was established. Historically in Japan , the power of civilian government was primarily held by the ruling emperor of Japan and their regents , typically appointed from the ranks of the Imperial Court and the aristocratic clans that vied for influence there. Military affairs were handled under the auspices of the civil government. From 1180 to 1185, the Genpei War

1716-543: Was appointed Seii Taishōgun ( 征夷大将軍 ) . Later, the prevailing theory was that the year was 1185, when Yoritomo established the Shugo ( 守護 ) , which controlled military and police power in various regions, and the Jitō ( 地頭 ) , which was in charge of tax collection and land administration. Japanese history textbooks as of 2016 do not specify a year for the beginning of the Kamakura period, as there are various theories about

1760-526: Was fought between the Taira and Minamoto clans as part of a longstanding violent rivalry for influence over the Emperor and his court. Minamoto no Yoritomo defeated the Taira clan, but in his victory seized power from the civil aristocracy, politically relegating the Emperor and his court to symbolic figureheads . In 1192, Yoritomo and the Minamoto clan established a military government in Kamakura . Yoritomo unexpectedly died in an accident in 1199, leaving

1804-408: Was not dissuaded from his intentions of bringing Japan under Mongol control, and once again sent a message demanding submission, which infuriated the Hōjō leadership, who had the messengers executed. They responded with decisive action for defense—a wall was built to protect the hinterland of Hakata Bay, defensive posts were established, garrison lists were drawn up, regular manning of the home provinces

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1848-526: Was personally involved in. Benkei chose to join the monastic establishment at an early age and traveled widely among the Buddhist monasteries of Japan. During this period, monasteries were not only important centers of administration and culture, but also military powers in their own right, similar to the Roman Legions . Like many other monks, Benkei was likely trained in the use of the naginata ,

1892-458: Was redirected to the western defenses, and ships were constructed to harass the invaders' fleet when they appeared. The Mongols returned in 1281 with a force of some 50,000 Mongol-Korean-Chinese along with some 100,000 conscripts from the defeated Song empire in south China. This force embarked and fought the Japanese for some seven weeks at several locations in Kyushu, but the defenders held, and

1936-447: 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 Oniwaka ( 鬼若 ) —"demon/ogre child", and there are many famous ukiyo-e works themed on Oniwakamaru and his adventures. He is said to have defeated 200 men in each battle he

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