Hashi Benkē

橋弁慶 Benkei on the Bridge

1 Source and/or Related Material

legends of Minamoto Yoshitsune, The Story of Yoshitsune 3, Muromachi Period Tales “Benkei monogatari ”

2 Author

Unknown

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

Musashibō Benkei (shite), a wild, hulking warrior monk from Enryakuji on Mount Hie, has been visiting the Tenjin Shrine on Fifth Avenue (Kyoto) every night past midnight for a set number of nights, in fulfilment of a vow. On the day before he is set to fulfil his vow, an attendant (tsure) warns him that a boy of twelve or thirteen has been challenging anyone who comes near the Fifth Avenue Bridge to duels and cutting down all comers. Just then, a local man (ai) hurries from the bridge and tells a friend (ai) how he just barely escaped with his life from the strange warrior boy. His friend guesses that the person with the sword must be Ushiwaka, one of the last survivors of the Genji clan, later to become the renegade general Yoshitsune. He scolds the first man’s cowardice, but they both flee when they hear a noise. Late that night, Benkei appears in armour with his halberd on the bridge where Ushiwaka (kokata) is awaiting passersby in hopes of reaching a thousand kills as part of his military training. At first Benkei takes the boy, who is dressed in female robes, for a woman and tries to walk past him, but the moment he comes near, the youth kicks the shaft of his halberd up into the air, thus disarming him. Try as he might, Ushiwaka wards off Benkei’s every attack with superhuman agility. When he learns the boy’s true identity, Benkei forgets about his pilgrimage and offers him his allegiance, and the two go into hiding together in preparation for overthrowing the Heike.