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NINJA RIVALS

1185 A.D.

Name: MINAMOTO NO YOSHITSUNE

源義経

Birth/Death: 1159-1189

Occupation: General

Cause of Death: Seppuku

A.K.A.: Ushiwakamaru Just “Yoshitsune” Hougan (Title bestowed by Emperor)

Known Associates: Benkei (see below).

Preferred Technique: Swordplay

Clan Affiliation: Minamoto

Existence: Confirmed

The Man

The quintessential bishonen (“beautiful boy”) of Japanese literature, Yoshitsune’s exquisite balance of looks, valor, and skill made him a prototype for generations of androgynous Japanese heroes. Dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse didn’t hurt, either.*

Yoshitsune—then known as Ushiwakamaru—was born during a civil war called the Heiji Rebellion. His father was slain on the battlefield, his older brother sentenced to death, and his mother captured as a concubine by the leader of the victorious Taira clan, all while he was still an infant. At the age of seven (eleven according to some sources) Yoshitsune was banished to Kurama-dera Temple, deep in the mountains of Kyoto, with the idea that he would spend the rest of his life as a cloistered monk.

Things didn’t exactly play out that way. Quickly tiring of religious study, Yoshitsune spent the next decade training body and soul in the martial arts. Popular legend has it he learned swordsmanship from the Tengu, fearsome yokai famed for their superhuman strength, agility, and prowess with all manner of human weaponry. He also studied the basics of guerilla warfare under warrior monks in the area; the techniques he mastered—including kasumi, “The Mist,” for blinding opponents with dirt or other found objects; hien sandan-giri,“The Flying Swallow Triple Slice,” an aerial sword technique for killing opponents left, right, and front simultaneously; and his legendary ability to leap great distances—eventually formed the basis for what came to be called “Yoshi-tsune-style ninjutsu” centuries later.

Yokai or not, whoever taught Yoshitsune must have been good. By his late teens, he was second to none with a blade in his hand. And once he learned the truth about his lineage, he dedicated the remainder of his short life to making the Taira clan pay for what they had done to his family.

Yoshitsune and Benkei

The tale of how Yoshitsune met his best friend and constant companion, Musashibo Benkei, is as much a part of myth and legend as the men themselves. A bear of a man, Benkei supposedly spent a full eighteen months in the womb before finally emerging at the size of a normal three-year-old. By the time he completed training as a warrior monk at the age of seventeen, he towered some two meters tall and was near invincible with a naginata polearm in his hands.

Determined to prove the superiority of his abilities, Benkei stationed himself at Gojo Tenjin Shrine in Kyoto, challenging any and every swordsman who happened to pass to a duel. He had successfully deprived some 999 of them of their weapons when the diminutive, effeminate young Yoshitsune appeared, nonchalantly playing a flute. Understandably quite confident by this point, Benkei rushed his thousandth opponent without hesitation. But Yoshitsune leapt over the sweep of the blade, using Benkei’s own chest as a springboard to reach a perch atop a three-meter wall, where he continued to evade the giant’s increasingly furious attacks. It wasn’t until a second match on the veranda of Kiyomizu Temple that Yoshitsune even gave Benkei a taste of his sword. He inflicted so many nicks that the huge warrior called the bout, pledging allegiance to the mysterious young David who taught a Goliath never to judge a book by its cover.

The Moment of Glory

The battle of Dan-no-Ura, 1185. When it came to the Taira clan, Yoshitsune was a human Terminator. For years he had pursued his vendetta. Joining forces with his brother Yoritomo, long since given a reprieve from death and now head of the Taira’s archrivals, the Minamoto clan, Yoshitsune harried the Taira from the mountains to the plains to what must have seemed like the ends of the earth: a naval engagement off of Dan-no-Ura, the southern tip of the island of Honshu. The battle represented a desperate last stand for the outnumbered Taira, who had hidden the child-emperor Antoku aboard one of the ships. Using both intelligence gleaned from a turncoat Taira general and the tides to his advantage, Yoshitsune discovered the location of the prize. His archers pounded it with salvo after salvo, sending the emperor’s skiff out of control and throwing the enemy forces into chaos. Knowing their time was up, the emperor’s regents took their lives along with that of their charge, ending the Taira clan’s claim on the throne once and for all—and setting the stage for Yoshitsune’s brother Yoritomo to become first shogun of Japan by the end of the decade.

The End

Alas, a great warrior doesn’t necessarily make a great politician. With the Taira clan eliminated, Yoshitsune found himself adrift. A lone wolf far more fond of leaping right into the fray than in the subtleties of administration, he unwittingly became caught up in a political intrigue between his brother and Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Accused of treason and cornered by forces loyal to his brother, he chose suicide rather than capture. Benkei singlehandedly held off the incoming troops to give his master time to commit seppuku and preserve his honor; legend has it that he remained standing even after perforated by innumerable arrows, steadfastly protecting Yoshitsune even in death.

Yoshitsune gets an education, yokai-style, as a Tengu instructs him in the ways of the sword.

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* Notwithstanding the fact that his legendary beauty isn’t borne out by any actual historical evidence.