Minamoto yoshitsune benkei

How Benkei Met Yoshitsune. Their adventures have given birth to a host of myths, legends and stories, while incidents from their lives often form the theme of Kabuki plays and Noh performances. Benkei was a warrior monk who lived in Japan in the twelfth century. Though most of the stories associated with him are exaggerated to the stature of myth and legend, he was undoubtedly a real person.

Minamoto Yoshitsune is one of the best-loved historical figures in Japan. He was a brilliant warrior who lived from to He helped his older brother Yoritomo gain control of Japan.

Benkei death

Later, Yoritomo established the first shogunate in Japan. Kiyomori spared Yoshitsune, but put him in a monastery in Kyoto. Here, Yoshitsune trained to become a Buddhist monk. Legend says that it was near this monastery, on the Goyo Bridge in Kyoto, that Yoshitsune met Benkei.