It's a traditional performing art with a rich history.

It draws a million theater-goers per year...

It's kabuki!

Explore this art with popular kabuki actor Kataoka Ainosuke on KABUKI KOOL!

12th-century general Minamoto no Yoshitsune is a popular tragic hero from Japanese history.

Today, we explore kabuki plays which feature him as a character,

and why his life holds so much appeal.

Let's open the curtain!

Hi, I'm Sarah Àlainn.

I'm a big fan of tragedies, so I'm really looking forward to the hero of today's plays.

Our guide is kabuki actor Kataoka Ainosuke.

Hello.

Hello.

Today, we're going to look at an extremely popular tragic hero, Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

He was a historic figure who appears in many kabuki plays.

So, we'll explore some of the best-known plays.

I hear that in each play, Yoshitsune wears different costumes and make-up.

I want to see them all!

That's great!

In kabuki, Yoshitsune is like a concentrated image

of everything Edo period audiences thought they wanted in a hero.

So, by exploring these plays, we have an idea of what the Japanese consider to be a hero.

Yes, exactly.

Before we get to the plays, let's talk a bit about the historic figure.

This is a portrait of Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

Yes. Yoshitsune was born in 1159 during a brutal power struggle between Genji and Heike samurai clans.

Yoshitsune was a son of the head of the Genji clan,

and played a huge role in bringing down the rival Heike clan.

However, his father died in battle when Yoshitsune was a child.

Later, he was betrayed by his beloved older brother.

It was a tragic life.

That must have been painful!

What a dramatic life full of light and darkness!

Yes, it's why Japanese are so fond of Yoshitsune

and why there are so many stories about him.

Let's start with a play where he's still young.

After his father died in battle,

Yoshitsune was sent to be raised in a Buddhist temple above Kyoto on Mt. Kurama.

His childhood name was Ushiwakamaru.

In Kyoto today, by the Gojo bridge over the Kamo river,

there are statues showing the legendary first encounter of Ushiwakamaru and Benkei,

the most famous of all his retainers.

Let's watch a dance showing that encounter.

Ushiwakamaru comes down from Mt. Kurama to Kyoto to the Gojo bridge in moonlight.

What a sweet looking boy!

He's described as "a rosy-cheeked youth."

Then Benkei appears.

He looks powerful!

Yes.

Benkei was a Buddhist priest,

but also was a fighter powerful enough to handle a big halberd.

As they pass each other, instantly, Ushiwakamaru draws his sword.

Benkei is confident in his strength and wields his big halberd to try to cut down the boy!

But, Ushiwakamaru has been trained in sword fighting by the tengu goblins of Mt. Kurama

and is more than a match for Benkei.

So, he was powerful even as a boy!

He jumps up lightly onto the railing of the bridge.

He fights off Benkei.

Because of this fight, Benkei surrenders and becomes Ushiwakamaru's retainer.

So, this print portrays that meeting on the bridge.

Yes. This is Yoshitsune.

And, this is Benkei.

And so Benkei became Yoshitsune's retainer after this encounter.

That's right.

Benkei seems to have actually existed,

but we actually don't know very much about him.

But in stories, he usually appears as the person who saves Yoshitsune from danger.

Mm, I see.

Later, we'll see another play where Benkei plays a role.

Great!

Yoshitsune grows up, and at 22 he meets his older brother Yoritomo,

the leader of the Genji clan, for the first time.

This print shows that meeting.

So that's Yoshitsune, and Benkei is beside him.

Yes, and this is his brother, Yoritomo.

It's said that Yoshitsune was so overcome at this meeting that he cried.

Yoshitsune never had the love between family,

so meeting his brother must have been overwhelming.

Yes.

Later, Yoshitsune leads Genji forces into battle against the Heike.

He wins, showing almost super human strength.

So, he was a very gifted fighter.

Yes, he was.

Next, an episode from the war with the Heike clan.

Atsumori is a young Heike general of imperial birth.

Yoshitsune secretly wants to save his life by sacrificing another boy in his place.

You mean that it was meant to look like Atsumori was dead even though he was really alive?

That's right.

So, Yoshitsune gives top secret orders to one of his retainers, Kumagai Naozane.

This is the battle camp of Kumagai Naozane, a general serving under Yoshitsune.

Kumagai has taken the head of a young Heike general named Atsumori.

Yoshitsune now comes to inspect the head to see whether it is really the head of Atsumori.

Present Atsumori's head for inspection immediately!

But before Kumagai shows Yoshitsune the head, he takes a sign board that Yoshitsune gave him.

It seems to say that anyone cutting off a branch of cherry blossoms will have a finger cut off.

But it may be a veiled order to save Atsumori's life.

I see! It seems to be about cherry blossoms,

but Kumagai understands that it is an order to save Atsumori's life.

So, the sign is like a code!

That's right.

I followed the orders on this sign exactly.

And I beheaded Atsumori.

Now you'll see how Kumagai did it.

That head...!

Kumagai's wife is shocked when she sees the head,

because it is actually the head of their son Kojiro.

What? His own son??!!

Yes.

He's killed his son in Atsumori's place.

How terrible!

Yoshitsune knew that Kumagai's son was about the same age as Atsumori.

So he used the image of a cherry blossom to suggest that Kumagai kill his son in place of Atsumori.

Kumagai understood that Yoshitsune wanted to protect Atsumori since he was the son of an emperor.

Kumagai finally had no choice but to sacrifice his son.

You truly understood my wish
to protect the cherry blossoms.

This is indeed Atsumori's head!

There must be family here.
Let them see the head and mourn.

Yoshitsune praises Kumagai's loyalty, but he also knows how he must feel,

so he allows Kumagai and his wife to say farewell to their son.

Then, Kumagai cuts off his topknot to show that he will become a Buddhist priest.

What have you done!

How can you be surprised?

Kumagai asks Yoshitsune to be released from service as a warrior

so that he can pray for those who have died in war.

His son Kojiro was only 16 and he thinks back over that time.

The 16 years of his life are now in the past.

Was it all a dream?

Finally, Yoshitsune gives Kumagai permission to go and become a Buddhist priest and wishes him well.

Farewell, Kumagai!

Kumagai's loyalty is incredible! But I feel really bad for him...

Poor guy.

Yes, but in those days that was part of the duty of a warrior.

Yoshitsune continues to fight the Heike clan,

but cracks begin to appear in his relationship with his brother, Yoritomo.

Oh? So what happens?

The next play is a very popular one where Yoshitsune reflects on his own life.

The next play is set in the sacred mountains of Yoshino,

recognized as a world heritage, which are famous for their cherry blossoms.

Yoshitsune's brother Yoritomo suspects him of treason

and Yoshitsune is being protected here in the mansion of Kawatsura Hogen.

Yoshitsune's lover Shizuka finally joins him and she carries a precious drum that Yoshitsune gave her.

But Yoshitsune is alarmed that his retainer Sato Tadanobu,

who was supposed to be with her, is not there.

Tadanobu was supposed to protect you.
Where is he?

Whenever I got separated from Tadanobu...

...if I played the drum, mysteriously he would appear.

Play the drum now!

Yoshitsune begins to wonder about Tadanobu and has Shizuka play the drum to investigate him.

Tadanobu is about to appear!

Wow! He appeared instantly from those steps!

But, there's something strange about this Tadanobu.

Finally, Tadanobu reveals what he really is.

The skins on that drum are from my parents!

I am the son of that drum!

Then you are actually...a fox!

He was actually a fox in disguise!

Yes.

The skins of his fox parents were used to make the drum that Shizuka has.

So the fox wanted to be close to the drum.

This time he's come from above.

And he looks like a fox!

This fast change is in just a few seconds.

Through the drum my parents say,
"Leave before you cause more trouble!"

I will obey my parents and leave.

But how sad I am to leave my parents forever!

Yoshitsune has been listening.

He was not a human being...
but how I understand his grief!

Yoshitsune thinks about the fox separated from his parents and compares it to his own life.

The love of even animals for family moves me greatly!

I was never able to do anything for my
father Yoshitomo, before he was killed.

I thought at least to serve my brother Yoritomo.

I would not have regretted dying in battle for his sake.

Now I have been abandoned by my brother.

The fox to whom I gave my name
must have the same evil karma.

When will this sad cycle of karma come to an end?

♪ "The similarity of their situation
brings Yoshitsune to tears."

Genkuro, I give you this drum!

Yoshitsune has sympathy for this fox that has a similar fate.

And also to reward him for protecting Shizuka, he gives the fox the drum.

I have so hoped to have this drum, I will not refuse.

How happy I am!

That was so touching!

You could really feel the pain of Yoshitsune's situation in that lament.

Yes.

In this scene, Yoshitsune's tragic life overlaps with the story of the fox Tadanobu.

It is a story that moves people in any age.

So now, the rift deepens between the brothers and finally Yoritomo decides to capture and eliminate Yoshitsune.

The brother Yoshitsune loved so much is now after him?

Yes.

That is the biggest reason that Yoshitsune becomes a tragic hero.

Legend has it that Yoshitsune escaped from Kyoto before it was surrounded by Yoritomo and was on the run.

Our final play shows Yoshitsune as a fugitive and is a masterpiece of kabuki.

This features Benkei, whom we first saw in the first play in this program.

Great!

This is the barrier of Ataka at a key spot on the road.

The barrier keeper Togashi has been ordered by Yoritomo to stop and capture Yoshitsune.

Yoshitsune and his retainers approach the barrier.

They are disguised as yamabushi mountain priests.

Benkei poses as their leader and Yoshitsune is disguised as a humble porter.

I have taken Benkei's advice
to disguise myself as a porter.

Now is the time when we must serve our lord...

...By breaking through the barrier!

Wait! Do not do that!

Benkei has stopped the men from using force and then asks to be let through the barrier.

We are on a sacred mission.
Let us through the barrier.

If your mission is indeed official,
you must have a subscription list.

Togashi says that if they are genuine, they must have an official document called a "subscription list."

Of course, Benkei has no such thing.

What can he do?

Benkei thinks that all is lost.

But he takes out a scroll he happens to have.

He reads it, making up the text as he goes along.

Togashi tries to see what is really written on the scroll.

Yoshitsune tensely watches.

How nerve wracking!

But he's reading it full of confidence.

Yes.

Benkei pretends to read the subscription list and Togashi believes him.

The subscription list is genuine.
You may go through the barrier.

They make it through!

Yes. But when Yoshitsune tries to go through the barrier the guards whisper to Togashi.

Don't let that porter through!

Porter! What's the holdup?

I stopped him!

Why?

Because he looks like someone!

Who exactly?

Yoshitsune!

You think this porter looks like Yoshitsune?

Benkei threatens to beat the porter.

It was unthinkable to beat your lord, so that would prove it wasn't Yoshitsune.

Right.

Whatever you say, this porter...

...Will not pass through!

Benkei has one trick left.

Shall I leave him here
for you to torture and interrogate?

Or shall I beat him to death right here and now?

Benkei is ready to kill Yoshitsune and then to die himself.

Do not act hastily!
Do not beat that porter!

Togashi realizes the truth and is overwhelmed by Benkei's determined loyalty.

I have no doubts left. All of you,
go through the barrier immediately!

But, Togashi knows that's Yoshitsune, doesn't he?

Yes.

And even so, he lets them through.

Now that they are through the barrier, are they safe for a while?

Yes.

Yoshitsune is full of gratitude to Benkei for having saved them.

You saved me by threatening to beat me!

Thank you for bringing the protection of heaven.

These gracious words are more than I deserve.

Yoshitsune holds out his hand to Benkei to show his thanks.

Benkei is overcome with emotion.

What a beautiful relationship between lord and retainer.

Finally, Yoshitsune and his party rush off to continue on their road of escape.

Oh, that was so moving!

I mean, Benkei is prepared to sacrifice his life in order to protect Yoshitsune.

And in return, Yoshitsune responds to Benkei's feelings.

I can see how this relationship has captured the hearts of the Japanese.

Yes.

It shows the way one man can care about another,

in a way that is beautiful and very affecting.

This is one of my favorite plays.

So what happens to Yoshitsune?

Despite his flight, Yoritomo tracks him down.

Yoshitsune met an untimely death at just 31.

31? So young.

Today was all about Yoshitsune's life.

Any thoughts, Sarah-san?

Yoshitsune was an extraordinary man with many traits we could empathize with.

I can really see why he was so loveable.

And I think that rings true not just for the Japanese, but for people all around the world.

Such an endearing character!

Really? That's great to hear, thank you.

I feel inspired to play Yoshitsune with a renewed love for the role,

next time I act in one of today's plays.

I look forward to it.

Don't forget to visit our website.

You can find lots of information on kabuki and now you can also view video digests of our show.

Don't forget to send us your questions and comments.

Ainosuke-san, it's time for our ending.

So it is.

Do you remember the scene at the Gojo bridge?

Shall we do that?

Sure!

You will be Ushiwakamaru, I'll be Benkei.

Okay.

Hear ye!

That's all for today!