Saitō Musashibō Benkei. Musashibō Benkei (武蔵坊弁慶?
, 1155–1189), popularly called Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk (sōhei) who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty, and a popular subject of Japanese folklore. Biography[edit] Stories about Benkei's birth vary considerably. One tells how his father was the head of a temple shrine who had raped his mother, the daughter of a blacksmith. He joined the cloister at an early age and travelled widely among the monasteries of Japan.
Benkei is said to have posted himself at Gojō Bridge in Kyoto, where he disarmed every passing swordsman, eventually collecting 999 swords. During the two-year ordeal that followed, Benkei accompanied Yoshitsune as an outlaw. Cultural references[edit] Contemporary references[edit] Notes[edit] Jump up ^ Kitagawa, Hiroshi et al. (1975). References[edit] Ribner, Susan, Richard Chin and Melanie Gaines Arwin. (1978). External links[edit] Ōnin War. Marker at location of outbreak of the Ōnin War The Ōnin War (応仁の乱, Ōnin no Ran?)
Was a civil war that lasted 10 years (1467–1477) during the Muromachi period in Japan.[1] A dispute between Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen escalated into a nationwide war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of daimyo in many regions of Japan. The war initiated the Sengoku jidai, "the Warring States Period". This period was a long, drawn-out struggle for domination by individual daimyo, resulting in a mass power-struggle between the various houses to dominate the whole of Japan. During this long period three individuals emerged who would unite Japan under one rule; they were Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Origin[edit] The Ōnin conflict began as a controversy over who would become shogun after the retirement or death of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa.
Hosokawa had always worked closely with the Shogun's brother Ashikaga Yoshimi, and supported his claim to the shogunate. Miyamoto Musashi. Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵?
, c. 1584 – June 13, 1645), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku,[1] was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He was the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho?) , a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today. Biography[edit] Birth[edit] The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Munisai and Musashi's birth date[edit] Munisai's tomb says he died in 1580, which obviously conflicts with the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi.
Because of the uncertainty centering on Munisai (when he died, whether he was truly Musashi's father, etc.), Musashi's mother is known with even less confidence. Munisai's tomb was correct.