Japanese art, culture and the Yamabushi: Benkei and the loyal
warrior monk Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times In Japanese
culture, history and art, it is clear that Saito no Musashibo
Benkei left a lasting impression and this continues today in
modern culture. This legendary warrior monk belonged to the
intriguing period of the 12th century. He was born in 1155 and
died in 1189 after serving the famous Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
The images in this article come from the esteemed toshidama
(Toshidama Gallery), whereby you can feel the power of Benkei
and visually understand how he was portrayed in Japanese art.
Benkei is famous within the folklore of Japan because of his
enormous strength which was matched by great loyalty. In the
realm of Japanese art and the majestic ukiyo-e movement, then
Benkei provides a wealth of images by many famous artists. It is
noted that he was extremely tall because by the age of seventeen
Benkei had reached two meters in height. This is still very tall
by the standard of today. On top