Ishikawa Goemon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Japanese name; the family name is Ishikawa.
Ishikawa Goemon (石川 五右衛門? 1558-1594) was a legendary ninja warrior and bandit hero who stole gold and valuables and gave them to the poor. There is little historical information on Ishikawa's life, and thus he has become a folk hero, whose background and origins have been widely speculated on - however, there is evidence that he may have been a member of the Akechi clan, son of Akechi Mitsuhide. He is notable for being boiled alive after a failed assassination attempt on Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A large iron kettle-shaped bathtub is called a Goemon-buro because of this.
In one version of the story, Ishikawa tried to assassinate Toyotomi in revenge for the death of his wife and capture of his son, Gobei. He entered Toyotomi's room but knocked a bell off a table. The noise awoke the samurai guards and he was captured. He was sentenced to death by being boiled alive in an iron cauldron along with his young son, but was able to save his son by holding him above the oil.
In another version, Ishikawa wanted to kill Toyotomi because he was a despot. When he entered Toyotomi's room, he was detected by a mystical incense burner. He was executed on August 24 along with his whole family by being boiled in oil.[1]
[edit] Ishikawa Goemon in culture
- He has been the subject of many Kabuki plays.
- He was the subject of a movie, Shinobi No Mono (Review)
- He is the main character in a video game series produced by Konami known as Ganbare Goemon in Japan and as Mystical Ninja elsewhere.
- He recently appeared in the Koei game, Samurai Warriors, wielding a mace and with a cannon on his back.
- He is also claimed to be the ancestor of Goemon Ishikawa XIII in the Lupin III movies, the first in a lineage of renegade samurai. In one of the Lupin TV movies, Burn, Zantetsuken!, the opening sequence shows Goemon Ishikawa XIII watching the famed kabuki performance based on his ancestor's life.
- He appears in the third and fourth episodes of the anime series Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles where it is hinted that he is a lineal ancestor of the title character, Kureha Misaki.
[edit] References
- ^ The legend of Ishikawa Goemon (has several pictures)
