Dawn of the Samurai: Japan’s Greatest Warrior (Part 3)

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• 00:12

  And so they fought, now closing, now breaking.

• 00:15

  What shall Benke do?

• 00:17

  For when he thinks that he has conquered, with his little sword, the boy thrusts the blow aside.

• 00:23

  Again and again, Benke strikes.

• 00:25

  Again and again, his blows are parried.

• 00:28

  Till at last, even he, mighty Benke, can do battle no longer.

• 00:34

  So that's a scene from the Japanese no play, if you like no theatre.

• 00:38

  It's called Benkei on the Bridge, and it was written in the 15th century.

• 00:41

  And it describes perhaps the most celebrated fight in the entire history of the samurai.

• 00:48

  So at the British Museum right now, there are three different illustrations of this tremendous encounter.

• 00:54

  Tom, you love the story of Benkei on the Bridge, don't you?

• 00:57

  I do.

• 00:57

  Who doesn't love the most famous fight in samurai history?

• 01:00

  Surely it's your favourite too.

• 01:02

  It's certainly in the top five samurai fights.

• 01:05

  Yeah.

• 01:05

  And it's famous because it's endlessly retold and it's endlessly illustrated.

• 01:09

  And the backdrop to it is that Benke is a lawless warrior monk, always the most dangerous kind of warrior monk.

• 01:16

  He is built like a rugby player.

• 01:18

  He's got bloodshot eyes.

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