Monday, 11 May 2015

What a Friend We Have in Jizōs 10


In contrast to his strong bellicosity, Yoshitune was also portrayed as a historical bishōnen ‘beautiful boy,’ whose beauty and sexual appeal transcended the boundary of gender roots, both the antithesis and the antecedent of adult masculinity. The bishōnen ideal began as that of a young homosexual lover, slender, with clear skin, stylish hair, and distinctly feminine facial features (such as high cheekbones), but retaining a male body akin to the depiction of angels in Western renaissance art, with similar social roots for the aesthetic. In art, bishōnen were drawn delicately, with long limbs, silky flowing hair, and slender eyes with long eyelashes extending beyond the face. Unlike the clear Western male archetype, who always gets the girl in the end, bishōnen were more ambivalent and sometimes got each other. Bishōnen must either grow up or, like sakura cherry blossoms, die beautifully. Death is the only pure and fitting end to the perfection of youth. A man’s desire to be beautiful is always a desire for death.
His older half brother, Yoritomo, also involved in a shudo homosexual relationship with a young officer of the Imperial guard, was more than happy to arrange it for him. In 1189, he accused Yoshitune of treachery, for accepting a high-ranking title from the Imperial Court without obtaining his approval first. When Yoshitsune returned to Kamakura to report his victory, Yoritomo did not allow him to enter Kamakura, and refused to meet him.
“He was stopped just over there, At Koshigoe.” I said, pointing towards the second Endoen railway station over, at the end of the beach we were approaching. “Yoshitune waited in vain for twenty days at the nearby Manpuku-ji temple, and then dictated his famous Letter from Koshigoe.”

   ‘I was designated a Yoritomo deputy and an imperial messenger  
    to overthrow the enemy of the imperial court, and did indeed 
    destroy them and avenge the humiliating death of our father. For 
    this I was expecting praise from my lord, but because of 
    unfounded accusations against me I was instead harshly 
    censored. I could do naught but weep in vain. The slander 
    against me was not investigated, and I was prevented from 
    meeting my lord to state my loyalty. Our fraternal tie seems 
    useless and I ponder whether it must be the result of a sin in my 
    previous life. Who, lest my father should reappear in this world, 
    can help me explain my present circumstances? Since birth I 
    have lived in constant danger, concealing myself in remote 
    country places and serving even the lowly. On hearing of my 
    brother's declaration of war against the Taira clan, I rushed to 
    meet my lord. All I have done was done only to overthrow the 
    Taira clan and to restore our own. The title I received, Constable 
    of the Fifth Rank, is, I believe, an honor not only to me but also 
    to our clan. I fear that but for the intervention of the gods and 
    Buddha I shall be unable to convey my true intentions, for these 
    attempts of mine have so far failed. None other than you can give 
    them reality. I beg of you, your Excellency Governor Inaba, to 
    seek an opportunity to convey my pleas to my lord. Should 
    pardon be granted, I will strive to the utmost of my abilities to 
    work for the eternal prosperity of our clan and will spend the 
    remainder of my life in peace.’
                   Fifth Month, Second Year of Genryaku  
                   Minamoto no Yoshitsune,  To the Governor of Inaba 
                   (Oe no Hiromoto)

Yoritomo was unmoved. Yoshitune became a fugitive, and fled to his hometown, before his betrayed and defeated at the Battle of Koromo River. He was forced to commit seppuku along with his wife and daughter. Six weeks later, his head, pickled in liquor, was presented to Yoritomo in Koshigoe. A happy family is but an earlier heaven.

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