Benkei and Ushiwakamaru at Gojo Bridge

The Muromachi-period Noh play "Hashi Benkei" and the Meiji-period folktale collection by Iwaya Sazanami record that the warrior-monk Musashibo Benkei, having vowed to collect a thousand swords, encountered the young Ushiwakamaru (later Minamoto no Yoshitsune) playing the flute on the Gojo Bridge in Kyoto. After a duel, Benkei was defeated and pledged service as Yoshitsune's retainer. The earlier Gikeiki (Book Three) places the encounter at the stage of Kiyomizu-dera; the Noh adaptation moved the setting to the bridge, and the Gojo Bridge form was further popularized through Iwaya Sazanami and elementary school songs in the Meiji period.

The legend unfolds as Benkei's vow, the encounter with Ushiwakamaru, the duel, Benkei's defeat, and the oath of fealty. The setting differs between the Gikeiki and the Noh play, a difference noted in modern scholarship.

The Gojo Bridge over the Kamogawa in Higashiyama, Kyoto, is named in the Noh adaptation. The Gikeiki places the encounter near Kiyomizu, in the vicinity of the modern Matsubara Bridge.

Gikeiki, Book Three, "Benkei swears fealty to Yoshitsune" (Muromachi mid-period). Noh play "Hashi Benkei" (author unknown, Muromachi period). The Gojo Bridge form was established in Meiji-era folktale collections and school songs.