IN THE OLD DAYS Minamoto no Raik
(also called Yorimitsu, 948-1021) used to be known to Japanese children mainly as the dignified warrior
commanding four strongmen with whom he vanquished a monstrous creature called Shuten Dji, “Drunken Boy,” on Mt. 
e. Some
say Shuten Dji was a collective name for groups of marauding bandits; if so, Raik, who held governorships of several provinces,
was certainly responsible for controlling such outlaws.
The four strongmen, fancifully known as Raik’s shiten’n
, “Four Guardian Kings,” are Watanabe no Tsuna (953-1024), Sakata no Kintoki (dates unknown)1, Usui Sadamitsu (955-1021), and Urabe no Suetake (950-1022). About Suetake a few stories are told elsewhere in this volume.
It is known that while holding governorships Raik accumulated considerable wealth. In 988, for example, when Fujiwara no
Kaneie (929-990), then regent, held a banquet to celebrate his sixtieth year, Raik presented thirty horses to the invited
guests as celebratory gifts. And in 1018 when Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027), then chancellor, built a new mansion, Raik
provided all the furniture needed for it. Raik became one of the few men from the military class to be admitted to the inner
court in the earlier periods.
Perhaps because of his court connections Raik also became one of the first military men to leave a renga in an imperial anthology.
The verse, made with his wife, is found in the fifth imperial anthology, Kin’y Shu (nos. 703-704), and comes with a headnote explaining the circumstances of the composition:
When Minamoto no Raik arrived to take up his post as Governor of Tajima, he saw the Keta River flowing right in front of
his mansion. One day he noticed a boat coming from upstream and asked the attendant who had just opened the window about it.
The attendant replied that it was harvesting a plant called tade (knotweed, smartweed). When he heard this, Raik simply said:
tade karu fune no suguru narikeri
a boat harvesting smartweed is passing by
His wife took this to be a linked verse to be completed, and said:
asa madaki kararo no oto no kikoyuru wa
I thought I heard someone rowing smartly before dawn2
The following story comes from the Kokon Chomon J
(A Collection of Ancient and Modern Tales That I’ve Heard, sec. 335).
One cold night Raik was walking back from a certain place, when he realized that he was close to Yorinobu’s house. So he
sent Kintoki off with the message: “We happen to be passing by. This cold is god-awful. Do you have some good wine?”
Yorinobu happened to be drinking at the moment and was delighted. He told Kintoki: “Tell your master exactly what you see
here. We are exceptionally pleased with his inquiry. Do us a favor by coming over to join us.” Raik came at once.
While they were exchanging sake cups, Raik happened to look in the direction of the stable and saw a boy tied up with a rope.
He was puzzled and asked Yorinobu, “Who’s that you’ve tied up over there?”
“Kidmaru,”3 was the reply.
Raik was alarmed. “If that’s truly Kidmaru, how could you have him tied up like that? If he did something criminal, I wouldn’t
treat him as casually as that.”
Yorinobu agreed that Raik was right. He called some of his soldier-servants and had Kidmaru tied up more tightly. He also
had him chained to prevent him from escaping.
When he heard Raik’s words, Kidmaru fumed and said to himself, “That’s a goddamned thing he said. No matter what happens,
I’m gonna get revenge on him before the night’s over!”
With several bottles emptied, Raik got drunk and went to bed; so did Yorinobu. When everything quieted down, Kidmaru, a
powerful fellow, tore his rope and chain apart and got away. He then got in through the ventilating window in the gable into
the space above the ceiling of the room where Raik slept.4 The idea was for him to break through the ceiling and drop right onto Raik and fight him.
Raik, however, was no ordinary man. He sensed what Kidmaru was up to, and decided it would be too dangerous to let him drop
onto him. He said, “Something bigger than a weasel and smaller than a marten is making noise up in the ceiling.”
He then called out, “Is there anyone there?”
Tsuna identified himself and presented himself.
Raik said, “We’d like to reach Kurama tomorrow. It’s still night, but I’d like to leave right now. Tell this to everybody.”
Tsuna replied, “Everyone’s ready, sir!”
When he heard this, Kidmaru decided he wouldn’t be able to beat Raik then and there. He had thought that the man was drunk
and fast asleep. Any halfhearted attempt would bring disaster to himself, not to Raik. So he made up his mind to make a new
attempt on his life on the way to Kurama the next day, and got out of the ceiling.
When he reached the field leading directly to Mt. Kurama, he looked around but couldn’t find a convenient spot to hide himself. So he picked a particularly large bull from among the many cattle grazing there, killed it, and pulled it up to the roadside. He then tore open the bull’s belly, pushed himself into it, and waited, only his eyes showing.
As expected, Raik came. He was in a white hunting robe and sported a sword. All of his four men–Tsuna, Kintoki, Sadamitsu,
and Suetake–were with him. Raik stopped his horse and said, “This field looks interesting. There are a lot of cattle, too.
Let’s do a bull-chase.”
The four men gladly raced about, competing with one another, shooting hikime arrows at the cattle. It was quite a spectacle. In the midst of this excitement, though, Tsuna suddenly pulled out a real, sharp arrow and shot at the dead bull.
As everyone looked on in puzzlement, the belly of the dead bull trembled. A large boy jumped out of it, with a drawn sword,
and dashed at Raik. It was Kidmaru! He was pierced with the arrow but didn’t seem to give a damn about it. He simply charged
toward his enemy. But Raik didn’t lose a bit of his calm. He drew his sword and beheaded Kidmaru with a single stroke.
Kidmaru didn’t fall, but kept on charging and managed to stab through Raik’s saddlebow with his sword. And his head flew
and bit into the front rope-decoration of the harness. To the very end he was brave and fearsome.