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Yoshitsune defeated Benkei in Japan's most famous duel
“It's called Benkay on the Bridge... it describes perhaps the most celebrated fight in the entire history of the samurai.”
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Yoshitsune was raised as a monk in a monastery
“Kiyomori's plan is that Yoshitsune will grow up in harmless and ignorant seclusion as a monk.”
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Samurai legends blend historical facts with spiritual myths
“They are hinting at aspects of his story that I think are genuinely mysterious, and they have evolved to try and explain things.”
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The Taira clan controlled Kyoto and the imperial family
“The Tyra have control over Kyoto, the great imperial capital. They have the imperial family under their thumb.”
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Yoshitsune joined his brother to fight the Taira war
“This is the year when he emerges from this kind of obscurity... to join his half-brother, Yoritomo.”