View source for Ishikawa Goemon

{{Short description|Japanese folk hero}}
{{Distinguish|Goemon Ishikawa XIII}}
{{Expand Japanese|topic=bio|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Ishikawa Goemon <br> {{nobold|石川 五右衛門}}
| image       = Hinasuke Arashi II.jpg
| caption     = Goemon as played by [[kabuki]] actor Hinasuke Arashi II (an 1863 painting by [[Toyokuni III]])
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = August 24, 1558
| birth_place = 
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1594|10|8|1558|8|24}} 
| death_place = [[Nanzen-ji]], [[Kyoto]], [[Japan]]
| death_cause       = [[Execution]] by [[Death by boiling|boiling]]
| nationality = Japanese
| other_names = 
| known_for   = 
| occupation  = Thief
}}
{{nihongo|'''Ishikawa Goemon'''|石川 五右衛門|Ishikawa Goemon|{{IPA|ja|i.ɕi̥.ka.wa ({{pipe}}) ɡo.e.moɴ}},<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:新明解日本語アクセント辞典|edition=2nd|editor-last=Kindaichi|editor-first=Haruhiko|editor-link=Haruhiko Kindaichi|editor-last2=Akinaga|editor-first2=Kazue|publisher=[[Sanseidō]]|date=10 March 2025|lang=ja}}</ref> August 24, 1558 – October 8, 1594}} was the leader of a group of bandits during the [[Azuchi–Momoyama period|Azuchi-Momoyama period]] in Japan. Over time, and especially during the [[Edo period]] (1603–1867), his life and deeds became a center of attention, and he became known as a legendary Japanese [[outlaw]] [[hero]] who stole gold and other valuables to give to the poor.<ref>Boye Lafayette De Mente, ''Everything Japanese'', McGraw-Hill, 1989 (p. 140)</ref> 

He and his son were [[Death by boiling|boiled alive]] in public after their failed [[assassination]] attempt on the [[Sengoku period]] warlord [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]. His legend lives on in contemporary [[Japanese popular culture]], often giving him greatly exaggerated [[ninja]] skills.

==Biography==
[[File:Mitsugoro3-Goemon.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Bandō Mitsugorō III]] playing the role of Ishikawa Goemon in the [[kabuki]] drama ''Sanmon Gosan no Kiri'', which was staged in 1820 at the [[Nakamura-za]] theater (print made by [[Utagawa Toyokuni I]])]]

There is little historical information on Goemon's life, and as he has become a [[folk hero]], his background and origins have been widely speculated upon. In his first appearance in the historical annals, in the 1642 biography of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Hideyoshi]], Goemon was referred to simply as a thief. As his legend became popular, various anti-[[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] exploits were attributed to him, including a supposed assassination attempt against the [[Oda clan]] warlord [[Oda Nobunaga]].<ref>Joel Levy, ''Ninja: The Shadow Warrior'', Sterling Publishing Company, 2008 (p. 172)</ref><ref>[[Stephen Turnbull (historian)|Stephen Turnbull]], ''Warriors of Medieval Japan'', Osprey Publishing, 2007 (p. 180)</ref>

There are many versions of Goemon's background and accounts of his life. According to one of them, he was born as '''Sanada Kuranoshin''' in 1558 to a [[samurai]] family in service of the powerful [[Miyoshi clan]] in [[Iga Province]]. In 1573, when his father (possibly Ishikawa Akashi<ref>Henri L. Joly, ''Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore Myths, Religious Symbolism'', Tuttle 1967</ref>) was killed by the men of [[Ashikaga shogunate]] (in some versions his mother was also killed), the 15-year-old Sanada swore revenge and began training the arts of [[Iga-ryū|Iga]] [[ninjutsu]] under Momochi Sandayu (Momochi Tamba). He was, however, forced to flee when his master discovered Sanada's romance with one of his mistresses (but not before stealing a prized sword from his teacher). Some other sources state his name as {{nihongo|'''Gorokizu'''|五郎吉}} and say he came from [[Kawachi Province]] and was not a ''nukenin'' (runaway ninja) at all. He then moved to the neighbouring [[Kansai region]], where he formed and led a band of thieves and bandits as Ishikawa Goemon, robbing the rich feudal lords, merchants and clerics, and sharing the loot with the oppressed peasants.<ref>{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.focus.pl/historia/artykuly/zobacz/publikacje/skosnoocy-buntownicy/nc/1/ Skośnoocy buntownicy (Focus.pl - Historia)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725151851/http://www.focus.pl/historia/artykuly/zobacz/publikacje/skosnoocy-buntownicy/nc/1/ |date=2011-07-25 }}</ref> According to another version, which also attributed a failed poisoning attempt on Nobunaga's life to Goemon, he was forced to become a robber when the ninja networks were broken up.<ref>Andrew Adams, ''Ninja: The Invisible Assassins'', Black Belt Communications, 1970 (p. 160)</ref>

[[File:Excecution of Goemon Ishikawa.jpg|thumb|upright|Execution of Goemon Ishikawa (a late 19th-century picture by Toyokuni Ichiyōsai)]]

There are also several conflicting accounts of Goemon's public execution by boiling on the banks of the [[Kamo River]] in [[Kyoto]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2010/03/05/stage/a-rogue-on-high/ |title= A rogue on high |date= 5 March 2010 |publisher=The Japan Times |access-date=2023-07-31}}</ref> including but not limited to the following ones:

*Goemon tried to assassinate Hideyoshi to avenge the death of his wife Otaki and the capture of his son, Gobei. He snuck into [[Fushimi Castle]] and entered Hideyoshi's room but knocked a bell off a table. The noise awoke the guards and Goemon was captured. He was sentenced to death by being boiled alive in an iron cauldron along with his very young son, but was able to save his son by holding him above his head. His son was then forgiven.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kirainet.com/english/goemon/ |title=A geek in Japan — Goemon |date=12 March 2008 |publisher=Kirainet.com |access-date=2013-12-01}}</ref>
*Goemon wanted to kill Hideyoshi because he was a [[Despotism|despot]]. When he entered Hideyoshi's room, he was detected by a mystical incense burner. He was executed on October 8 along with his whole family by being boiled alive.<ref>[http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/s-koshi/misc/goemon2.html The legend of Ishikawa Goemon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314112133/http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/s-koshi/misc/goemon2.html |date=2009-03-14 }} (including several pictures)</ref> Goemon at first tried to save his son from the heat by holding him high above, but then suddenly plunged him deep into the bottom of the cauldron to kill him as quickly as possible. Then he stood with the body of the boy held high in the air in defiance of his enemies, until he eventually succumbed to pain and injuries and sank into the pot.<ref>Jack Seward, ''The Japanese'', McGraw-Hill Professional, 1992 (p. 48-49)</ref>

[[File:Goemon-huro五右衛門風呂ち炉りん村6260790.jpg|thumb|upright|A ''goemonburo'' bathtub]]

Even the date of his death is uncertain, as some records say this took place in summer, while another dates it at October 8 (that is after middle of Japanese autumn). Before he died, Goemon wrote a famous farewell poem, saying that no matter what, thieves would always exist. A [[tombstone]] dedicated to him is located in Daiunin temple in Kyoto.<ref>''Outlawed!: Rebels, Revolutionaries and Bushrangers'', [[National Museum of Australia]], 2003 (p. 32)</ref> A large iron kettle-shaped [[bathtub]] is now called a ''goemonburo'' ("Goemon bath").<ref>[http://www.pixelmap.ca/gallery2/rumi/japan_2010/IMG_2189.jpg.html Goemonburo - Goemon-style bath] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706193636/http://www.pixelmap.ca/gallery2/rumi/japan_2010/IMG_2189.jpg.html |date=July 6, 2011 }}</ref><ref>Scott Clark, ''Japan, a View from the Bath'', University of Hawaii Press, 1994 (p. 38-39)</ref>

== In drama ==
Ishikawa Goemon is the subject of many classic [[kabuki]] plays. The only one still in performance today is ''[[Kinmon Gosan no Kiri]]'' (''The Golden Gate and the [[Paulownia]] Crest''), a five-act play written by [[Namiki Gohei I|Namiki Gohei]] in 1778.<ref>James Brandon and Samuel Leiter, ''Kabuki Plays on Stage: Villainy and Vengeance, 1773 - 1799. Vol. II'', Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002</ref> The most famous act is "Sanmon Gosan no Kiri"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kabuki21.com/goemon.php |title=Ishikawa Goemon |publisher=Kabuki21 |access-date=2013-12-01}}</ref> ("The Temple Gate and the Paulownia Crest") in which Goemon is first seen sitting on top of the [[Sanmon]] gate at [[Nanzen-ji]]. He is smoking an oversized silver pipe called a [[kiseru]] and exclaims "The spring view is worth a thousand gold pieces, or so they say, but 'this too little, too little. These eyes of Goemon rate it worth ten thousand!". Goemon soon learns that his father, a Chinese man named [[Sō Sokei]], was killed by Mashiba Hisayoshi (a popular kabuki alias for Hideyoshi) and he sets off to avenge his father's death. He also appears in some versions of the famous ''[[Chūshingura|Tale of the Forty-Seven Rōnin]]''. In 1992, Goemon appeared in the kabuki series of Japanese postage stamps.<ref>{{in lang|ja}} [http://www.geocities.jp/room_fai/s-kabuki.html 歌舞伎編 - www.geocities.jp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106164717/http://www.geocities.jp/room_fai/s-kabuki.html |date=2018-11-06 }}</ref>

There are generally two ways in which Goemon has been most often portrayed in the modern popular culture: either a young, slender ninja, or a powerfully-built, hulking Japanese bandit. Goemon was a subject of several pre-WWII Japanese films such as ''Ishikawa Goemon Ichidaiki'' and ''Ishikawa Goemon no Hoji''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949432/ Ishikawa Goemon ichidaiki (1912) - IMDb]</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342579/ IMDb - Ishikawa goemon no hoji (1930)]</ref> He is a villain in ''[[Torawakamaru the Koga Ninja]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vintageninja.net/?p=1313 |title=Press stills from NINJUTSU GOZEN-JIAI |publisher=Vintage Ninja |access-date=2013-12-01}}</ref> and a tragic antagonist in ''[[Fukurō no Shiro]]'' (and in its remake ''[[Owls' Castle]]'', played by [[Takaya Kamikawa]]).<!-- Kamikawa's character is Gohei Kazama, who becomes Goemon only at the end of the story shortly before his execution --> He is the subject of the ''[[Shinobi no Mono]]'' novels and film series, starring [[Ichikawa Raizō VIII]] as Goemon in the first three installments. In the third ''Shinobi no Mono'' film, known in English as ''Goemon Will Never Die'',<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187501/ Shinobi No Mono 3: Resurrection (1963) - IMDb]</ref> he escapes execution while another man is bribed to be boiled in his place. In the film ''[[Goemon (film)|Goemon]]'', he is portrayed by [[Yōsuke Eguchi]] and depicted as Nobunaga's most faithful follower and as associated with [[Hattori Hanzō]] as well as [[Kirigakure Saizō]] and [[Sarutobi Sasuke]] of [[Sanada Ten Braves]].

== See also ==
*[[Nezumi Kozō]]
*[[Robin Hood]]
*[[Ganbare Goemon]]
*[[Goemon Ishikawa XIII]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.imdb.com/character/ch0054655/ Goemon Ishikawa (character)] at the [[Internet Movie Database]]
*{{YouTube|CpD0129AlGM|Japan Inside Lexique : Ishikawa Goemon}} (by [[Mangas (TV)|Mangas]] TV) {{in lang|fr}}

{{People of the Sengoku period|state=autocollapse}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishikawa, Goemon}}
[[Category:1558 births]]
[[Category:1594 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century executions by Japan]]
[[Category:Executed Japanese people]]
[[Category:Japanese folklore]]
[[Category:Japanese ninjutsu practitioners]]
[[Category:Japanese thieves]]
[[Category:Kabuki characters]]
[[Category:Ninja]]
[[Category:People of the Azuchi–Momoyama period]]
[[Category:People of the Muromachi period]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:People executed by boiling]]
[[Category:16th-century Japanese poets]]
[[Category:Failed assassins]]
[[Category:Japanese assassins]]