A young Kintarō battling a giant
carp, in a print by
Yoshitoshi.
Kintarō (金太郎, Kintarō?
often translated as "Golden Boy") is a folk hero from Japanese folklore. A child of superhuman strength, he was raised by a
mountain ogress on Mount Ashigara. He became friendly with the
animals of the mountain, and later, after catching the terror of the region
around Mount Ooe, Shutendouji, he became a loyal follower of Minamoto no
Yorimitsu, Sakata no Kintoki. Now, it is a custom to put up a Kintarō doll on Boy's
Day, in the hope that the sons of the time will become equally brave and strong.
Kintarō is supposedly based on a real man, named Sakata no Kintoki, who lived
during the Heian period and probably came from what is now the city of Minami-ashigara. He served as a retainer for the samurai
Yorimitsu Minamoto and became well known for his abilities as a warrior. As with
many larger-than-life individuals, however, his legend has grown with time.
Legend
Several competing stories tell of Kintaro's childhood. In one, he was raised by his mother, Princess
Yaegiri, daughter of a wealthy man named Shiman-choja, in the village of Jizodo, near
Mt. Kintoki. In a competing legend, his mother gave birth to him in what is now Sakata. She was forced to flee, however, due to fighting between her husband, a samurai named Sakata, and his
uncle. She finally settled in the forests of Mt. Kintoki to raise her son. Alternatively, Kintaro's real mother left the child in
the wilds or died and left him an orphan, and he was raised by the mountain witch Yama-uba (one
tale says Kintaro's mother raised him in the wilds, but due to her haggard appearance, she came to be called Yama-uba). In
the most fanciful version of the tale, Yama-uba was Kintaro's mother, impregnated by a clap of thunder sent from a red dragon of Mt.
Ashigara.
The legends agree that even as a toddler, Kintarō was active and indefatigable, plump and ruddy, wearing only a bib with the
Chinese character for "gold" (金) on it. His only other accoutrement was a hatchet (a Chinese symbol of thunder). He was bossy to other children (or there simply were no other children in
the forest), so his friends were mainly the animals of Mt. Kintoki and Mt. Ashigara. He was also phenomenally strong, able to
smash rocks into pieces, uproot trees, and bend trunks like twigs. His animal friends served him as messengers and mounts, and
some legends say that he even learned to speak their language. Several tales tell of
Kintaro's adventures, fighting monsters and demons, beating bears in sumo wrestling, and helping the local woodcutters fell trees.
As an adult, Kintarō changed his name to Sakata no Kintoki. He met the samurai Yorimitsu Minamoto as he passed through the
area around Mt. Kintoki. Minamoto was impressed by Kintaro's enormous strength, so he took him as one of his personal retainers
to live with him in Kyoto. Kintoki studied martial arts
there and eventually became the chief of Yorimitsu's "Four Braves" and renown for his strength and martial prowess. He eventually
went back for his mother and brought her to Kyoto as well.
Kintarō in Modern Japan
Kintarō is an extremely popular figure in Japan, and his image adorns everything from
statues to storybooks,
anime, manga to action figures. For example,
the anime Golden Boy stars a character with the same name. Kintarō as an image
is characterized with a Masakari ax, a Haragake Japanese-style
apron and sometimes a tame bear.
Kintarō candy has been around since the Edo
period; no matter how the cylinder-shaped candy is cut, Kintarō's face appears inside. Japanese tradition is to decorate
the room of a newborn baby boy with Kintarō dolls on Children's Day (May 5) so that the child will grow up to be strong like the Golden Boy. A shrine dedicated to the folk hero lies
at the foot of Mt. Kintoki in the Hakone area near Tokyo. Nearby is a giant boulder that was supposedly chopped in half by the
boy hero himself.
The Imagin Kintaros from the tokusatsu series Kamen Rider
Den-O is based on Kintaro, emulating the bear and axe elements.
See also
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