Minamoto no Yorimitsu- Japanese HeroHero"Demon Slayer of Heian"

The Shitenno

Raikō never hunted demons alone. He traveled with his Shitennō, four retainers named after the Buddhist guardian deities. Chief among them was Watanabe no Tsuna, the bravest, who would face Ibaraki-dōji at the Rashōmon gate. Beside him rode Sakata no Kintoki, the legendary Kintarō: a boy raised in the mountains of Ashigara by a yamauba, who grew up wrestling bears until Raikō passed through and recognized his strength. Usui Sadamitsu and Urabe no Suetake completed the band. Together the five took on every supernatural threat the capital could produce.

The Slaying of Shuten-dōji

The most famous of Raikō's adventures is the expedition to Mount Ōe. According to the Ōeyama Ekotoba, Shuten-dōji had established a fortress on the mountain northwest of Kyōto, from which his oni band raided the capital, abducting noble women and terrorizing the populace. The demon king appeared as a youth of extraordinary beauty, but his body could swell to monstrous size, his skin flushed red from the human blood he drank. The emperor ordered Raikō to destroy him.

Raikō and his Shitennō disguised themselves as wandering yamabushi and traveled to the mountain. Along the way, three mysterious old men appeared: actually the gods Hachiman, Sumiyoshi, and Kumano in disguise. They gave the warriors a magical poisoned sake called Shimben Kidoku Shū that would weaken oni but leave humans untouched, and gave Raikō a divine helmet for protection.

At Shuten-dōji's fortress, the warriors were received as guests. They found captive women, pale and terrorized, their blood drained to fill the demon's drinking cups. Raikō maintained his disguise, sharing drink and conversation with the demon king amid the evidence of his atrocities. When the poisoned sake was offered, Shuten-dōji consumed vast quantities. As the demon king fell into a drugged stupor, Raikō and his retainers burst into the inner chamber and Raikō beheaded him with his sword. Even severed, the head flew through the air and snapped at Raikō's face, but the divine helmet held. The oni band was destroyed. The captive women were returned to the capital.

Watanabe no Tsuna at the Rashōmon Gate

One night, Tsuna was riding through the Rashōmon gate, the great southern gate of the capital, which had fallen into ruin and become a haunt of demons and corpse-thieves. A beautiful woman appeared and begged him to escort her home. As they rode, the woman revealed herself as the oni Ibaraki-dōji and seized Tsuna by his helmet, trying to drag him into the sky. Tsuna drew his sword and severed the demon's arm at the elbow. Ibaraki-dōji fled shrieking into the night.

Raikō's spiritual advisor, the diviner Abe no Seimei, counseled Tsuna to guard the severed arm for seven days behind sealed doors. On the final night, a voice outside called in the tones of Tsuna's elderly aunt, begging to see him. When Tsuna relented and opened the door, the old woman asked to see the demon's arm. The moment he produced it, the visitor transformed back into Ibaraki-dōji, snatched the arm, and vanished through the roof.

The Tsuchigumo

Raikō fell gravely ill, tormented by a mysterious fever. A strange monk appeared at his sickbed, and Raikō, suspecting supernatural foul play, slashed at the figure with his sword. The monk fled, leaving a trail of blood.

His retainers followed the blood trail and discovered an enormous spider, the tsuchigumo, lurking in a mound behind the temple. They slew the creature, and Raikō's illness lifted at once. The Konjaku Monogatarishū records that when the spider's body was cut open, nearly two thousand skulls were found within its belly.

The Sword Higekiri

Raikō's blade Higekiri, "Beard Cutter," could cut through anything as easily as cutting hair. After its use against the oni of Mount Ōe, it acquired the name Onikiri, "Demon Cutter." It was paired with another Minamoto blade called Hizamaru, "Knee Cutter," and together the twin swords passed through generations of the Seiwa Genji as heirlooms of their demon-slaying line. Both are traditionally held at Kitano Tenmangū shrine in Kyoto.