Keyamura Rokusuke

Keyamura Rokusuke (毛谷村 六助) is one of the leading characters in the ningyō jōruri/kabuki play Hiko-san Gongen chikai no sukedachi (彦山権現誓劔) and some other plays. The farmer turned samurai is known for his filial piety and incredible strength, and is viewed as a mirror of samurai.

Written by Tsugano Kafū and Chikamtsu Yasuzō, the Hiko-san Gongen chikai no sukedachi was first performed as a ningyō jōruri play in 1786. It gained popularity and was adopted as a kabuki play in the next year. It was set in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was about to reunify Japan:

Yoshioka Ichimisai, a sword instructor to the Kōri (Mōri) clan, is killed with a sneak attack by Kyōgoku Takumi. His widow Okō and daughters Osono and Okiku swear revenge on him. However, Okiku is killed by Kyōgoku Takumi and her young son Yasamatsu disappears.

Around the same time, Rokusuke goes into mourning for his late mother in a mountainous village named Keya (Keya-mura). He lives a quiet life in the countryside as a farmer although he is a skilled swordmaster. In fact he was a student of Yoshioka Ichimisai. His skill is so famous that the local ruler has proclaimed that anyone who defeats Rokusuke would be hired as a sword instructor. Rokusuke is visited by a rōnin who styles himself Mijin Danjō but is Kyōgoku Takumi in disguise. Holding an elderly woman on his back to raise sympathy, Mijin Danjō asks Rokusuke to help him become a swordmaster. Rokusuke accepts his request and deliberately loses a match.

On his return, Rokusuke finds Yasamatsu without knowing that he is the grandson of his late teacher. He hangs the boy’s kimono outside his house hoping that the his family will see it. He is visited by an elderly woman, and then by a woman disguised as a traveling priest. She sees the kimono and misidentifies Rokusuke as the enemy. He fends off her fierce attack, and then Yasamatsu identifies her as his aunt Osono. She suddenly becomes very feminine and claims to be his wife, which is a highlight of the play. Then the elderly woman reveals her identify as the swordmaster's widow. Later he is visited by a woodman who asks for a revenge for the killing of his mother. It turns out that the woman brought by Mijin Danjō was the woodman's mother, not Mijin Danjō's. Osono identifies Mijin Danjō as Kyōgoku Takumi, and Rokusuke decides to help their revenge.

...
Wikipedia