Soga Monogatari

Soga Monogatari (曽我物語) is a Japanese monogatari (or gunkimono), the epic tale of two (fictional) brothers. The story is often known as "The (illustrated) Tale of the Soga Brothers" or "The revenge of the Soga brothers". It is sometimes written as Soga Monogatari Zue (which literally means "The Tale of the Soga brothers in pictures"). It is regarded by some as the last of the Gunki monogatari or great "war tales".

The brothers are Soga Jûrô and Soga Gorô. Jûrô being the older of the two. When the boys were younger they were known as Ichimanmaru and Hakoomaru. In Japanese the Soga brothers are described as Soga kyodai. Their names are also written as Soga no Gorô and Soga no Jûrô. The name Soga is the name of their stepfather, which became their surname after their mother remarried. The name of their biological father was Kawazu-Saburo.

The Tale of the Soga Brothers origin cannot be traced to a single creator. Like most of these historical stories, it is the result of the compounding of (often differing) versions passed down through an oral or other tradition. The origin of the story may be true, but the story is probably romanticised. In some versions of the story it is only revealed at the end that the main character is actually one of the brothers.

The Tale of the Soga Brothers is an example of "blood revenge", similar to a vendetta.

Events take place in Japan in the 12th century. The general accepted version is that the father of the two boys was killed (the reasons differ, but it was probably an argument over land-rights) when they were infants. As adults they became skilled fighters intent on avenging their father and retrieving his sword Tomokirimaru. The villain is usually Kudô Suketsune, a retainer of the Shogun (probably Minamoto no Yoritomo). Jûrô is killed in the fighting as is Kudô Suketsune. Gorô dies later (by execution).

The story has been the subject of many Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku performances. There are also updated versions such as Sukeroku (The Flower of Edo) (an 18th century kabuki play, which is regarded as one of the Kabuki Jūhachiban). It is also claimed that the Soga tales in Kōwakamai are based on this tale.

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