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June 02, 2006
Kusunoki Masashige statue
Last weekend, I met Christine and we walked around the area near Tokyo Station. At one point, we saw this. It is a statue of Kusunoki Masashige and you can find it in Kokyo-gaien between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station. This is one of the first places I went when I came to Japan six years ago, so it has some personal significance. For a long time, I had a similar picture in my cubicle at work. I am not sure where it is now.
Kusunoki Masashige (楠正成) was a 14th-century samurai that fought for the emperor against the Kamakura shogunate. He is one of the great heroes of Japanese history, with a reputation for great cunning and bravery matched by unswerving loyalty to the emperor, even in the face of certain death. There is all you could ever want to know on this website. And the statue is very cool.
I know there is a rule about statues that has something to do with the horse. If one leg is up in the air, the person died in battle or something like that. If anyone remembers, let me know. And probably you should do it quick before I forget that there is a rule in the first place. I wish my brain was bigger so I could remember more.