Kintarō

He became friendly with the animals of the mountain, and later, after catching Shuten-dōji, the terror of the region around Mount Ōe, he became a loyal follower of Minamoto no Yorimitsu under the new name Sakata no Kintoki (坂田 金時).

Kintarō is supposedly based on a real person, Sakata Kintoki, who lived during the Heian period and probably came from what is now the city of Minamiashigara, Kanagawa.

In one, he was raised by his mother, Princess Yaegiri, daughter of a wealthy man named Shiman-chōja, in the village of Jizodo, near Mount Ashigara.

In the most fanciful version of the tale, the yama-uba was Kintarō's mother, impregnated by a clap of thunder sent from a red dragon of Mount Ashigara.

The legends agree that even as a toddler, Kintarō was active and tireless, plump and ruddy, wearing only a haragake apron with the kanji for "gold" (金) on it.

Several tales tell of Kintarō's adventures, fighting monsters and oni (demons), beating bears in sumo wrestling, and helping the local woodcutters fell trees.

A shrine dedicated to the folk hero lies at the foot of Mount Ashigara in the Hakone area near Tokyo.

The name and certain traits of the main character of Gin Tama, Gintoki Sakata, are loosely based on Kintarō.