Tonight’s story mentions a Masamune katana and a Yoshimitsu wakizashi. These refer to two legendary swordsmiths from the Kamakura period: Masamune and Awataguchi Yoshimitsu. A sword forged by one of these masters would be powerful indeed–powerful enough to kill a demon, if wielded in the right hands. In many stories, yokai refuse to even approach a warrior carrying such a famous blade, knowing how powerful it is. In game terms, these might be the equivalent of a +1 sword that has the ability to harm supernatural creatures. Swords like these appear in many stories, and have supernatural powers themselves.
The yokai in tonight’s story first appears as a young woman carrying a baby–a pattern seen in so many different types of yokai (yuki onna or nure onna, for example).Our samurai today clearly knew about this trick and tried to avoid it, beginning with the absurd scene where he smacks the baby away with an iron staff, and ending with a disaster reminiscent of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. After that, the yokai reveals its true form as some kind of oni or fearsome kijin. It’s probably thanks to those holy swords the samurai brought with him that he was able to survive that fight!
The Bakemono at Asama Shrine
There was a certain samurai in Shinano Province. He was a strong man with a good heart. One time, he gathered his retainers and told them the following story.
“I have heard that there is a bakemono in the Asama Shrine. I am vexed that while I have been here I have not seen it with my own eyes, and so tonight I have made up my mind to go to Asama and investigate it. If even one person follows me, I will order them to commit seppuku.”
He reigned in his retainers, then took up an 81 centimeter Masamune katana and a 57 centimeter Yoshimitsu wakizashi, tucked a 30 cm armor-piercing dagger into his breast pocket, and using an iron staff large enough for 5 or 6 men as a walking stick, he set out for the Asama Shrine on a bright night lit by the mid-August moon. He sat in front of the worship hall and waited, ready to strike down any person, whoever he may be, with a single blow.
Then, a beautiful woman of about 17 or 18 years, wearing a white single-layer kimono and carrying a child of about 3 years in her arms, came from the base of the shrine. She looked at the samurai and said, “I am so happy to see you. I am spending the night at this shrine, and you will make a good companion. I am so exhausted, won’t you take him in your arms?” Then she lowered the child from her breast, and he swiftly crawled towards the samurai. The samurai struck the child with his iron staff, and the child crawled back to its mother.
The woman said, “Hold him! Hold him!” and drove the child back. After this happened five or six times the staff bent, so the samurai drew the sword from his waist and slashed the child in two. The other half of the child sprouted eyes and a nose so that there were now two children crawling towards the samurai. When he cut down both of them, the pieces again sprouted eyes and noses and became children. The number of children grew until there were two or three hundred of them, and the shrine was overflowing with children all chasing the samurai.
Then the mother said, “Now it’s my turn.” The samurai readied to cut the woman down as well if she came close to him, but then he felt a sudden chill on his back and his hairs stood on end. There was a sound like a large stone dropping behind him, and he turned around to see a thirty meter tall oni springing towards him. The samurai stabbed the oni with each of his swords successively, then pulled him in close to finish him, but then he lost consciousness.
The samurai’s retainers came running to his side and found the samurai holding his wakizashi in a backhand grip, having pierced through the pagoda’s nine ringed spire. The monster had vanished, but the samurai, who fought with such absolute determination, managed to somehow get a sword through the nine rings.
This story reminds me of Junji ito’s Tomie. Maybe he was inspired by a monster similar to this one.
There’s definitely a resemblance. 🙂