Ho-ichi traveled from village to village telling stories and playing his biwa. Along the way he heard of strange happenings off the Coast of Dan–no-ura.

“One time I was traveling the coast of Dan-no-ura. I had heard all the stories of the unusual happenings in that region where the Heike family and Genji clan fought their last sea battle for control of the country. Off the coast of Dan-no-ura the two greatest clans in Japan faced each other in two fleets of ships. As I tell in my stories, the Heike family was destroyed during that battle and after that, strange things began to happen along the coastline.

“On dark nights ghost fires hovered above the shore or skipped over the waves. Whenever the winds became strong a sound like the tumult of battle came from the sea. Sometimes ships passing in the night sank or swimmers gliding through the water were pulled under never to be heard from again.

“So the villagers knew that the spirits of the Heike had not found eternal rest. To try and appease the spirits the people built a temple on the hill overlooking the sea. A graveyard with monuments inscribed with the names of the boy emperor, his lords, and warriors was placed close by the temple near the beach. For a while, things seemed to settle down. But peculiar things did still occur now and then.

“I heard all these reports but gave no thought to them as I traveled from village to village along the coastline. Until one day…

Next time: “Ho-ichi and the Temple Priest”