gate of this temple worshiped the image every morning and evening within the temple. For many years she had never failed to do this. Every time she cooked rice, in the morning and in the evening, she took some rice out of the pot and offered it to the image of Buddha. At last this became known to the mistress of the house, who grew enraged and pressed a heated iron rod on the pretty cheek of the maid. With a scream, the poor maid ran out of the house.
That night the master of the house had a strange dream. The shining golden Buddha stood by his pillow and spoke to him: "Your maid has been very pious and worshiped me for a long time. Therefore I substituted myself for her in the time of her disaster." As the master looked at the face of the Buddha, he saw blood running down his left cheek. As soon as he awakened from the vision, he arose and went to the temple. There he was astonished to see the appearance of the image, for blood was running down its cheek. Struck with awe, he returned home and talked with his wife. Greatly disturbed, they looked at the face of the maid, but it was as pretty as before, and bore no trace of injury. They asked her about the event of the previous day, but she answered that she knew nothing of it. At her words the master and the mistress realized that the image of Buddha was really injured in place of the pious maid. The mistress repented of her deed. People who heard of the occurrence were deeply moved by the grace of Buddha and worshiped the image more sincerely than ever.
In later days Lord Matsudaira of this province worshiped this image at Saiho-ji very earnestly. He decided to move the image to the newly built temple of Gessho-ji. According to his order, the holy statue was carried away by forty strong men. On the way they stopped over at Shigaraki Temple. While the image was resting there, it spoke to the priest in a dream: "I want to go back to Saiho-ji." And it shone brightly every night. All the priests thought this strange and reported the matter to the lord. Then the lord issued an order: "Have the sculptor make a statue just like that image and install it in Gessho-ji. As for that image, carry it back to Saiho-ji."
So the people started to take it back to Saiho-ji. Strangely, this time the holy statue became very light and was easily carried by only five or six porters. When they came to the river called Aka-kawa, a storm suddenly arose, and the skies began thundering and hailing. Rapidly the river rose to a great height and was soon impossible to cross. But the porters of the holy image boldly plunged into the water, firm in their belief that the image would protect them from drowning. Indeed, the angry waves immediately subsided and lowered to a heel's height. The porters could easily cross to the other side. But when the other travelers followed the porters and attempted to wade the river, the waters rose up again, and the raging waves overflowed the river banks.
People were filled with awe and spoke to one another about this miracle of Buddha, who, they thought, had subdued the dragon underneath the water.
THE EARLESS JIZO OF SENDATSUNO
The collector points out that Hearn published a similar legend under the title "Mimi-nashi Hoichi" in Kwaidan in 1904, taken from an old Japanese storybook Gayu Kidan (Strange Stories Told While Resting). In Hearn's tale the ghosts of the Heike listen to biwa music in places famed for Heike legends, and at the tomb of the Emperor Antoku.
The small village of Sendatsuno was named for Heike refugees fleeing from the Genji disguised as sendatsu, or guides for mountain pilgrims. The Heike are said to have turned on and killed their pursuers. Many families in the village claim to be Heike descendants. Tombs of the Emperor Antoku and his followers are on nearby hills, and none can approach unless they are barefooted.
Text from Tosa no Densetsu, II, pp. 8-13.
Notes: Jizo, a Buddhist bodhisattva, the guardian deity of children. Biwa, a four-stringed Japanese lute. Heike Monogatari, the tale of the Taira family (Heike) in their bitter struggles with the Minamoto family (Genji).
SOME STORIES MAKE such an impression that, once heard, they can never be forgotten. Such a tale is this.
There is a place called Sendatsuno in the suburbs of Ochi-machi, Takaoka-gun. It is on the way to Matsuyama, over the Ohashi bridge, along the Niyodo River. Long ago an earless Jizo by the name of Mimi-nashi Jizo [Earless Jizo] stood there. This is the legend concerning it.
Once on a time there came wandering into Ochi-machi from the direction of Matsuyama in Iyo a blind biwa-player named Joryo. In those days, that district of Ochi-machi was called Mio-mura, and it was far more lonely than it is today. The chief priest, Senei, lived at that time in the temple Yokokura-ji. He called Joryo to his temple and let him stay there. He asked him to play his biwa before the tablets of the deceased to console their spirits, and sometimes it pleased him to listen to the music himself
Gradually, however, one of the young priests of the temple became aware of a strange, repeated occurrence. Every night Joryo stole out of the temple on tiptoe and came back at dawn. A priest-official, hearing of this, summoned Joryo and asked why he went out nightly. Joryo said: "I am strictly forbidden to speak about this, but since you are a man of the temple from which I receive such great favors, I cannot but tell you the reason."
And he began to talk as follows:
"Every night, at the time of the ne (nowadays 12 midnight), a warrior who seems to be a messenger from a man of high rank comes to this temple to fetch me. As I follow him, we come to a house on a hill. This house is like a court, with long corridors and a wide inner room where there are many women who seem to be court ladies. I am led into this inner room, where I play the biwa and sing for them the Heike Monogatari. But, strangely, I must not utter a word about the Genji. I am told that the site of the court is Mariganaro."
The priest-official was excited to hear this and told the details of the story to the chief priest, Senei. Senei wondered greatly, murmuring: "'Tis a strange story, indeed. In Mariganaro lies the tomb of the Emperor Antoku, who, while very young, sank with the last of the Heike into the sea. To be invited there is truly an honor, but when a man of this world mingles with men from the other world, he is sure, in the end, to become one of them."
Senei sat for a long time before the tablets of the deceased and recited sutras. Then he called Joryo to him and said: "You still belong to this world, certainly. I should like to save your life, so I shall sever your relationship with the other world." And he spread scented water for incantation all over Joryo's body; then he strictly forbade him to go out that night, telling him not to move when the warrior-messenger arrived.
Next morning, the chief priest and the priest-official hurried to Joryo's room to see how he had fared. To their surprise, they found him lying face down, in a faint, with his ears cut off. At once the chief priest realized that he had forgotten to spread the scented incantation water on the blind musician's ears. The priest felt deeply sorry for the deformed blind man who must now go earless through life. He invited him to stay on at the temple as long as he wished, and he took care of him with great kindness.
Thus several years passed. At last the poor blind biwa-player set out alone from the temple for his final trip to the other world. The people of the temple buried his body carefully at Sendatsuno, north of the temple, and set up there an earless Jizo in his honor.
And it is told that, since that faraway time, the worshipers at this shrine have always called the statue the Earless Jizo of Sendatsuno.
THE RED NOSE OF THE IMAGE
This legend has been studied by Kunio Yanagita in a translated article, "The Japanese Atlantis," Contemporary Japan, III (June, 1934), pp. 34-39- However, he associates it not with Uryu Island, as in the text below, but with the island of Korai west of the Goto Archipelago in northwestern Kyushu, and with one of the Koshiki islands off the coast of Satsuma. In both cases the face of the image was painted red by wiseacres and doom followed, fulfilling the
