It’s a common misconception that all of the desks in the surrounding skyscrapers are arranged to face Masakado’s shrine. While the burial plot is meticulously maintained, outside of its borders Tokyoites go about their daily business as usual.
• Lone among the ghosts profiled in this book, Taira no Masakado actually has his own bank account. Opened at the nearby Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank, it’s used by the volunteer organization that maintains the shrine.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Masakado’s head turns out to have been quite a shrewd real estate speculator. In a 1970 article, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper estimated the value of the plot of land upon which Masakado’s grave sits at just under two hundred million yen, which is close to $2.5 million American dollars at the 2011 exchange rate. It hasn’t been officially appraised in recent years, but given the prices in the surrounding area it must be many, many times that figure today.
It is believed to have fallen on the site of what is now Kanda Myojin Shrine, located in present-day Otemachi. Masakado may have been a traitor to Kyoto, but he was a hero to Tokyo. Every May, the Kanda-Myojin Matsuri festival is held in his honor. If you’d like to make the acquaintance of Japan’s first samurai — or at least his body — feel free to drop by!
Furious Phantoms: 08
SUGAWARA NO MICHIZANE
Furious Phantoms: 08
SUGAWARA NO MICHIZANE
Name in Japanese: 菅原道真
Gender: Male
a.k.a. Sugawara no Michizane; Tenman Daijizai Tenjin (after death); Kan Shojo
Date of Death: March 26, 903
Age at death: 57
Cause of death: Starvation
Type of ghost: Onryo
Distinctive features: Generally speaking, Michizane’s ghost does not physically manifest itself.
Place of interment: Fukuoka, Kyushu
Location of haunting: Heiankyo (Kyoto)
Form of Attack: Causing plagues, droughts, other unpleasantness; Bolts from the blue
Existence: Historical
Threat Level: High
Claim to Fame:
A serious political operator turned angry ghost, hell-bent on avenging his mistreatment at the hands of the Imperial family.
In life, Michizane was a highly intelligent, artistically inclined scholar. (According to one account, he once wrote twenty complete poems on twenty entirely different subjects while eating supper.) Quickly rising through the ranks, he attracted the attention of then- Emperor Uda, giving his career a serious boost. Before long, he had climbed the ladder almost as far as a bureaucrat could climb, attaining influential positions including Udaijin (“Minister of the Right,” essentially a Secretary of State), ambassador to T’ang era China, and Assistant Master of the Crown Prince’s Household, among others. But while his future seemed assured, in reality storm clouds were brewing on the horizon.
The Michizane Incident
The imperial court burned many official records concerning Michizane in an attempt to obscure the connection to his furious spirit. The details of what came many years later to be known as the “Michizane Incident” must necessarily be pieced together from a variety of secondhand accounts.
Overwhelmed by his responsibilities, Uda abdicated the throne in 897, stripping Michizane of his former influence. Far less qualified people from families better connected to the new emperor were promoted, while the talented and loyal Michizane slid into undeserved irrelevance. Demoted, slandered, and accused of crimes he didn’t commit, Michizane was banished to distant Kyushu in 901.
Michizane soldiered on and continued to compose poetry, but had been reduced to abject poverty. He succumbed to malnutrition in the early spring of 903. Upon hearing word of his demise, his rivals must have patted themselves on the back for a job well done. Only Michizane wasn’t done. The attacks began that very year.
The Attacks
A partial list of tatari (attacks) officially attributed to Michizane, by year
903 TORRENTIAL RAINS ALL YEAR LONG
905 DROUGHT
906 FLOODS
907 BAD FLOODS
910 TERRIBLE FLOODS
911 FLOODS OF THE SORT THAT SWALLOW ENTIRE VILLAGES
912 LARGE FIRE IN HEIANKYO
913 DEATH OF MICHIZANE’S RIVAL
914 MORE FIRES IN HEIANKYO
915 OUTBREAK OF CHICKEN POX
918 FLOODS SO HORRIFIC WE HAD BEST NOT SAY ANY MORE
922 WHOOPING COUGH OUTBREAK
923 UNTIMELY DEATH OF EMPEROR’S SON, THE CROWN PRINCE, AT AGE 21
925 UNTIMELY DEATH OF LATE CROWN PRINCE’S INFANT SON
930 BOLT OF LIGHTING FALLS WITHIN PALACE WALLS, KILLING NUMEROUS IMPERIAL OFFICIALS. EMPEROR DAIGO COLLAPSES FROM SHOCK. DIES THREE MONTHS LATER.
Surviving An Encounter
Ever read the Bible? Remember the bit about the plagues Moses’ God brought down upon the Egyptians? Similar thing here. You are in serious trouble. There is nothing the average individual can do to stem the mayhem, other than packing their bags and leaving town at the first hint of bad weather or outbreak of illness. Not exactly a realistic option.
If you happen to be the Emperor of Japan, on the other hand, it’s another story. Appeasing a spirit of this magnitude requires major — almost infrastructural — measures. In this particular case, defusing the spirit’s fury required the Imperial court not only to posthumously reinstate Michizane’s former titles, but to underwrite the construction of an opulent memorial to his memory: the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine.
Note that this wasn’t an exorcism — Michizane was far too powerful for that; remember the lightning bolts crashing down inside the palace walls? Rather, it was an extravagant show of respect, the closest thing to an official apology the Imperial court could muster. The successful effort formed the cornerstone of what could be called “onryo appeasement strategy” for centuries thereafter: venerating those the Emperor had wronged by elevating them to the status of gods.
Today, Michizane is better known as Tenjin, the Shinto deity of scholarship. So forget about surviving — a modern-day encounter with Michizane
