Tokyo in Japan has no less ghost stories due to a few centuries
of war and unrest. There are many Japanese samurai being buried here and it is
believed that many of them have become vengeful restless spirits. Many people still
believe that these resentful spirits are still lingering amongst the streets of
Tokyo. Amongst those spirits, the most famous one is Taira no Masakado (平將門) of
the Heian period (around 10AD). Masakado is also being recognised as the first
samurai in Japanese history.
Masakado was a small but very successful warlord during that
time. He rebelled against the royal family in Kyoto and pronounced himself as
the king of Kanto region. Masakado then proclaimed himself as the new emperor
of Japan, raised his army and started rebellion. However, Masakado was defeated
in today’s Saitama Prefecture. An arrow hit between Masakado’s eyebrows and he
was being executed and beheaded. Masakado’s head was sent to Kyoto where it is
displayed and celebrated.
Legend has it that the act of displaying Masakado’s head infuriated
his spirit. Consequently, Masakado’s head flew over the Kyoto city and
encircled in the air for a few days and then returned to Kanto region to look
for his body. But because there were too many people being killed during the
war, Masakado’s head failed in its attempt to reunite with his body and it
finally fell onto the ground. The locals quickly cleaned this head, buried it
and a monument is built. Today, this place is later known as the Hill of
Masakado’s head.
Time passed and 1000 years later, this place where Masakado’s
head was laid to rest originally a small fishing valley is now a metropolitan
city: Tokyo. Apparently, this monument cum grave is the most priced area of
Tokyo real estate. The place is only 5 minutes’ walk from the royal palace of
Japan.
Even after a thousand or so years, the fame of Masakado
remains. The Japanese government tried to reallocate his shrine to Otemachi
Station but none of the attempts were successful. Other than engineering and
other technical issues, people attributed to the failure to the curse of
Masakado causing the piece of land cannot be used.
Many places were destroyed during the disastrous Tokyo
earthquake in 1923, the Tokyo finance minister hoped to flatten the hill of
Masakado’s head and built a temporary office building nearby. However, within
two years’ time, the finance minister together with 14 other staffs were either
hurt in undue accidents or felt sick. At the same time other workers also
suffered some degree of unaccountable injuries. In order to pacify the rage of
Masakado, government officials held a worshipping ceremony prior to the
reconstruction of the place. Now it has become an annual event as a remembrance
to Masakado.
In 1940, lighting struck onto the building of finance
ministry and a fire broke out and destroyed all the buildings on the hill of
Masakado’s head. It was coincidentally the millennial anniversary of Masakado’s
death. The finance ministry sponsored a special memorial service ceremony to
pacify Masakado’s unceasingly wrath, a new monument was also built to express
people’s sincerity.
After WWII following the defeat of Japan, American who had
just conquered Tokyo were not superstitious, they tried to flatten Masakado’s
shrine to build a military carpark. However, one bulldozer accidentally
overturned and killed its operator. A series of accidents made local government
officials to advise the Americans to cancel their original plans so that
Masakado can rest-in-peace.
If you are in Tokyo, why not paying Masakado a visit and
hear his side of the story?
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