Tamamo no Mae
Tamamo-no-Mae. is a legendary figure in Japanese mythology. In the Otogizoshi, a
collection of Japanese prose written in the Muromachi period, Tamamo-no-Mae was
a courtesan under the Japanese Emperor Konoe. She was said to be the most
beautiful and intelligent woman in Japan. Tamamo-no-Mae's body mysteriously
always smelled wonderful, and her clothes never became wrinkled or dirty. Tamamo-no-Mae
was not only beautiful, but she was infinitely knowledgeable in all subjects.
Although she appeared to be only twenty years old, there was no question that
she could not answer. She answered every question posed to her, whether about
music, religion, or astronomy. Because of her beauty and intelligence, everyone
in the Imperial Court adored her, and Emperor Konoe fell deeply in love with
her.
After some time had passed, with Konoe all the while lavishing all his affection
on the beautiful Tamamo-no-mae, the Emperor suddenly and mysteriously fell ill.
He went to many priests and fortune-tellers for answers, but they had none to
offer. Finally, an astrologer, Abe no Yasuchika, told the Emperor that Tamamo-no-Mae
was the cause of his illness. The astrologer explained that the beautiful young
woman was in fact an evil nine-tailed fox (kitsune), who was making the Emperor
ill in a devious plot to take the throne. Following this, Tamamo-no-Mae
disappeared from the court.
The Emperor ordered Kazusa-no-suke and Miura-no-suke, the most powerful warriors
of the day, to hunt and kill the fox. After eluding the hunters for some time,
the fox appeared to Miura-no-suke in a dream. Once again in the form of the
beautiful Tamamo-no-Mae, the fox prophecied that Miura-nosuke would kill it the
next day, and begged for its life. Miura-no-suke refused.
Early the next day, the hunters found the fox on the Plain of Nasu, and
Miura-no-suke shot and killed the magical creature with an arrow. The body of
the fox became the Sessho-seki, or Killing Stone, which kills anyone that comes
in contact with it. Tamamo-no-Mae's spirit became Hoji and haunted the stone.
Hoji is said to have haunted this stone in the Japanese prefecture of Nasu until
a Buddhist priest called Genno stopped for a rest near the stone and was
threatened by Hoji. Genno performed certain spiritual rituals, and begged the
spirit to consider her spiritual salvation, until finally Hoji relented and
swore to never haunt the stone again.
In Matsuo Bashō's famous book, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Oku no
Hosomichi), Bashō tells of visiting the stone in the Japanese prefecture of Nasu.
Tamamo-no-Mae's legend forms the basis of both the noh drama Sesshoseki ("The
Killing Stone") and the kabuki play Tamamonomae (or The Beautiful Fox Witch).
Momotaro Kintaro Urashima Taro Issun Boshi Shita kiri Suzume Kiyohime
Bancho Sarayashiki Yotsuya Kaidan Kachi kachi Yama Hanasaka Jiisan Kamishibai
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