The Legend of Yajiemon

Early n the Edo period ( 1600-1868) there lived in the village of Imada a samurai by the name of Tabuchi Yajiemon. By all accounts he was somewhat of a champion of the underdog, and consequently was well liked by the villagers. At some point Yajiemon became involved with a land dispute of some kind with the headman of Ichiyama, the village across the river. Unable to resolve the dispute, it was taken to the local magistrate for judgement. Yajiemon made his case eloquently but to everyones surprise the magistrate found against Yajiemon, and as punishment he was beheaded. Japanese justice is harsh for those who question authority. His severed head was placed on display for 3 days and nights as was the tradition. At some point the headman was walking by and Yajiemons head opened its eyes and glared at the headman. Not surprisingly the headman was taken aback and somewhat frightened by this, so he grabbed the head and threw it in the Yato river, hoping that it would be washed downstream, but Yajiemons head had other ideas and proceeded to swim upstream. When it reached the Eno bridge, the head turned into a flying white horse and flew up the Ito valley and landed at the mountain shrine there. Ever since then the shrine has been known as Yajiemons shrine and people go there to pray for success in games and competitions.

After his death, the ghost of Yajiemon visited his daughter and asked that his body be buried at Fukuoji, and today the largest gravestone there belongs to Yajiemon.

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