Shishiō

## Legend and Anecdotes The tale of the nue-slaying associated with Shishiō is recounted in detail in the Heike Monogatari. During the Ninpei era (1151–1154), Emperor Konoe was afflicted by mysterious suffering each night. At the Hour of the Ox (around 2 a.m.), black clouds would gather above the Seiryōden hall, from which eerie cries echoed forth. The court nobles trembled in fear, and even prayers by renowned high priests proved ineffective. At last, the imperial court decided to rely upon martial prowess, and a royal decree was issued to Minamoto no Yorimasa, renowned as a master archer. Holding his ancestral bow, Yorimasa lay in wait, concealed in the darkness. When the Hour of the Ox came again and black clouds rose above the Seiryōden, a shadow stirred within them. Yorimasa drew his bow without hesitation and loosed an arrow. The shaft tore through the darkness, piercing into the black clouds, and in the next instant, with a terrible shriek, an unearthly form plummeted to the ground. Ino Hayata, Yorimasa's retainer, rushed forward and delivered the final blow with his sword. Illuminated by torchlight, the creature's true nature was revealed: a nue—a monstrous being with the head of a monkey, a body of a tanuki (or tiger), a tail of a serpent, and limbs of a tiger—no creature that belonged to any form of nature. The nue's cry was an eerie "Hyō hyō," and to this day the call of the Scaly Thrush is described as the "voice of the nue," a tradition stemming from this legend. In recognition of this achievement, Emperor Konoe bestowed upon Yorimasa the sword "Shishiō." The lion is the sovereign of Indian lands, and in Buddhism, the lion's roar is symbolized as the power to vanquish evil. The name "Shishiō," envisioning the majesty of the lion that repels all demons and phantoms in a blade, was meant to eternally honor Yorimasa's martial deeds. Yet Yorimasa's final years were marked by tragedy. In Jishō 4 (1180), at the age of seventy-seven, Yorimasa answered the decree of Prince Mochihito, son of the Retired Emperor Goshirakawa, and raised an army to overthrow the Taira. However, his forces were woefully insufficient, and defeated by the Taira's vast army at the Battle of Uji River, Yorimasa composed his death poem within the grounds of Byōdō-in: "Buried wood— whose flowers never bloomed— sad is the end my form has come to," and took his own life. A master of the bow and a poet, a hero who slew the nue and yet a tragic warrior defeated by the Taira—as if condensing the whole life of Minamoto no Yorimasa, Shishiō is a blade that embodies both martial valor and pathos.