MIMINASHI HOICHI
Lore
Miminashi Hoichi-literally "Hoichi the Earless"-is a man carrying a curse born of contact with the spirits of the Taira clan, who died in the sea battle of Dan-no-ura. Blind from birth, Hoichi became a monk-musician and mastered the biwa, achieving such virtuosity that his singing literally pierced the veil between worlds, drawing the attention of ghosts who sought to hear their history retold.
Centuries after the battle, Hoichi took residence at the Amidand-ji temple. He was soon visited by a spectral samurai who claimed to serve a noble lord. Under a ghostly illusion, Hoichi was led nightly to a graveyard where he sang for an emperor's tomb, unaware he was surrounded by hundreds of vengeful ghost-lights and the drowned warriors of the defeated Taira clan.
To save him from being dragged into the afterlife, the temple abbot covered Hoichi's entire body in the sacred text of the Hannya-shingyo, making him invisible to the spirits. However, the abbot forgot to write the sutra upon Hoichi's ears. When the ghost returned and found the singer seemingly vanished, only his ears remained visible to the spectral eye, protruding from the empty air.
The samurai spirit seized and tore the ears away as proof of his mission. Hoichi endured the agony in silence, ultimately surviving the ordeal and becoming a legendary figure. Though he lost his ears, his fame grew across the land, and he became a wealthy and celebrated musician, forever known as the man who played for ghosts and lived to tell the tale.
