Commentary on Selected Items in the Seimei Gallery

This commentary is submitted to IJAMEA Kansai HQ on the fourteenth of April in the year 1897 of the Western calendar, as part of Operation Hakutaku.

The Seimei Gallery is a private gallery underneath the ruins of the Heian Palace established during the Heian period by Abe no Seimei. It is a repository for abnormal assets offered to the Imperial Family by influential figures of Japanese society. A placard detailing the asset's history is written for each abnormal asset stored in the gallery. While de jure ownership is allotted to the Imperial Family, de facto administration is conducted by the Bureau of Onmyō. This commentary is submitted to IJAMEA Kansai HQ on the fourteenth of April in the year 1897 of the Western calendar, as part of Operation Hakutaku. Operation Hakutaku aims to catalogue all possible abnormal assets and events which historically appeared in the Home Islands.

Description

One pelt belonging to an unknown species of primate, covered in an armour resembling the spider's exoskeleton and with eight arthropod legs (each measuring 1.8 m) attached onto its back.

Placard This is the corpse of the Tsuchigumo, the earth-dwelling spiders who opposed civilisation. In life, this creature dwelled in the fields of Rendai, north of Kyoto. Using sorcery, it mimicked the scent of a maiden and lured the subjects of His Imperial Majesty to their untimely deaths. The skulls in the Tsuchigumo's lair number two thousand. For the Tsuchigumo's crimes, it was justly slain by Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who has seen through its sorcery. Its legs, longer than the tallest men in Kyoto, were cut with ease. The Tsuchigumo was rid of its head by the swift slash of the sword, which is then called the "Spider Cutter". The corpse was then reassembled for Minamoto no Yorimitsu's heroic deed to be made known. In the fourth year of the era Chōhō, Imperial Regent Fujiwara no Michinaga bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. Let this be evidence that justice is the fate of all who oppose His Imperial Majesty's reign and do his subjects harm.

Actions Taken: Search for additional specimens (live or deceased). Pursuant to Motoori's theory on the migration of aboriginals, likelihood of live Tsuchigumo specimens is highest in Hokkaido.

Description

One kimono coloured in red, blue, yellow, green, and white. White feathers are lined along the collar and sleeves.

Placard This is a hagoromo, the feathered clothing of the tennin, the people of the heavenly plains. The hagoromo is worn by tennin who intend to descend onto the earthly plains, and is the only way for a tennin to re-enter the heavenly plains. A tennin without a hagoromo is equal to a Man. In the first year of the era Tennin, Lady Amatsuko, from Amatsu-miyako of the heavenly plains, bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. Let this be proof of Lady Amatsuko's devotion to His Imperial Majesty.

Actions Taken: None permitted.

Note: Search for other hagoromo or human-tennin hybrids or their descendants.

Description

One desiccated body of a quadrupedal carnivorous mammal with leonine and canine features, clothed in robes of a Buddhist monk and with beads around its neck. The mouth will consistently open and close, producing 'Ah' (when opened) and 'Um' (when closed) sounds.

Placard This is Master Gozen, a komainu who adopted the ways of the Buddha. He began life as a beast, like all other komainu, and devoured meat from living things. Upon a chance encounter with Master Kūkai after his return from the Tang Dynasty, he gained awareness of his inherent merciful nature, and became a disciple of Kūkai. As a Buddhist, Master Gozen ceased to consume meat and sustained himself using chi. Although Master Gozen is not able to speak the languages of humans, he learnt kanji and inscribed them with his paw to speak to fellow monks and laymen. Even after Kūkai's departure, Master Gozen continued to impart the ways of the Buddha. As Master Gozen's mortal coil is nearing its end, centuries after Kūkai's departure, he approached the monks of Dewa Province, and opted to become a sokushinbutsu, a self-mummified buddha. The Master took in less chi and water, eventually eating nothing at all. His skin became dried and pale. His bones became visible through the skin. Yet, his jaw continued to open and close ceaselessly to form the sacred sound 'Aum'. In the first year of the era Gennin, Master Gozen bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. Master Gozen has heard many stories of the fires that plagued His Imperial Majesty's dwellings at Kyoto, and wishes to relieve the court of such suffering. As a sokushinbutsu, Master Gozen intends to pray endlessly in order to protect His Imperial Majesty's dwelling at Kyoto.

Actions Taken: None permitted. Master Gozen's existence should not be made known outside of the Seimei Gallery.

Note: According to legends within the Bureau of Onmyō, Master Gozen is held as a protector against fires that would ultimately render the Heian Palace abandoned in 1227.

Description

One boulder resembling a female human in a kneeling position. Notable features include vulpine ears and three tails.

Placard This is the Sessho-seki, also the corpse of Tamamo-no-Mae, the fox spirit who once had ill designs on Emperor Toba and executed on the plains of Nasu in Shimotsuke Province. Her vengeful spirit resides in her corpse and warped into stone. A man who touches it is certain to fall to death, overcome by the spiritual essence of Tamamo-no-Mae. In the second year of the era Ryakuō, Shogun Ashikaga Takauji bestows this as tribute to the court of His Imperial Majesty. May it be proof of the shogunate's dedication in delivering justice to the pretender at Yoshino.

Actions Taken: Abnormal trait verified. Subject to further application for future IJAMEA Operations.

Description

One set of Mongolian armour, a Mongol bow, and a skull.

Placard These are the armaments and skull of a Mongol warrior, who was sighted on Mount Hiei. That warrior and his comrades appeared from a hole in the sky, and brought chaos. They were justly executed in a battle that consumed all of Mount Hiei and Enryaku-ji. But weep not for the Buddhist monks of Enryaku-ji, for they harboured the Mongol warriors in the temple and they too received execution. In the second year of the era Genki, Oda Nobunaga, the demon king of the sixth Heaven, bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. Let this be evidence that the lands shall be united by force of arms.

Actions Taken: 'Mongols in Mount Hiei' incident incorporated into IJAMEA History Curriculum, with emphasis on the possibility of foreign invasions on Japanese soil and Buddhism as a concept antithetical to Japan.

Description

One Tanegashima matchlock rifle and nine bullets.

Placard This is one of the Tanegashima rifles, a weapon from Europe. There is no weapon like it in this land. The rifle is the bow. The bullets are the arrows. Even in the hands of a commoner bearing no training expected of the samurai, they too can wield the power to kill a man with ease in war. In great numbers and continuous volley, the Tanegashima will overwhelm all foes before them. The soldiers of the Takeda clan cowered in their homeland of Kai or in the dark depths of the underworld, having witnessed these rifles' prowess in the fields of Nagashino. In the second year of the era Tenshō, Oda Nobunaga, the demon king of the sixth Heaven, bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. Let this be evidence that the lands shall be united by force of arms.

Actions Taken: No abnormal traits identified.

Note: A legend from the Bureau of Onmyō stated that Oda Nobunaga deliberately gifted items with no abnormal traits to the Seimei Gallery, while hoarding abnormal assets to himself in an unspecified location. Possible candidates for said location are either the Nagoya Castle (belonging to the Oda clan) or the ruins of the Azuchi Castle (established by Oda Nobunaga). Pending excavation of both sites.

Description

One bronze orb, engraved with an unknown script. One half of the orb is luminescent.

Placard This is the nyoi-hōju, an orb carried by the imugi, serpents with hands that are regarded by the Koreans as the children of dragons. By touching the portion of the orb that glows with radiant light, the nyoi-hōju becomes alive and speaks. As the nyoi-hōju speaks, it continues to acquire the languages of those around it. The nyoi-hōju contains knowledge regarding the Age of the Gods in great amounts. This nyoi-hōju was gifted by a grateful imugi of the Imjin River to the daimyō Katō Kiyomasa, for his deed of chastising and putting to death three foot-soldiers who harassed the imugi. In the second year of the era Keichō, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, imperial regent and chancellor of the realm, bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. Let it be known that the invasion of Korea was not without gains.

Actions Taken: Abnormal trait verified. Asset has partially acquired contemporary Japanese language. Viable source of East Asian history for IJAMEA History Curriculum, with modification for compliance with state agenda.

Note: In the event that an excavation of the Korean Peninsula is possible, locate imugi and/or dragons in the Imjin River.

Description

One steel bonshō bell, inscribed with 'Bodhisattva Kannon'.

Placard This is Kanzeon Muramasa, a bonshō bell forged from the metal melted from one hundred swords once forged by the blacksmith Sengo Muramasa. The Muramasa swords carry a curse which demands blood to be shed whenever unsheathed for battle. Even when cast as an instrument of a peaceful era and bound by the name of peaceful Kannon, the curses remain. By striking this bonshō bell, all persons who hear its sounds will be beheaded. Each beheading is equalled to that from a katana held by a trained samurai. In the sixth year of the era Genna, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. May the Kanzeon Muramasa be sealed in the Seimei Gallery and not see the light of the peaceful era that this land is to have.

Actions Taken: Abnormal trait verified. Experimentation to record produced sound via phonograph successful. Subject to further application for future IJAMEA Operations.

Description

A bag embroidered with a depiction of a Japanese dragon.

Placard This is the Inexhaustible Rice-Bag, one of the gifts from the Dragon King Ryūjin to Fujiwara no Hidesato for his heroic deed of slaying the Hundred-Legged Ōmukade that preyed on the dragons of Lake Biwa. Inside the Inexhaustible Rice-Bag is a realm of endless rice grains, fit to be eaten by Man. Hunger dies with the existence of the Inexhaustible Rice-Bag. Over centuries, the Inexhaustible Rice-Bag passed to the Ii clan of Hikone Domain, who extracted rice in unending amounts to pay off the taxation allotted to the Hikone Domain. Ii Naooki has repented for his clan's misdeeds, and rightfully surrendered the Inexhaustible Rice-Bag to the Shogun. In the fourth year of the era Shōtoku, Shogun Tokugawa Ietsugu bestows this to the court of His Imperial Majesty. May His Imperial Majesty's lineage and reign be as everlasting as the rice in the Inexhaustible Rice-Bag.

Actions Taken: Abnormal trait verified. Permission for permanent transfer to IJAMEA Logistics Division with the intent of ration supply.