The Nue on the Palace Roof
Night after night, a black cloud settled on the emperor's palace with an eerie cry, and he fell ill. A famous archer was called to shoot into the dark.
What was reported
The Tale of the Heike tells that the emperor of Japan fell ill, and every night at the hour of the ox a black cloud came over the palace, with a strange, mournful cry. The warrior Minamoto no Yorimasa was summoned, and when the cloud came he shot an arrow into it.
Something fell to the ground: a creature with the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the legs of a tiger and a snake for a tail, a nue. The emperor recovered, and the creature's body was sent floating down the river.
Explanations offered
It's a war-tale legend, and the strange cry was probably that of a bird, the White's thrush, whose eerie whistling at night was also called nue. Yorimasa was a real warrior and poet. Kyoto has a shrine connected with the story.
- When
- Said to be 1153
- Where
- Imperial Palace, Kyoto, Japan
- Witnesses
- The court, as told in the Tale of the Heike
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from Kyōto