About legend concerning a fugitive clan of the Taira (Heike) family
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Nasu Daihachiro (Shiiba Heike Festival). -
Nasu Family Residence (Tsurutomi Yashiki), the setting of the legend of the fallen Heike
The Heike legend of Shiiba Village is recorded in the early modern (Edo period) documents Shiibayama Yuraiki and Shiibayama Kongenki. These documents were copied in large numbers in the village and produced similar legends in each district. These documents, which were copied in modern times, contain a legend that a man called Daihachiro, who is said to be the younger brother of Nasu Yoichi, went into the middle of Mount Shiiba to pursue the Heike clan and fell in love with Princess Tsurutomi, a remnant of the Heike clan. According to the Nemoto Ki, Nasu Daihachiro revered the deity Itsukushima no Daimyojin and had it invoked in Kami-Shiiba. Furthermore, it is said that when he was pregnant with Tsurutomi, Daihachiro received orders to return to Kamakura and told her that if it was a boy, he would send him to Shimono-kuni, and if it was a girl, he would not send her. As proof of this, he left a genealogical record and an endorsement, stating that he stayed in Shiiba because of the birth of a girl and that the Nasu family name continues to this day. Adjacent to the museum is the Nasu Family Residence, also known as the Tsurutomi Yashiki, which is a designated National Important Cultural Property. In the cemetery next to the Nasu Family Residence, there is a Hokyointo (宝篋印塔), which is believed to be the tomb of Princess Tsurutomi. However, Heike legends can be heard not only in Kami-shiiba, but also in many other places in the village. For example, there is a legend that a Heike Rakunin saw mountain cherry blossoms blooming in white in the mountains, mistook them for Genji's white flag and committed suicide by committing ritual suicide at Oike. There is also a tomb of a Heike Rakunin in Okochi. Traces of the Heike legend can be found throughout Shiiba Village.