Associated with: Nue aka "the Japanese chimera"
I am a bird trapped in a cage. My mind feels as helpless as a blind turtle holding on a floating piece of wood, just sinking in the darkness. Although I am just like sunken wood, I have never completely sunk. Why does my dead soul alone remain in this world?
We now come to the moment of the nue's death, marking its transition from one world into the next and also its transformation from an antagonist to a tragic but still-feared entity. The nue has almost as much presence in death as it did in life, as seen in the Noh dialog above (spoken by the deceased nue).
As you'll recall, in our last entry Yorimasa took aim and let his arrow fly into the center of the cloud. A terrible cry was heard and out of the vortex fell something to the ground. A retainer of Yorimasa's, a fellow by the name I no Hayata (his clan name is "I," pronounced the same as the letter "E"), rushed in to confront the thing. What he discovered was a wounded, writhing creature whose body was a disturbing mish-mash of animals... a monstrous chimera. Hayata bravely dealt the animal several finishing blows, and the nue was dead.
Utagawa Kuniyasu, Date Unknown (Source: Waseda University Theatre Museum, https://www.waseda.jp/enpaku/)
Almost immediately, the animal began inducing as much panic in death as it had in life. Yorimasa pulled his blood-stained arrow from the body, and fearing it somehow tainted or poisoned, rushed to wash it in a nearby pond. The remaining presence of the creature's dead body continued to induce dread, and it was deemed that such an impure thing could not remain in the capital. As for the area where the nue fell, it too became polluted and cursed, a place where people would fear to tread. It's now a park and children's playground.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
It would seem that Nijo Park has had a long association with the nue legend. One (admittedly less sexy) account has the nue appearing not from within a dark cloud, but up in a tree. This would have Yorimasa not closing his eyes Jedi-style and praying for victory while shooting his arrow into oblivion, but simply shooting the nue out of some branches. Cloud or tree, the nue fell near a pond: the Pond of the Nue or nueike (鵺池), the same pond that Yorimasa used to wash his arrow. The boulders around the pond became known as "nue stones," or nueishi (鵺石). These stones are thought to be some of the same ones used as part of the current pond enclosure.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
As for the site being perpetually cursed and off limits, in 1700 a mansion of a Matsudaira retainer, who at the time was a military governor of Kyoto (in charge of maintaining security in the capital), was built on the site. The pond was extant at that time within the grounds of the mansion, and was apparently associated with the legend of the nue then too. The nue wasn't enshrined, however, until fairly recently in 1934. It was at this time the park was developed.
Fun fact: The nue's "death scream" could be heard as far as yokai hotspot Miidera temple!
Comments: And oh yeah the park is right next to Nijo Castle, a site both popular and centrally located. For that reason it is very easy to recommend. The only slight inconvenience is that the park, while indeed across the road from the castle, is about as far away as it could be from the castle's entrance. Boo hoo, people, those legs were made for walkin'!
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
The starting point on the Midosuji subway line is Umeda Stn. Our destination is (Kyoto) subway Nijojo-mae Stn. (The second "jo" in "Nijojo" is the Japanese suffix for "castle." "Mae" in this case means "in front of.")
The first part of the journey requires that you travel from (JR) Osaka Stn. (which is next to subway Umeda Stn.) to (JR) Kyoto Stn. I have been including (i.e. copying and pasting) details on how to make this simple trip for several Kyoto posts, so this time I will just say take the shinkaisoku (special rapid service train) or kaisoku (rapid service train) to Kyoto from Osaka.
At Kyoto Station you need to change to the subway. The subway is a different train company, so you need to go through the ticket gates and move to a different part of the station complex rather than just changing platforms.
At subway Kyoto Station, find Nijojo-mae Station on the transit map and purchase a ticket for the amount shown (260 yen as of January 2016). Take the Karasuma Line three stops in the direction of Kokusaikaikan to Karasuma Oike Station, then transit from within Karasuma Oike Station to the Tozai Line, going one stop in the direction of Uzumasa Tenjingawa to Nijojo-mae Station.
At Nijojo-mae Station you're looking for the side with the whopping big castle, so you won't get lost easily. Go out Exit 1 and take the crosswalk just off to your right. After crossing the street, keep going straight and the main entrance to Nijo Castle will be on your left.
Map courtesy of Google Maps
If you have been to Nijo Castle or don't have the time for both and are nue mad, keep going straight. You need to walk about half the perimeter of the castle grounds before you come to Nijo Park.
Map courtesy of Google Maps
The Nue Shrine is at the north end of the park. This route has you walking along the edge of Nijo Park, but of course you can just walk straight through it if you prefer. Here's a photographic image of the layout.
Map/image courtesy of Google Maps
The Pond of the Nue is just south of the Nue Shrine. It's the horseshoe-shaped body of water in the map below.
Map courtesy of Google Maps
Be mindful that the pond was landscaped from the original body of water. It is more a remnant of the original but it still bears its name.
Next to Nue Shrine is another hokora, or wayside shrine. The Nue Shrine is the one with the red torii archway and partially covered by greenery.
Photo Credit: Gragma's Yokai Tourbus
Information on Nijo Castle
Admission into Nijo Castle is possible between the hours of 8:45 and 16:00, with the grounds closing at 17:00. Tuesdays during the months of January, July, August and December are closed, as is December 26 to January 4. When a national holiday falls on a Tuesday during January, July, August or December, the castle will close on the following day instead.
I haven't delved too deeply into the history of Nijo Castle to see if it might deserve its own entry. However, at a glance it would seem that some of the remains of Fushimi Castle in southern Kyoto were used to help complete it. Fushimi Castle has its own back story as the site of a famous siege in 1600 where 2,000 troops loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu kept 40,000 combatants occupied for 11 days. Torii Mototada led the force defending the castle, and as it dwindled, those remaining within the castle committed ritual suicide. The unburned section of the castle in which these acts took place was dismantled in 1623, and the lumber was used to renovate at least five Kyoto temples. The stained timbers were incorporated into the ceilings of these temples, and these are known as Chi-tenjo, or Bloody Ceilings. Nijo Castle, while not having any bloody ceilings, also used materials from the Fushimi Castle ruins. It was completed in 1626.
Driver Gragma (yokaitourbus "at" mail "dot" com)
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The Master List (Kyoto)
http://yokaitourbus.blogspot.jp/2015/08/6-c-master-list-kyoto.html
(yokai) Nue (鵺)
Site: The Pond of the Nue (鵺池) and the Nue Shrine (鵺大明神)
Nearest Station: Subway Nijojo-mae Stn. (二条城前駅); JR/subway Nijo Stn. (二条駅) is about the same distance to the site, but further away from the entrance to Nijo Castle.
Google Map Search: "鵺大明神" will take you right to the shrine; "二条公園" will bring up the park.
