ABSTRACT
A story is told of the reign of Toba-no-in, the retired emperor who ruled Japan from the throne and behind the scenes for much of the first half of the twelfth century. At his court was a mysterious woman of uncertain pedigree, who compensated for her lack of family ties with a degree of beauty, wit and learning against which the other ladies simply could not compete. She became the retired emperor’s favorite, and was seldom absent from his side. His devotion to her was only deepened by the marvelous events of one autumn night, when Toba sought to distract himself from a storm raging outside with an evening of poetry and music. When a gust of wind extinguished all the lamps in the room, everyone was plunged into darkness-everyone, that is, except for Toba’s consort, who radiated a light like the morning sun. The guards and ministers in attendance were terrified, but Toba took the marvel as further sign of her profound moral and spiritual cultivation, and dubbed her Tamamo no mae (“the Jewel Maiden”).1 When both the retired emperor and his son, the reigning emperor Konoe (r. 1141-1155) grew ill soon afterwards, however, the court astrologer and exorcist (in’yōshi )
Abe no Yasunari offered a different explanation. Yasunari determined that Toba was under the influence of a malevolent spirit, and placed the blame directly on Lady Tamamo. He begged the retired emperor to put her away, but Toba remained beguiled, and refused to accept Yasunari’s assessment. The exorcist was determined to save his lord, however, and plotted to reveal the truth to him by any means necessary. He called for a grand ceremony to be performed, dedicated to the Lord of Mount Tai (Taisan fukun , one of the Chinese gods of the afterlife), where he said he would pray for the extension of the retired emperor’s allotted life span. In organizing the ritual, he insisted that Lady Tamamo take part-in one variant, she is even asked to serve as bearer of the purificatory wand (gohei )—a gesture that seemed to affirm her essential place in the retired emperor’s circle. She demurred, but ultimately couldn’t refuse to participate in her lord’s recovery.
