Hoichi the Earless

As the story goes, Hoichi was approached late one night by a gruff samurai who demanded that the minstrel play for his lord without the priest's knowledge.

Hoichi's performance was met by high praise and moved his audience to tears, and he was asked to return the next evening for a follow-up recital.

Before the retainer returned him to his temple, Hoichi was told that the nobleman for whom he had been playing was traveling incognito and was warned not to speak of the evening's events.

He painted Hoichi's body with the kanji characters of the Heart Sūtra for protection and instructed him to remain silent and motionless when he is called upon again by his ghostly audience.

When the priest returned, he realized in dismay that he had neglected to write the sutra on Hoichi's ears, which had left them vulnerable to the spirit.

A variant version collected by folklorists is called Mimikiri Dan'ichi (「耳切り団一」, "Ear-cut Danichi"),[5] taken down from Tokushima Prefecture (near Dannoura), and is mentioned by Kunio Yanagita in Hitotsume kozō sono ta (『一つ目小僧その他』).

In the particular episode, Hoichi's background was revised as having been originally a foot-soldier of the Heike, tasked to guard one of their princesses—one he eventually kills due to being maltreated.