Kasuga ryūjin

The play features the historical figure Myōe Shōnin (1173 – 1232), abbot of the Buddhist temple Kōzan-ji, and famous for his detailed dream diary.

Myōe sought for many years to visit China and India, and to witness the places where the historical Buddha preached; in episodes recorded in his dream diary and other sources, Myōe is said to have been visited, both in dreams and via oracles, by the Dragon God of Kasuga Shrine, who persuaded him to remain in Japan.

The play is inspired by and based upon these sources, and relates one such meeting of Myōe with the Dragon God.

Learning of Myōe's intentions to journey abroad, however, he argues that the kami shouldn't like to see him go, as his presence at the shrine is so treasured.

But, he says, the ages have turned, and the sacred places of India and China are now represented in Japan.