Dragon Stories: Yofune Noshi
Long ago, in ancient Japan, a samurai named Oribe Shima had deviated from the favor of a local lord and was banished to the distant island of Kamishama. Gone was his eighteen-year-old daughter, Tokoyo.
Tokoyo was heartbroken and decided to find a way to venture to his father’s island so that he could spend the rest of his days with him. She was well educated in matters of the sea, so she sold all her possessions and sailed to the ocean in a small boat.
After many days he reached the island. But he was nowhere to be found. He climbed a promontory and fell asleep. A few hours later he woke up to the sounds of a little girl crying. At the edge of the cliff stood the young maiden dressed in white and a priest murmuring incantations. Seeing the intentions of the ritual, he rushed to the girl’s aid.
“Stop!” said the priest, “You don’t understand. This is the inevitable course of things. At the bottom of the sea there is a terrible dragon named Yofune Nushi who has us all in his hands. You see, he controls the climate of the ocean, and as a fisherman “We have no choice but to comply with his demands. Every year, on this day, we must give him the purest virgin of our people. Today is that unfortunate day.”
Tokoyo listened sadly. But then he had an idea. He had no desire to live and offered to replace the trembling young woman. The priest accepted her offer and she put on the girls’ white garment and jumped into the ocean.
He swam to a cave that glittered with the finest pearls. This was the dragon’s cave. When he entered, he passed a small wooden statue in the likeness of Hojo Takatoki, the lord who had banished his father! Higher up he swam and reached the den.
He saw the terrible dragon. Shining like a many-legged snake in shimmering iridescent scales, Yofune Noshi smiled at him.
But hidden in Tokoyo’s teeth was a dagger. And when the dragon approached her, she put her hand between her teeth to take the dagger and stabbed the dragon in the right eye. The dragon shuddered in pain, but seizing this opportunity, she cut the lower part of his neck and killed him.
With one hand he grabbed the dragon’s corpse and grabbed the statue with the other and swam to the surface.
The people of the island announced her as their savior and word spread about Tokoyo’s heroic feat, even to the ears of Hojo Takatoki, who had long been possessed by a curse. Upon learning of the statue in the cave, he instantly knew its cause. So grateful was he that he ordered the release of Oribe Shima, who had been locked up in a secret prison.
The reunited father and daughter spent the rest of their days happy.