World and Lore / Kyoto mystery

The Warrior's Head

Long ago, a great warrior was slain during a rebellion against the Imperial Court, and his severed head was put on display as a warning to others. However, after several months, the head showed little sign of decay, and more disturbingly, was reported to be terrorizing the people with its wild howls throughout the night. That is, until the day when a passing poet composed a comic verse inspired by the warrior's plight. So amused was the head that it immediately brightened up. What happened next remains a mystery - there are those who say he stayed there laughing as the flesh rotted off his skull, while others say the severed head bounded off towards the east, where its ancestral homeland lay.