Kume no Heinai
Kume no Heinai was a samurai of the 17th century who lived at the Buddhist temple Sensô-ji, in the Asakusa district of Edo. A small shrine dedicated to him can be found at the temple today.
Said to have been an expert swordsman who killed many men over his life, Kume later took up residence at Sensô-ji, where he spent much of his time performing devotions and Zen meditation, praying for the souls of those he killed in swordfighting duels. It is said that before he died he asked his followers to carve a statue of him and bury it near one of the gates to the temple, so that countless people would step on it, helping to expiate the sins of his life. The statue was eventually recovered and enshrined within a hall on the temple grounds, where for some reason it came to be worshipped as a deity for a good marriage. The hall was destroyed in 1945, and rebuilt in 1978.
References
- Plaque at site of Kume no Heinai Hall, at Sensô-ji.[1]