八百比丘尼

The tale of Yao Bikuni —a bhikkhuni (fully-ordained Buddhist nun) who acquired preternatural longevity after eating the flesh of a mermaid— can be found in almost every region of Japan. Although the exact details vary greatly between regions they all share the same fundamental element: a girl who ate mermaid flesh lived for 800 years. The Yao Bikuni legend passed down in Mie Prefecture is as follows: Once upon time, a beautiful girl by the name of Osato lived in Kusawa Village. One day, when Osato was seventeen, the flesh of a mermaid was served at a village gathering. The other villagers, disturbed at the thought of eating such a strange creature, refused to eat it, but Osato unknowingly ate the mermaid's flesh. From that moment on, Osato didn't age a day. Shunned by the other villagers and treated as a monster, she was eventually forced to leave the village. Becoming a nun, Osato traveled the length and breadth of Japan for hundreds of years before eventually returning to Kusawa Village, where her long life at last came to an end. * * * In the Heian period, Sato was living a simple life in Kusawa Village, the place of her birth. One day, she happened to encounter a visiting onmyoji and was offered the chance to work at the Bureau of Onmyo in Kyoto. Sato readily accepted, having always felt out of place in the village due to her faint spirit sense, and left Kusawa to work in the Bureau of Onmyo as a maidservant. Taira no Tomoshige visited the imperial palace and encountered Sato, who was attending to odd jobs nearby. Tomoshige was intrigued by Sato, who made no attempts to curry favor with him and whose thoughts she found difficult to read, and he frequently visited her from then on. As their interactions continued, he found himself becoming particularly drawn to her. He eventually had a pair of bronze hadn't mirrors made and gifted one to her, telling her to carry it with her at all times as a sign of their vow to each other. * * * In 1185, the Taira clan was defeated at the Battle of Dan-no-ura, spelling it's ruin, as Tomoshige and Sato were laying low in a remote village in Ise. Although initially terrified of being hunted down by soldiers of the Minamoto Clan, Tomoshige regained his senses upon seeing Sato's unbroken composure. * * * Tomoshige located the tamatebako left in the family, and seeing it as his only clue to find a mermaid, he boarded a small boat with Sato and set out to sea. After they had rowed for a while, a sudden mist descended over the sea around them, obscuring their surroundings. As Tomoshige and Sato looked around fearfully, they heard a small splash; turning to look, the two gasped as they saw what appeared to be a human hand reach up from the water before grabbing onto the boat's edge. Climbing into the boat, the mermaid screamed for the to give back the box before suddenly lunging at them. Tomoshige drew his sword and slashed at the mermaid, which let out a piercing cry before diving back into the water and fleeing the area. Tomoshige caught sight of a piece of the mermaid's tail, stowing it in the tamatebako. Eventually, he forced Sato to eat it despite her protests. They waited a while, but no change seemed to come over her. * * * As the mist around them cleared, they realized their small boat was surrounded by ships belonging to a band hunting down remnants of the Taira clan. Amidst the chaos, Sato was struck in the head by an arrow and fell into the sea. * * * After that, Kusawa Village found itself in an uproar following the return of Sato, who had been employed in the service of the Heike. However, after it was discovered that she had somehow become immortal, she was shunned by the other villagers, who found her newfound state unsettling, and she soon left the village for parts unknown. A fragmented version of these events would go on to be passed down orally, eventually becoming one of the Yao Bikuni legends told to this day. [Edited from in-game Files]