In the past, there was a
tanuki who was wounded by a fatal arrow shot, but was saved by
Taira no Shigemori. To pay his debt of gratitude, the tanuki swore to protect the
Taira clan. This wounded tanuki's descendant is said to be Yashima no Hage-tanuki. After the
Taira clan was ruined, Hage-tanuki became the protector deity of
Yashima-ji, the 84th temple on the
Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. His skill at transformation was called the best in Japan, and he achieved the rank of supreme commander of the tanuki in Shikoku. In times of extreme cold, 300 tanuki of his household would gather together, and he would show phantom magic to
Minamoto no Yoshitsune's Yasō Tobi (八艘飛び) and Yumi Nagashi (弓流し), as happened during the
Genpei War. According to the latter story, while the three famous tanuki were all boasting about how they were the best in Japan, Hage-tanuki embarked towards Awaji, and challenged Shibaemon-tanuki to a contest of disguises. On the day of the match, Shibaemon saw countless naval ships appearing at sea. While Shibaemon was still in a state of surprise, believing war had broken out, the boats disappeared, and Hage-tanuki appeared. The fleet had been Hage-tanuki's disguise, successfully tricking Shibaemon. In response to Hage-tanuki's boasts of victory, Shibaemon-tanuki said that he would disguise himself as the
daimyōs royal procession. On the next day, a splendid procession appeared. Hage-tanuki praised Shibaemon in a loud voice, but was reprimanded by a soldier for his insolence and was killed by a spear; it had been the real Daimyo's procession. Shibaemon, who thought this unfortunate, courteously gave him a funeral service. In the great war between tanuki that occurred in the closing years of the
Edo period, the
Awa Tanuki Gassen, in the village of Higaino (now
Komatsushima city), spoke through possessed people and told of an event involving Hage-tanuki. After Kinkyō-tanuki and Rokuemon-tanuki killed each other, their offspring were about to try to take revenge on each other, and Yashima no Hage-tanuki arbitrated between them and settled the issue. ==Notes==