In the middle of Tokyo’s glittering financial district, which stands a modest little shrine, there is Kubizuka, the final resting place of a severed samurai head belonging to Taira no Masakado — rebel, warlord, and currently: full-time ghost.

Today, we delve into this vengeful samurai, its origin, and its legends.

Long before he became Tokyo’s most powerful supernatural resident, Taira no Masakado (平将門) was an actual person. Born sometime in the late 800s (because apparently exact birthdates were optional in the Heian period), he was a proud member of the Taira clan (平氏) — one of the heavyweights of Japanese aristocracy.

Taira no Masakado wasn’t content with the usual samurai business. No, he fancied himself a bit of a revolutionary. After getting tangled up in local land disputes, he went full rogue. By 939, he had declared himself the “New Emperor (新皇)” in defiance of Kyoto.

Naturally, the imperial court wasn’t thrilled. So they sent some rather irritable samurai — including Masakado’s own cousin — to take him out. In the end, they actually did it.

Since then, there have been supernatural phenomena happening around his death, which led him to be called one of Nihon Sandai Onryo (日本三大怨霊 / Japan’s Three Great Vengeful Spirits), alongside Sugawara no Michizane (菅原道真) and Emperor Sutoku (崇徳天皇).

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So after his defeat and death, there have been strange phenomena happening around.

After Masakado’s dramatic decapitation in 940, his head was triumphantly paraded around Kyoto. That should’ve been the end of it. But no. Legend has it, the head wasn’t quite finished. It grew angry. It grew powerful. And then, it flew back to the Kanto region, allegedly screaming the whole way.

Eventually, it landed in what is now Tokyo’s Otemachi district. Locals, wisely deciding they wanted none of that smoke, buried the head and built a shrine.

The Curse of Taira no Masakado: From Onryo to Yokai Extraordinaire

Taira no Masakado didn’t just stop at haunting people. No, he got promoted — spiritually speaking. In Japanese tradition, angry spirits of nobility often become Onryo — essentially aristocrats of the afterlife with the power to cause natural disasters, plagues, and workplace misfortunes.

Since his death, Taira no Masakado has been blamed for everything from mysterious deaths to cursed construction projects. The shrine itself has a long and rather dramatic history of punishing those who dare to move it, bulldoze it.

Masakado’s Kubizuka: A Haunted Grave in Tokyo’s Concrete Jungle

So, what do you do when your ghost problem refuses to leave? Here in Japan, you honour it, obviously. Masakado’s Kubizuka (将門の首塚) remains standing today in central Tokyo. It’s not flashy, but it is respected fiercely.

Even the Japanese government has been cautious about it. During World War II, after part of the shrine was damaged, attempts to relocate it ended in disaster. Multiple people involved died under suspicious circumstances.

Taira no Masakado in Modern Culture

You’d think over a thousand years would dull a ghost’s fame. But not Taira no Masakado. He remains a favourite subject in Japanese media — popping up in anime, video games, and horror fiction. Sometimes he’s a tragic anti-hero, other times a full-blown yokai boss.

Regardless of how he’s portrayed, one thing is consistent: you don’t mess with Taira no Masakado. Whether as a cautionary tale or a pop culture icon, he’s carved out a spot in the collective imagination — and he’s not leaving any time soon.

Taira no Masakado is one of those figures who refuse to be confined to textbooks. He’s a warrior, a rebel, a ghost, and a reminder that in Japan, the supernatural doesn’t always stay in the countryside. Sometimes it sets up shop right next to your office.

So if you ever find yourself in Otemachi, maybe pause at that little shrine with his grave. Drop a coin. Offer a bow. Whisper a quick “Please don’t curse me.”