Japanese legends in F. Hadland Davis’s English retellings (1912)
Kato Sayemon’s Renunciation
Kato Sayemon believes his palace household is perfectly harmonious until he sees his wife and a concubine playing go. Their courteous behaviour continues while their hair appears to turn into angry snakes. Taking this as a revelation of hidden jealousy, he leaves secretly and becomes a Buddhist priest. His wife and son Ishidomaro spend years searching for him. When the boy finally reaches the temple of Kongobuji on Mount Koya, Sayemon denies his identity, even after the child points to a matching mark beside their eyes. Davis describes the father’s emotional struggle but ends with his refusal to resume family life. The story sets religious renunciation against the cost it imposes on those left behind.
Also known as Kato Sayemon
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In the sources
An apparent harmony breaks
DocumentedThe snake-haired vision disrupts Sayemon’s belief that his household is free from jealousy.
Recognition is refused
DocumentedIshidomaro’s appeal and the shared physical mark fail to make his father acknowledge him.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows the legend as Davis narrates it. It does not identify this figure with a different historical Kato, treat the snakes as a verified observation, or endorse the story’s generalisation about women or Buddhist family obligations. This entry follows Davis’s historical English retelling, rather than establishing a universal Japanese belief or an independently verified event.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths and Legends of Japan
Kato SayemonOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 370
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0400
- Original scan leaf
- 434
- Recorded leaf number
- 434
- Current Reader position
- 399
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths and Legends of Japan
his little sonOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 371
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0402
- Original scan leaf
- 437
- Recorded leaf number
- 437
- Current Reader position
- 401
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 3
Myths and Legends of Japan
religion and love for his sonOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: F. Hadland Davis, Myths & Legends of Japan (London: George G. Harrap, 1912), printed p. 372
Actual scanned prose page and complete named story inspected in the public Reader. Printed pagination checked visually; plate-placement numbers are not used as prose citations.
- Edition
- IMJ-0052-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0052-E001-P0403
- Original scan leaf
- 438
- Recorded leaf number
- 438
- Current Reader position
- 402
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Momotaro, the Peach Boy
A child found inside a peach gathers three animal companions and journeys to free an island’s captives in Davis’s retelling.
Same subject and traditionTokoyo and the Sea Serpent
A daughter searching for her exiled father challenges a sea-serpent and recovers an image linked to a ruler’s illness in Davis’s legend.