A forgotten village in the Saga prefecture of Japan, on the island of Kyushu, was facing most unusual weather this day. The now impoverished village resided in a province that had been renamed many a time in its existence, but the name that was never forgotten throughout history was the Castle town of Saga in the Hizen Province – Once dominated by the samurai from the Nabeshima Clan.
The village had been affected by strange weather phenomenon through the decades and something strange was happening once again. Ancient Japanese folklore here often spoke of strange and supernatural spirit animals known as “Yōkai” who could morph into humans at will. “Yōkai” often ranged from outright malicious and violent, to mischievous and cunning or even those that brought good fortune.
A famous tale of such was the Nabeshima bakeneko. In English, this meant a “Changed Cat”. The legend takes place in the time of Nabeshima Mitsushige, the second daimyō of the Saga Domain, Hizen Province. Mitsushige’s retainer, Ryūzōji Matashichirō served as the daimyō’s opponent in the game of go. Ryūzōji displeased Mitsushige and was put to the sword. Ryūzōji’s mother, while telling of the sorrows in her heart to the cat that she raised, committed suicide. The cat licked the mother’s blood and became a bakeneko. It would go into the castle and torment Mitsushige every night. Mitsushige’s loyal retainer Komori Hanzaemon finally killed it in an attempt to save the family, yet the cat would always be resurrected shortly after.
Flashes of lightning were followed by roaring bursts of thunder. Unnatural gusts were picking up and blowing fallen branches, leaves and bits of rubbish through the desolate streets. The steadily increasing patter of rain began to louden from the threateningly darkened sky. The street dogs were sensing a great imbalance from their surroundings, trembling and howling.
A small dark cat was moaning in pain in an unlit alleyway. It was no ordinary cat by any means as it was in the final stages of its unnaturally prolonged 7 year pregnancy. A blood-curdling screech suddenly echoed painfully through the streets from the cat, and accompanied with the noise came a small, dark skinned man – emerging from the cats Uterus. The small, naked man that had just been born rose to his feet and looked at the cat that had just birthed him. It began to lick his naked body clean as a caring feline mother.
“The Shima is come full circle – I am here. Begun, my ninth life has…” he muttered, stroking the cat affectionately.