A Haunted Samurai Head and Ancient Curse, Part l

Today Tokyo, Japan is a proud center for science and technology but this modern city was once the site where vicious feudal conflicts resulted in bloodshed.

Taira no Masakado's tomb.

Surrounded by modern skyscrapers and an Imperial Palace sits a small shrine in Otemachi Tokyo that even today the locals fear.

Masakado

This shrine contains the head of Taira no Masakado a powerful and rebellious samurai who made a name for himself in the 10^th century Heian period.

This samurai’s legacy has resulted in one of the most bizarre and creepy hauntings in Tokyo.

Born into privilege between 800 and 900 AD Masakado was descended from Emperor Kanmu. After his father died, Masakado’s uncles tried to steal part of his land--they plotted to ambush and kill Masakado.

But Masakado proved to be a formable foe. He single-handedly defeated their attempt sending them into a hasty retreat.

Masakodo’s revenge was swift and merciless. He descended on his relatives’ lands, burning and demolishing everything in his path. He and his warriors brutally killed thousands.

The families dispute was brought before Emperor Suzaku, but Masakado actions were deemed just, and he was pardoned.

The family dispute continued. Masakado’s father-in-law and cousin attacked him. He again prevailed driving his enemies back. Wanting revenge, he raised a force to invade their lands in Hitachi province.

Masakado ended up acquiring eight different provinces.

This time the nobles condemned his actions, but Masakado was now powerful. He treated the peasants under his rule justly, and they viewed him as their savior. He also was considered a fierce and skilled warrior who could not be defeated.

Gaining even more power, Masakado boldly proclaimed himself the new Emperor of Japan, the real emperor in Kyoto did not agree. He declared Masakado a rebel and traitor and a hefty bounty was placed on the samurai’s head.

Fujiwara no Hidesato

A large force in 940 AD, which included many of Masakado’s own relatives and his closest ally, Fujiwara no Hidesato marched to the Kanto region to bring back the head of the rogue samurai.

Masakado’s forces fought valiantly but they were outnumbered 10 to 1 and fell before the onslaught. Masakado was killed when an arrow pierced his skull.

His enemies removed his head from his body and sent it to Kyoto so it could be displayed as a warning to anyone who dared to oppose the emperor.

Once the head was displayed, a strange phenomenon was noted. The head did not decompose or draw flies even after months. Its expression did change-the head’s eyes looked fiercer with each passing day.

The head then started to speak. Every night its disembodied voice would call out, often screaming for someone to bring its body so it could continue to fight.

Then it began to take on an eerie glow and started to float through the air. One night it took off and landed screeching in a fishing village called Shibazaki near the samurai’s home. The locals cleaned it and buried it. Eventually, a shrine was built atop the grave.

Strange phenomenon continued to occur at this site. Tremors shook the area, and an inexplicable light flashed around the grave. The villagers began to see the ghost of a faceless samurai wandering around the area.

The frightened villagers prayed the spirit would rest--they placed a monument and headstone to honor the fallen samurai. For a time everything settled down but then a Tendai Buddhist temple was built nearby, and the dormant spirit of Masakado awoke once more.

It appears this temple angered him for a series of natural disasters, disease and accidents started to plague the area. By the early 1300s a terrible plague hit which caused many deaths. These tragedies were all attributed to Masakado’s vengeful spirit.

To appease his spiteful spirit and end the suffering a ritual was performed, and his head was moved to a more prestigious shrine in hopes he would calm down.

This worked for several centuries then in 1874, Emperor Meiji visited the shrine. He deemed it unacceptable that an enemy of the Imperial family should be revered--so Masakado’s deity status was revoked. His head was moved to a less prestigious shrine.

Masakado’s vengeful spirit was awakened once more.

In Part ll of A Haunted Samurai Head and Ancient Curse, the Samurai's spirit continues to wreak havoc on the unfortunate humans that disturb his grave.

The Wickedest Woman in America Part l

One of America’s first serial killers was a woman. Born in 1760, little is known about Patty Cannon before she moved to Sussex County near what was Johnson’s Corners in 1800--today it is Reliance, Delaware. 

She initially lived on a farm with her husband and daughter located near the Delaware-Maryland border. It was her husband, Jesse Johnson who first got her involved in the kidnapping of black slaves.

The kidnapping of slaves became a lucrative business after the U.S. Congress passed a law prohibiting the importation of slaves from other countries in 1807. A captured runaway slave now brought the hunter a $1,000 reward. 

Patty Cannon found she liked this business. She headed a gang of white criminals and black men who were used as “decoys.” She continued in this trade even after Jesse died around 1826.

Some accounts state she poisoned Jesse. Regardless, after his death, she let the farm out to sharecroppers and moved across the road to live with her daughter and her husband, Joe Johnson. 

Joe ran a tavern and was also involved in the family gang. Cannon’s business thrived, but she and her group became more and more greedy.

They tricked many escaped slaves by pretending to be a stop on the Underground Railroad. When supplies ran short, they even kidnapped free blacks who lived in the area. 

Her gang also kidnapped slaves owned by others and sold them back into slavery in the South for profit. *

According to the abolitionist journal, the African Observer The Cannon gang captives were hidden in the home’s basement or in concealed rooms off the attic. 

They were then covered in wagons and taken to Johnson’s Ferry--today it is known as Woodland’s Ferry.

A schooner then transported them down the Nanticoke River to the Chesapeake Bay. There they were taken to the Georgia Slave Markets. 

One black victim that was able to escape and return north to Delaware described his treatment while being held captive by the Cannon gang:

“Joe Johnson kept all his captives in leg irons. He also severely whipped captives that insisted they were free.” He stated he overheard Patty Cannon state to Joe, “it did her good to see him beat the boys.” The term “boy” was used to degrade any black male regardless of their age.

Several members of the Cannon gang were initially indicted in 1822. But for some unknown reason only Joe Johnson was sentenced. He was tied to the pillory ** and received 39 lashes.

In 1829, a tenant farmer working Patty’s farm was plowing a field when he and his plow sank into the ground. A grave was discovered. When the authorities were called out, they discovered more graves on the property. 

The bodies of two children, an infant, and an adult male were unearthed. The adult had been a slave trader that Patty murdered for his money.

Another was that of a seven-year-old black male who had been beaten to death. He had been purchased by Cannon and grown up as part of the household. He actually participated in many of the crimes. 

A witness testified he had seen Patty carry this injured child out in her apron, but he had not returned with her.

The authorities now wanted Patty Cannon. For months, she was able to elude them by moving back and forth across the Delaware-Maryland border. She was finally captured and taken to a jail in Delaware.

Several details after this are lost to history. Cannon was between sixty and seventy years old at the time of her capture. It is known she died in her Georgetown cell, but it is not known for sure how. 

Most speculate she committed suicide after she was tried and sentenced to hang.

Cannon's skull

Cannon was initially buried near the jail, but in the 20^th century, this land became a parking lot, so her body was exhumed and reburied in the new prison’s potter’s field. 

That is her body was--her skull was sold to a private owner who then sold it again, etc. Today her head is kept in a box in the basement of the Dover library. Patrons can request to see it.

Patty Cannon’s ghost does not reside in this library, but the “Patty Cannon House” is considered to be very haunted. 

This is not surprising because the home’s attic still has the straw beds and shackles that were used to chain many of the Cannon gang’s victims. The basement even has the ladder that leads to a hidden room behind one of the closets.

Witnesses have stated as they passed by this house at night they saw ghostly figures at the doors and windows of the home when it was unoccupied. 

One couple that stayed at the home briefly slept in the bedroom that is directly below the attic door. They heard many noises that they could not explain.

For generations, this house has been considered so creepy that the local residents warn their children, “Be home before dark or Patty Cannon will get you.”

Make sure and read Part ll of this post entitled Jack Purnell’s Lantern. Purnell, a free black man, was a member of the Cannon gang. His ghost has been seen along the Nanticoke River. 

This first-person account is one of the most interesting ghost encounters I have read.

* Many feel the locals in Sussex County turned a blind eye to Cannon’s activities because with the War of 1812 tough economic times followed.

**  A pillory is also known as “stocks” was used as a public humiliation punishment where prisoners were placed in a wooden frame that held their hands and head.