Rock the VOTE III: Japanese Biwa Player Playing Old Tune

The Roving Ronin Report Presents:

Japanese Biwa Player Playing An Ancient Song of Battle

It’s up for votes on Current TV:

http://www.current.tv/watch/70143572

Please register and vote!

Biwa is a Japanese lute played with a large pick. They are often used to tell old stories such as the Tale of the Heike.

The Tale of the Heike is a long tale about the rise and a fall of the Heike family in the 12th Century. Taira-no-Kiyomori led his family to the highest position in the country. Eventually, their enemies brought them down defeating them in a number of battles.

Dan-no-ura was the site of their last battle. It was a great sea battle and the Heike were completely destroyed. Many of them perished by leaping into the sea including the young emperor.

Centuries later, a blind biwa player, Hoichi, unknowingly played for these restless spirits and almost lost his life as a result. He paid the price with his ears being ripped off by one of these ghosts.

A thunderstorm struck while the biwa player played making me think that perhaps the Heike spirits were still restless.