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Description
Rashomon was the main gate into Kyoto and haunted by the demon Ibaraki, which lived in the rafters of the gate. Here, the hero Watanabe no Tsuna approaches the gate astride a prancing, blue-eyed, brown horse in a tremendous downpour indicated by diagonal slashes of black ink overlaying the man and horse. Behind them can be glimpsed the stone wall and a red pillar of the gate. The warrior wears a helmet and armor, and has his katana hung from cord about his waist. In his left hand he carries a sign on which, according to the story, he wrote the characters for kinsei--prohibited. This he posted by the gate as a warning to demons, and settled down to wait. In the early morning, something attempted to seize him from above, and slashing out with his sword, he severed the demon's arm. (Stevenson, "Yoshitoshi's Strange Tales," pp. 40.)
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