Around the 10th century, after rebelling against the emperor and the Japanese government, and declaring himself emperor, Masakado would eventually be decapitated, about two months after a bounty was placed on him. The head was transported to Kyoto and served as a warning to all who rebelled against the government.
According to witnesses, the head never decomposed, whose face held a grimace, and it eventually began to glow and tried to fly back to Masakado's hometown. It came to rest instead in what would later be a part of Tokyo, and buried under the Kanda Myojin shrine.
Years later the samurai's ghost began to appear, and the head shook and glowed, causing the villagers to pray to the shrine, which seemed to ease the spirit. Many more years later, another shrine would be placed near the Kanda Myojin shrine, which apparently displeases Masakado and lead to plague on the village for more than a century until a Buddhist priest would arrive and tend to the shrine about a century later.
In early 17th century, the shrine was relocated and the land used to make mansions for feudal lords, while the burial mound and headstone remained a part of a garden for one of the mansions. When the feudal system failed near the mid-19th century, a building for the Finance Ministry was constructed near the unmoved burial site and headstone.
It wasn't until 1874 that the current government officially declared Masakado as the emperor's enemy and revoked his status as a deity as the Kanda Myojin shrine. In 1923 The great Kanto Earthquake would destroy all but the headstone and burial. Having found no skull after digging up the headstone, the ministry would build over the site. Three years later, The Finance minister Seiji Hayami dies of an unknown illness, and in the next two years 13 other officials would die from illness as well. Blaming the incidents on the angry and disturbed spirit of Masakado, the building that covered the burial was removed and purification rituals performed, but interest in the rituals eventually declined.
In 1940, the Finance ministry building and other offices were burned down in a fire. The Finance Ministry relocated and the old headstone and burial site rebuilt. But five years later, after World War II, the U.S. occupation forces took hold of the land and attempted to built a parking lot. After a series of suspicious incidents and the death of one construction worker, the parking lot would be left undone. 16 years later the are is returned under the possession of Japan, purification ritual once again done, and the site once more dedicated to Masakado. One construction worker fell ill when new buildings were being constructed around the site.
From 1984-1987, a drama and a film based on the spirit of Masakado would lead to more series of accidents. Since then producers would pay their respects to the spirit before filming or mentioning him.
Additional Gaian's notes:
*None yet
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Sources
(caution: remember, don't click a site you don't trust. Really, you wouldn't want to lose your head over a virus infection lol )
http://pinktentacle.com/2010/03/tokyo-terror-severed-samurai-head-in-otemachi/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
http://books.google.com/books
