Case file · Haunting
The vengeful spirit of Prince Sawara
After Prince Sawara died in exile in 785, protesting his innocence, a chain of deaths, epidemics and floods was blamed on his spirit; in 800 the court named him Emperor Sudō to calm it.
800 CE · 34.92, 135.70 · status: account
The account
The disasters helped persuade Emperor Kanmu to abandon the new capital at Nagaoka for Heian-kyō (Kyoto) in 794. It is the first great case of an onryō, a spirit of the wronged dead, shaping state policy.
The sceptical view
Epidemics and floods were common; the court's fear shows how guilt and politics turned misfortune into a haunting.