The demon-fires of Dan-no-ura
On dark nights pale lights drift over the beach and the sea at Dan-no-ura, and the fishermen call them demon-fires. When the wind rises, a noise like battle comes off the water.
Hearn writes that on dark nights thousands of pale lights drift over the beach and skim the waves at Dan-no-ura. The fishermen call them Oni-bi, demon-fires. When the wind is up, a noise of shouting carries from the sea, like the sound of a battle.
Other beliefs attach to the same waters. Wikipedia's article on the heikegani crab says the crabs are held to be the reborn Heike warriors beaten in the sea battle of Dan-no-ura, as The Tale of the Heike tells it, and that most Japanese will not eat them though they are edible.
Wikipedia's article on Akama Shrine says the Shinto shrine in Shimonoseki honours Antoku, the child emperor who died in the battle in 1185, when the Minamoto defeated the Taira. The shrine stands on the grounds of the former Buddhist temple Amidaji and its cemetery. The shrine's own website ties the shrine to the ghost story of Mimi-nashi Hōichi.
"On dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about the beach, or flit above the waves,—pale lights which the fishermen call _Oni-bi_, or demon-fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of great shouting comes from that sea, like a clamor of battle."
- Heikegani, Wikipedia contributors, en.wikipedia.org
- Akama Shrine, Wikipedia contributors, en.wikipedia.org
- 赤間神宮公式サイト, 赤間神宮 (Akama Shrine, official site)