(Voice actor) Mr.Chris Koprowski

Jingoro Hidari is well known as a legendary master of sculpting. He was a sculptor in the early 1600’s, and is said to be the creator of sculptures found all over Japan such as the Sleeping Cat of Nikko Toshogu Shrine and the Curved Dragon of Ryotanji Temple in Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka prefecture. His animal sculptures were especially renowned for their liveliness. One of Jingoros legends says that his Sleeping Cat sculpture used to come alive nightly and wander around, so he later closed its eyes to let it sleep. Another is an umbrella left by Jingoro on the roof of Mieido hall of Chion-in temple. Because perfection could only decline, he left the architecture imperfect by not removing that umbrella. Jingoro Hidari showed his talent at a very young age and exceeded his master by the time he was 21. Iemitsu Tokugawa, the third Shogun of the Tokugawa regime, after hearing his reputation resounding all over Japan, one day summoned Jingoro. Iemitsu ordered four master sculptors to carve a dragon each on four corner pillars of the bell tower he was about to build at Kan’ei-ji temple in Ueno. Jingoro was one of them. Kan’ei-ji temple was built as Tokugawa clan’s Bodaiji temple (*a temple where one’s family cemetery is) representing the grandeur of the Tokugawa clan. So Iemitsu planned to have the best artists of Japan to work at it. It was a very honorable task to be given but Jingoro was bewildered. He had never carved a dragon before. But refusing an order from Iemitsu Tokugawa was not an option. He went to see the dragon statue at Bentendo hall in Ueno, but it didn’t do much as a reference since it was very old and damaged with a chipped off nose and whatnot. Jingoro, at a loss, visited Bentendo in Ueno every day and prayed to god to show him a real dragon. He prayed day after day. One day, when crossing the bridge going to Bentendo hall, he saw a young girl staring at a lotus leaf on the pond. As he looked she jumped suddenly into the pond. Taken aback, Jingoro stared at the spot where she had dived, but she had mysteriously disappeared. As he searched for the girl, the pond rippled and a dark cloud slid down from above. Then he encountered an unimaginable spectacle. In this story, you will find out what he saw.