The story of the Dan-no-ura naval battle is only one of many stories of the Genpei Wars written down in the classic book The Tales of the Heike. Read this encyclopedia entry about the history and contents of The Tales of the Heike. Listen to story of the naval battle at Dannoura (the same scene that Hōichi performs for the ghosts) in a modern performance by the famous contemporary biwa performer Junko Ueda. As you listen, pay attention to how the performer uses the instrument to create tension, excitement, and sound effects.

You can also read this article about which describes what you might see today if you go to the site of the Dan-no-ura naval battle, along the shores of what is now the city of Shimonoseki. Here is a blog entry that shows pictures of Akama Jingū, the place where Hōichi lives in the story. Even today, near Akama Jingū, one can sometimes find crabs that appear to be the faces of samurai warriors on their backs. The famous astronomer and scientist Carl Sagan talks about the reasons for this in Cosmos, which you can watch in part here.

The story of Hōichi the Earless is famous in Japan, but the writer who introduced it to the West was Lafcadio Hearn, a fascinating international author whom you can read about in The Paris Review and in The New Yorker. Although born in Greece in 1850, Hearn lived in Europe and North America before moving to Japan, where he spent the rest of his life. While living there, he wrote many books about Japan that became bestsellers in the English-speaking world. Read Hearn’s version of the story, published in the 1904 book Kwaidan, an anthology of Japanese folktales.

Another famous adaptation of the story of Hōichi the Earless appears in Masaki Kobayashi’s stunning 1964 movie Kwaidan, which adapted some of Hearn’s folktales to the silver screen. When shown at the Venice Film Festival the next year, this film, especially the scenes depicting Hōichi’s mesmerizing performance, captured the imagination of many critics. Watch the film on Youtube, the Criterion Channel, or other streaming services.