Hayataro/Lore

Official Profile

The spirit of a dog that once lived at the Kozen-Ji temple, located in Nagano Prefecture. The legend of his monster-slaying exploits has been passed down for centuries.

Long ago, in the village of Mitsuke, located in the province of Tōtōmi, villagers were made to offer up their girls to a giant monkey yokai, who claimed to be a god. However, this yokai feared Hayataro. When a travelling monk who happened to be passing through realized this, he made for Kozen-Ji and asked the head monk if he could borrow Hayataro. Though Hayataro did visit the village and slay the yokai, he suffered grievous wounds during the epic battle. It is said that he managed to return to the head monk at Kozen-Ji, and breathed his last shortly thereafter.