A man of the province of Ise named Haiji Muzen, after handing the household over to his son and retiring, was traveling the provinces with his son Sakunoji. One summer the two made a pilgrimage to Mount Koya in the province of Kii.
Night fell, and they tried to find lodging, but no temple would allow travelers to stay. With no choice, Muzen and his son decided to spend the night on the veranda of the Lantern Hall before Kobo Daishi's mausoleum in the inner sanctuary.
Late at night all was still; only the wind through the treetops could be heard. Then from somewhere came the call of a bird: "Bupposo, bupposo." It was the sacred bird said to call out the names of the Three Treasures, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Moved by its voice, Muzen composed a haiku.
Then from far off came the footsteps of many people and the cries of outriders clearing the way. Startled, Muzen and his son hid in a corner of the veranda, and a samurai of evidently high rank arrived with many retainers and began a drinking party before the Lantern Hall.
From the retainers' talk they learned that the samurai was the regent Toyotomi Hidetsugu. Suspected of treason by his uncle Hideyoshi, Hidetsugu had been banished to this very Mount Koya and forced to commit seppuku. The retainers too were men who had died with him. What the two were watching was a banquet of ghosts.
Learning that Muzen had composed a verse, Hidetsugu summoned him and ordered him to join in linked verse. Trembling with fear, Muzen added a verse. As the banquet went on, the ghosts' faces gradually filled with bloodlust. When someone said, "The hour of the asura has come," the ghosts took up their swords and rose. When one retainer said, "Let's take this father and son along to the asura realm too," Muzen and his son fainted.
When they came to, it was dawn. It is said that Muzen and his son hurried down the mountain and returned to the capital.