eight regions of ice. There under the vast earth lies the kingdom of death, which is known to all as the ‘Yomi-tsu-kuni’, the ‘land of darkness. It is a bottomless and mysterious abyss, which engulfs the inner seas. There is one entrance, ‘The Gate of the Demons’ which a sinner’s soul must enter, but never to exit.
As the spirit of Yotsu-ya entered the deep land, the fiendish Oni, the devil demons with green bodies and heads of oxen put him in their custody. They laid their sharpened nailed hands upon his venal soul, clasping it tight with their powerful bodies. Then the demons, howling like the dogs of hellfire, threw the soul on a chariot of fire and carried it to the supreme and ferocious judge of hell, Emma-hoo.
Whoever comes before this formidable judge, their soul retains their appearance for some time after leaving the flesh. Yotsu-ya’s soul was reflected in a large clear mirror along with the crimes he committed. In the mirror the samurai saw himself in the appearance he had in former life, and so perceived the crimes he committed. Emma-hoo witnessed the reflection of the sinner’s past life in the mirror and he puts Yotsu-ya through a series of questions. The soul of the samurai was judged for forty-nine days, and punished with a beating if his answers were not satisfactory to the ears of the fierce judge.
The samurai’s many sins were weighed and then Emma-hoo gave his judgement. The judge of hell thundered, “The souls of the dead are not only responsible for their actions in life they have just left, but also for those of life before that, if for some reason they have not received punishment for them. Sinner Yotsu-ya, you must stay in a region of hell according to extent of your sins, unless your soul is