Copped and cropped from Eimei

See Eimei nijuhasshuku for background on this series.

A native of Inshu (Tottori prefecture), Shirai (or Hirai) Gonpachi was a dashing but hot-tempered young samurai who turned to highway robbery to fund his dissolute tastes. He was said to have murdered over 130 people before being executed by haritsuke (impalement with spears while tied to a crucifix) in 1679. His grieving lover, a Miuraya courtesan named Komurasaki, supposedly killed herself at his grave (known as the Hiyokuzuka) outside the main gate of the Meguro Fudo temple. (MS)