The legend of the Cat of Saga

This tale begins with a daimyō named Naoshige who was very passionate about the game of “go.”

One day he decided to challenge a blind man named Matahichiro in his castle in Saga.  Unfortunately, Naoshige lost the game and became so enraged that he murdered his opponent.

Upon learning of the incident, Matahichiro’s mother would not tolerate such indignity against her own family. The woman then, as a sign of protest over her son’s tragic fate, ended her life, after confiding her grief to her favorite cat, Tama.

After the tragic event, the grieving animal licked its mistress’ blood and gained extraordinary powers. It was no longer an ordinary cat, it was beginning its transformation into a Bakeneko: a monstrous cat of abnormal size, capable of taking possession of the bodies of human beings and then killing them.

From that day on, his goal was to seek revenge against Naoshige.

To this day, many years after those tragic facts, people say it’s the monstrous Bakeneko causing strange things to happen at the castle of Saga.