Kazuraki : PhotoStory

A group of yamabushi mountain priests meet a woman in a snowstorm on Mount Kazuraki.

The woman lets the pitiful-looking priests shelter at her hermitage.

A fire is lit. As they talk, it grows late.

The woman admits to the priests that she is the deity of Mount Kazuraki.

Long ago, the deity failed to keep a promise. As a punishment, she is still bound in vines.

While the priests pray to relieve her suffering, the deity starts to dance.

In the moonlight, she calmly dances. The dance is graceful.

The pure white of the falling snow is like that of an offering.

Over there, the mountain of Ama-no-kagu-yama can be seen. The moon is white, the snow is white. Everywhere, the world is white.

The deity is ashamed of her ugly face amid such sparkling radiance. Before the day breaks, she enters her room.