Tomo no Yoshio

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Tomo no Yoshio (伴善男), or Ban Dainagon (伴大納言), was a counsellor of the state in pre-feudal Japan. In Japanese mythology, he was the source for Ban no Yoshio, God of pestilence.

Arson

On the tenth day of the third month of 866, Tomo no Yoshio

Cultural references

“The story of a cook who saw the ghost of counsellor Tomo” is the eleventh story of the twenty-seventh volume of Konjaku Monogatarishū. In the story, Ban no Yoshio appears in front of a cook after a late night of work and describes himself as a god of pestilence and disease. He goes on to relay his life's story, admitting that he committed a serious crime. Although the crime is not detailed there, it clearly refers to the burning of Ōtenmon gate and his exile to Izu as punishment. The story portrays Ban no Yoshio's knowledge of the seriousness of his act and the justice of his punishment. He pronounces his debt, owed to the country for being so well treated during his service at court, and goes on to describe his hand in turning an epidemic that would kill all into a mere cough; which suggests some form of reciprocity.