Many different beliefs exist in our world. I have spent many a year travelling to villages across the country, studying the unique beliefs held within each region, and they are truly plentiful and diverse. Of all of these, the village that most piqued my interest was one where it is said that a large pedestal known as the "Hell Gate" is worshipped as a sacred object. The village, situated within a small valley in Hokuriku, has something resembling a pedestal festooned with shimenawa installed in the centre of its square. This is not a specific symbol of some god or Buddha, but rather the very "gate" itself. It is said that when the Hell Gate opens, the lands of the living and dead become connected, bringing about a disaster. Adherents of the Hell Gate are said to have performed a variety of festivals in order to ward off such a calamity, for which some sort of sacrifice - be it cattle, dolls, or even humans - was all but mandatory. Most religious practices are intended to achieve happiness, or peace following death, but in the case of the Hell Gate, it seems more apt to describe its believers as keeping constant watch over the gate in order to protect themselves from the terror overflowing from within.
No matter the region, such beliefs are universally detested and shunned by those who reside in nearby areas. People are very tight-lipped, and I have so far been unable to locate a single document providing a detailed account of these festivals that were allegedly performed in order to stave off disaster. If only I could enter the village myself, preferably on the day of a festival... But villages such as these harbour an extreme dislike of outsiders. Unless I can find someone willing to act as an intermediary, any investigation seems impossible. What really is the Hell Gate? How does it cause this world and the other to become linked? And when they do, what happens? ...I wish to investigate this Hell Gate further.
As if my wish had been granted, I received an opportunity to visit this village of Hell Gate adherents from an unexpected source. Quite by coincidence, Ryozo Munakata, the man who works as my assistant, happened to tell me the tale of a village containing something resembling the Hell Gate. As expected, no one will speak of what the festival in which twins are made into shrine maidens actually entails. There can be no mistake: this is what I have been searching for. Though it is far from the village I once visited, they hold similar beliefs about a Hell Gate, which I find deeply interesting. Could there be some sort of blood relation between the two groups, perhaps? Or did customs such as these once exist throughout Japan? This only served to pique my curiosity even further. And, in a strange twist of fate, Munakata came to me and told me that he had received a letter from a childhood friend living in the village, asking him to visit at the time of the festival. However, he lacked the funds necessary to make such a journey, which troubled him. Needless to say, I persuaded him that we should both head to the village together. Opportunities such as these do not present themselves every day, after all.
This time, I will be able to edge one step closer to the Hell Gate. As one who has decided to devote my entire life to this research, nothing could bring me greater joy.