(or just Kiyo) in Japanese folklore is a character in the story of Anchin and Kiyohime. In this story, she fell in love with a Buddhist monk named Anchin, but after her interest in the monk was rejected, she chased after him and transformed into a serpent in a rage, before killing him in a bell where he had hidden in the Dōjō-ji temple. Overview The so-called "Anchin-Kiyohime" legend may be designated by various other names, such as Hidaka River legend (Hidakagawa legend). The theatrical versions, for which there are numerous playscripts, are collectively known as Dōjōji-mono. Summary The "Anchin-Kiyohime" legend can be summarized as follows: The legend, connected with the founding of the Dōjō-ji temple in Kii Province (modern-day Wakayama Prefecture), relates how a priest named Anchin from Shirakawa in Ōshū province (present-day Shirakawa, Fukushima) making pilgrimage to the Kumano Shrine in southern Kii, lodged at the home of a (steward of a shōen manor) of , where the manor official's daughter Kiyohime fell in love with the young monk. In order to avoid her, he deceives her (with a false promise to return) and continues his journey. Kiyohime became furious by his rejection and pursued him in rage. At the edge of the , Anchin asked a ferryman to help him to cross the river, but told him not to let her cross with his boat. When Kiyohime saw that Anchin was escaping her, she jumped into the river and started to swim after him. While swimming in the torrent of the Hidaka river, she transformed into a serpent or dragon because of her rage. When Anchin saw her coming after him in her monstrous new form, he ran into the temple called Dōjō-ji. He asked the priests of Dōjō-ji for help and they hid him under the bonshō bell of the temple. However, the serpent smelled him hiding inside the bell and started to coil around it. She banged the bell loudly several times with her tail, then gave a great belch of fire so powerful that it melted the bell and killed Anchin. Variants , while in other versions Anchin resisted her attention from the start, and avoided her house on his return journey. Although Hidaka River is perhaps more famed in connection with the legend, and sometimes just the scene of this river has been performed (rather than the entire play), some versions employ the