The core of the story lies in a broken promise between Anchin, who requested lodging on his way to Kumano, and the innkeeper's daughter (or the local manor lord's daughter). The daughter loved Anchin so much she considered him her husband, but Anchin tried to avoid her and fled. Her pursuit shifted from a human's sprint to a supernatural transformation. At the Hidaka River, when the ferryman refused to provide a boat, the woman threw herself into the river in a rage and crossed the water in the form of a serpent. Anchin fled to Dojoji Temple and was hidden inside its bell, but the serpent woman wrapped herself around it, reducing the bell and Anchin to ashes with her intense heat [1].

What is crucial in this legend is that Kiyohime is not a monster from the beginning. A broken promise, romance, shame, jealousy, and distrust toward a religious figure all overlap at once, turning a human woman into a snake. This is why Kiyohime is not a primordial great serpent monster like Yamata no Orochi, but closer to the "coexistence of anger and sorrow" represented by a Hannya mask. Considering that Hannya carries the facial transformation, Hashihime the boundary of the waterfront and bridge, and Kiyohime the serpent body and the bell, we can see their respective roles in Japanese tales of female demons [3].

The lore of Dojoji has been passed down not only as the origin story of the temple, but recreated numerous times through picture storytelling and performing arts. In the Noh play *Dojoji*, a shirabyoshi dancer appears at a bell consecration ceremony where women are forbidden. She approaches the bell while dancing and jumps inside. Before long, a serpentine demoness emerges from within, eventually quelled by the monks' prayers. Here, the past tale of Anchin and Kiyohime is rebooted as an active, present-day apparition on stage [3].

In the early modern period, it expanded to Ningyo Joruri, Kabuki, and traditional dance, creating a massive lineage of works such as *Musume Dojoji*. The official Dojoji Temple website also outlines how the Anchin and Kiyohime legend was incorporated into Nohgaku, Ningyo Joruri, Kabuki, and more [2]. Kiyohime is not merely a moral lesson about a "jealous woman," but a strong knot tying together the temple's history, the Kumano pilgrimage route, bell consecration, performing arts, and snake worship.