"Fujiwara no Yasumasa (958-1036) was a celebrated poet and flautist in the Heian court. He apparently was the second husband of the poet Izumi Shikibu and at one point served as the governor of Tango province, near Kyoto. At this time the Heian court was in decline, and banditry and disorder were increasing in the countryside.

"Legend has it that one moonlit night, as Yasumasa was strolling along the roadway on the lonely moor of Ichiharano, the bandit Hakamadare Yasusuke lay in wait, determined to kill him. As Yasumasa drew closer, the sound of his flute enchanted the highwayman, who was unable so much as to draw his sword. Entirely charmed by the power of music, he followed Yasumasa to his home, where the flautist took notice of the docile brigand and presented him with a suit of clothing. The story was first performed by Onoe Kikugoro III and Ichikawa Danjuro VII at the Ichimura Theatre in Edo in 1822. It was performed again in Edo at the Morita Theater in 1862, when Yoshitoshi was designing many woodblock prints of the kabuki stage." (Stevenson, John. Yoshitoshi's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon