Sugawara decapitates Heima with a plum branch and then ascends to heaven. This scene is rarely performed. The mixture of exultation and sorrow lends the closing pose by all the parents especial poignancy. The final act is not often performed. Sugawara has died vowing retribution on Shihei.
Catastrophes strike successively until a priest divines the cause.
The minor dramas concerning Kakuju and Kariya, the assassination attempts on Sugawara, and the display of Sugawara's supernatural powers also provide highly engaging materials for kabuki . The Dazaifu Shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane. University of California Press, 1979. Dover Press, 2000. Three Japanese Plays from the Traditional Theatre .