In a remote mountain village of Northern Japan, the inhabitants suffer from a severe drought while, just above the village, a river cascades freely. A young Tokyo scholar uncovers a local legend which holds that the river has its source in a haunted pond wherein the Dragon God is sealed. Each day, a sacred bell is rung to prevent the pond from releasing its angry demons and washing away the town. As the day of the young man's visit turns to night, supernatural beings assemble in the magic forest surrounding the Demon Pond; a change is about to occur in the status of this simple village.... Demon Pond is an extraordinary experience in the world where illusion and reality are fused. This sense is enhanced by the presence of the famed Kabuki onnagata (female impersonator) Tamasaburo Bando in dual roles, as the delicate beauty, Yuri, wife of the village bell-ringer; and as Princess Shirayuki, the embodiment of the Dragon God, willful, proud, and determined to be released. Masahiro Shinoda has filmed this exquisite fable as a form of cinematic Kabuki, mixing intense colors of azure, amber and vermillion, awesome location shooting, and stylishly staged netherworld sets and costumes (the demons--Carp, Crab, Catfish et al--are all enacted). Even the "real" people seem to move about the screenspace in the measured, halting theatrical tradition, stopping now and then for the mie (characteristic pose) of Kabuki.