In Japanese folklore, Kiyohime transforms into a dragon after her love is rejected.
The story of Kiyohime appears in the legend of the priest Anchin and the woman Kiyohime. Kiyohime falls passionately in love with Anchin, but he avoids her and eventually flees. Her anger and grief become supernatural, and she changes into a great serpent or dragon.
Kiyohime pursues Anchin to Dōjō-ji temple, where he hides inside the temple bell. In the best-known version, she coils around the bell and burns him inside it. The legend became a famous subject for Japanese Noh and kabuki theater.
Kiyohime’s story is often linked with Dōjō-ji’s bell, but it is not a creation myth about a sea dragon. The transformation represents destructive obsession and is distinct from the benevolent water-associated dragon figures found elsewhere in Japanese tradition.