During the 10th century, according to legend, there was a blind man called Semimaru who was famed as a biwa (lute) player. Tiring of the stresses of Kyoto life, he moved outside the city and lived by himself in a small house.

The aristocratic poet Minamoto no Hiromasa was a great lover of biwa music, and went to Semimaru's house, hoping to be accepted as a student (deshi). Semimaru turned him away. Hiromasa then returned the next day, and every day thereafter. Rebuffed each time, he would stand outside the house and listen to the master play, and then go and practice what he had heard. Finally, after three years of this, Semimaru relented and took Hiromasa as a deshi.

This story is handed down in many variant forms in different sources. It is not certain who Semimaru was, or if he ever really lived, though one of the poems in the "Hyakunin Isshu (100 Poems by 100 Poets)" compilation of classic waka is attributed to him. The story, however, encapsulates a number of particularly Japanese attitudes toward learning, and what you should be prepared to go through in order to do so. The master's knowledge is a treasure not to be lightly revealed to the mere idly curious. If it's worth knowing, it's worth working for and worth waiting for.