A legend says, "A warlord of the Taira clan, severely injured in the Battle of Dannoura, swam for his dear life and arrived at the shore, and there he found a puddle. To relieve his thirst, he drank a mouthful of water, and found it delicious pure water. When drinking another mouthful of water, he found it to be salt water." This water is now called Heike no Ippai-mizu (a mouthful of water of the Taira clan), and a shrine stands near the spot where the pure water springs up at the beach near the monument. The water is drawn on the morning of New Year's Day, and offered as wakamizu (the first water) to the deity of Akama-jingu Shrine, dedicated to Emperor Antoku, who leaped into the sea in the Battle of Dannoura.