This year for #ayokaiaday we are looking at the bizarre occurrences which took place at the Ino residence in Miyoshi, Hiroshima, during July of 1749. These occurrences all revolve around a young boy named Ino Heitaro. His story is collected in Ino mononoke roku, a collection of scrolls, books, and legends which collectively form the narrative of a supernatural phenomenon that took place 270 years ago.
It was now three full weeks since Ino Heitaro’s haunting began. Pretty much anybody would need a break by now. Even with all of his bravery, surely Heitaro must be starting to crack?
Heitaro decided to read a book to clear his mind. Unfortunately, there was no way he was going to read uninterrupted…
The shadow of a person appeared on the wall in the light from his lantern. The shadow was so clearly cast that Heitaro could make out every detail. It looked like a human reading a book out loud.
Heitaro watched the shadow’s mouth and tried to read its lips, but he couldn’t make out what it was saying…
Do yokai write? Do they write books? I don’t think I would want to know what the yokai was saying… might be dangerous… or just rude!
That’s a good question. Are there yokai authors? Do they have libraries? Or do they just steal books like they do with bean cakes?