Tonight’s story is an amusing one, and it also offers a glimpse into what life was like for the elite samurai in Edo — a life of politics and diplomacy. During the Edo period, the shogun kept control over his vassals with a clever system of hostage taking. Every lord was required to keep an estate in Edo, and their wife and children resided there as hostages. The cost of upkeep for a lavish estate, plus staff, in Edo as well as their estate back in their home province was a drain on resources. This system ensured that nobody could rebel effectively against the shogun. And it also allowed for situations like the one in tonight’s story, in which several lords gather to gossip about the situation in their estates.

This story is especially interesting, not just for the punchline, but for the drawing of the kappa that appears in Mimibukuro. Here it is:

In fact, that’s not the only version. Since books were copied by hand, the pictures were often copied by hand, and quality could vary by the artist. Here are two other versions of the kappa from other copies of Mimibukuro:

The quality gradually degrades, just like with the gradual evolution of mermaids on my mermaid poster based on Edo period mermaid drawings.

The Kappa

In August of the first year of Tenmei (1781), in Sendai-gashi at the estate of Lord Date, someone witnessed a kappa being beaten to death and preserved in salt. The witness’s story was made into a picture, which was then brought to me by Lord Matsumoto of Izu when he visited. Upon investigation, the following was revealed:

A young child at that estate drowned for no apparent reason. Due to the suspicious nature, a section of the canal was blocked off and drained dry. Then, something emerged from the mud, with an agility as swift as the wind. They finally managed to shoot it down with a rifle.

Lord Magaribuchi of Kai was also there, and he said:

“Long ago, someone showed me what they claimed was a picture of a kappa, and it was identical in every detail to this picture brought by Lord Izu.”

Tonight’s story is rather creepy, for more than one reason. The obvious reason is the creepy ikiryō smiling at Jindayū’s wife Oichi. Yikes! But the other reason is this hazing ritual described in the story.

The term “hazing” is the closest way I could translate this strange tradition/ritual that I only learned about after reading this story. The tradition is called “uwanari uchi” and it means “beating the second wife.” This custom went on from the Heian period through the early Edo period, and it occurred when a husband divorced his first wife and married another. The former wife would send notice to the house of the new wife, and then she would come over and beat her up. The notice would say something like “Prepare yourself accordingly; we shall arrive on such-and-such date to carry out the beating.” Then, on the appointed day, a group of attendants, guards, maidservants, etc. would arrive at the new wife’s residence armed with bamboo swords, burst in through the kitchen, and start beating people, breaking items, damaging property, and so on.

That alone is pretty terrifying, but made even worse when the one doing the beating is a spirit who can curse you with a touch!

The Hazing of Matsuzakaya Jindayū’s Wife

In the Nakadachiuri area of Kyōto’s Muromachi lived a rich widow. She had no children, so she had adopted her younger sister’s daughter and raised her. The child grew into a woman of beautiful features, and men from all over fell in love with her.

In that neighborhood lived a man named Matsuzakaya Jindayū. His wife was a deeply jealous woman, and whenever Jindayū went out she had someone follow him. Jindayū found this so bothersome that he divorced her. After that, he called for the widow’s daughter, and before long she became pregnant. When she was staying in the maternity house, on the seventh night after her child was born, she heard the door to the maternity house slide open and shut twice. The wife, whose name was Oichi, was puzzled by this and went to see. There stood a woman of eighteen or nineteen years, wearing a white kimono with a white obi, her hair loose and disheveled, with thin eyebrows. The woman seemed to be grinning at Oichi, but it was most certainly a hate-filled glare.

Oichi was startled. She screamed and fainted. The others were alarmed and called out to her, trying to wake her, and she gradually came to her senses.

Thirty days passed and the woman again came to Oichi’s bedside and said, “That day we met for the first time. Truly you are a despicable person, and I have come to express my resentment.”

Then she struck Oichi on the back hard and disappeared. From that moment Oichi fell ill, and she eventually passed away. This was a manifestation of the first wife’s jealousy.

Today’s story exemplifies some of Edo period Japan’s cherished ideals. The character is a poor peddler, yet he shows both bravery and filial piety — two traits usually considered to be very “samurai” in spirit. As a reward, he becomes rich and gets to care for his beloved parents in the best way possible. Not all yokai stories are as moralizing as this one, although plenty are. But it is nice to have a happy ending once in a while, and not just tragic death like last night’s story!

How Attachment to Money Became a Strange Light in Tsu, Ise Province

In a place called Ieshiro Village in Tsu, Ise Province, there was a house in which a monster lived, and which had stood vacant for some thirty years. Long ago, the couple who lived in this house both died from a sudden illness, and because they had no children, their family died out.

Sometimes strange lights would appear, while sometimes fires would ignite. And other times male and female voices could be heard saying, “This is your fault!” and “No, this is your fault, and I am suffering for it!” and things like that.

One time a peddler from Kyōto, around twenty years old, came to this place. When the locals told him about the apparitions, the peddler said, “Tonight I will go and see this monster for myself.”

The locals told him, “That’s pointless. Even the samurai from here could not endure a single night there and fled.”

The peddler’s parents were both still living. He was a pious son who had been supporting them as a traveling merchant since the age of eleven, yet he was poor and things did not usually go the way he wished. However, he was an experienced man, and so he said, “In any case, I will go and see this monster. In this world, there are no monsters except those in our hearts.”

That night he went to the house and, as expected, right at the hour of the rat (around midnight) two balls of fire arose out of the well and lit up the inside of the house. It was too terrifying to describe in words. After that, an elderly couple with snow-white hair appeared and said to the peddler:

“We are the masters of this house. We died together, due to a sudden illness, but we stashed a great amount of gold and silver in this well. Our souls are attached to this money, and so we cannot float up to heaven but have been trapped in the space between worlds for over thirty years. If someone were to live in this house, we would tell this to them, and ask them to perform our funeral; however, everyone is too scared to come close. You have a brave heart, and on top of that you love your parents, so we give this money to you. Take good care of your parents, and also perform a funeral for us. This coming August 5th will be the 33rd anniversary of our deaths.”

Then they vanished into thin air.

The peddler rejoiced, and when he looked inside the well he saw countless gold and silver coins. He drew it all up, and with that money he built a temple on the house’s estate, hired a priest, and held a splendid funeral. From then on, the strange lights never appeared again.

Afterwards, the peddler returned to his parents in Kyōto with the remainder of the money, and cared for them as his heart desired.

Everybody was moved by the peddler’s actions, and said that this was all possible thanks to his filial piety.

Hello readers!

Today is October 1st, and that means two things:

1) My Kickstarter is live! Check it out here, and remember that if you pledge today you get a free metal yokai pin badge as an early bird reward! We’ve already had an amazing launch day so far, so thank you to everyone who has already joined!

2) It’s time for A-Yokai-A-Day, my annual tradition going back to 2009, where I paint and introduce one yokai every day to celebrate Halloween month (the best month of the year)!

If you’re new to A-Yokai-A-Day, you can read the archives here on my blog. For the past three years, I have been translating Shokoku hyakumonogatari (One Hundred Stories from Various Provinces), an edo period collection of 100 ghost stories, during A-Yokai-A-Day. You can catch yourself up and read the first 93 stories here: part 1, part 2, part 3.

If you did the math, you’ll know that there are only 7 stories left in Shokoku hyakumonogatari. Once those are done, I will move on to sharing selected stories from Mimibukuro (Ear Bag). Mimibukuro is a collection of stories from all around Japan heard by a samurai who was working on Sado Island in the Edo period. He collected 1000 stories in many volumes. Not all of them are ghost/yokai stories, but many are, and I will be picking out tales from those. If you enjoy these stories, remember there are years of A-Yokai-A-Day to comb through, so please check them out!

So! Before we move on to today’s story and the start of A-Yokai-A-Day, I will do one last Kickstarter plug! If you like the style of stories found in A-Yokai-A-Day, then you will absolutely want to check out my Kickstarter! Unlike my previous 5 books, which are all encyclopedic in style, Echizen-Wakasa Kidan is a collection of translated tales, just like Shokoku hyakumonogatari. Backers will get to have their name printed in the book as a thank you for making this project come to life. And we have some amazing and unique traditional Japanese crafts on offer as well. I hope you’ll join!

Ok, now on to today’s story!

How Kurita Saemon-no-suke’s Wife Died and Came Back to Wrestle

In the household of the lord of Kaga lived a samurai named Kurita Saemon-no-suke who held a fief of 800 koku. His wife was the daughter of another retainer within the same household and renowned for her beauty, however, she suffered from tuberculosis and died. Saemon-no-suke was overcome with grief, and lived for three years without taking a new wife, but then his relatives came by and strongly pressured him to remarry. They introduced him to the seventeen year old daughter of Nitta Rokurōbei from Owari, a samurai of 500 koku.

Thirty days passed, and Saemon-no-suke was placed on watch duty at the castle. His new wife was reclining by the kotatsu when an eighteen or nineteen year old girl wearing a white kimono with circular patterns on it and a silk kerchief approached her bed. The girl said to the wife, “You there, what are you doing here?”

The wife was surprised, and she replied, “Who are you to speak to me in such a manner?”

“I am the lady of this house,” replied the girl.

Hearing this, the wife replied, “I know nothing about that, for I was only recently married into this house. Your anger is quite justified. However, Lord Saemon-no-suke’s actions are unbecoming of a samurai. To have a wife as beautiful as you and then to take another wife is extremely infuriating. I believe Lord Saemon-no-suke will return early tomorrow morning, however, as we are both women, please allow me enough time to speak with him on this matter.”

“Take as much time as you need, and then return to your family. Well now, I am satisfied,” said the woman. Then she turned to leave and vanished into thin air.

When Saemon-no-suke returned from the castle, his wife said, “Please grant me a divorce.”

“What would make you say this all of a sudden! Tell me what happened,” he said.

“My lord, you have done something unbecoming of a samurai. You married me while you already had a lawful wife. It is such a dirty thing to do! Please grant me a divorce this instant,” she begged.

Saemon-no-suke replied, “I have no idea what you are talking about. As I told you when we first met, my wife died three years ago, and since then I have had no other wife except for you!”

He swore to this firmly. Then, his wife told him everything about the woman who appeared the previous night.

Hearing this, Saemon-no-suke said, “Well now, that must have been the ghost of my wife who died three years ago. There can be no other explanation. Upon this I will stake my life. Therefore, you must stay here. I will not grant you a divorce.”

His word was final, and the wife had no choice but to stay.

Later, on a night when Saemon-no-suke was watching the castle again, the first wife returned and said, “Well, well. Even though you made a firm promise before, you have not returned to your family. How bitterly I resent you!”

The wife replied, “My lady, you are no longer part of this world. Why do you remain so deeply attached to this world? You must return to your own world.”

The first wife replied, “If you refuse to go back to your family, then let us wrestle for it. If you lose, you will return to your family. If I lose, I will never come here again.”

No sooner had she spoken than she leapt forward. The wife said, “I’m ready!” and met her challenge. As they wrestled, pushing and shoving, Saemon-no-suke returned, and the ghost vanished into thin air.

After that, when Saemon-no-suke was on watch duty, the ghost came to wrestle the wife five times. The wife was deeply distressed by this. She began to lose weight and grew thin, then she fell ill and before long she died.

In her final moments she turned to Saemon-no-suke and said, “The ghost who first came to me in secret, and then appeared over and over again to torment me… I was so afraid of it, but I resolved to endure, because I pledged my life to you upon our marriage. Now I die like this. Please give me a nice funeral. Don’t tell my parents about this.”

Saying this, she passed away. Saemon-no-suke grieved for her, and held a funeral. He wrote a farewell letter and sent it to her parents, then he became a monk, and traveled throughout the country practicing Buddhist teachings.