6 ‘For the time of seven existences’ – that is to say, for the time of seven successive lives. In Japanese drama and romance it is not uncommon to represent a father as disowning his child ‘for the time of seven lives’. Such a disowning is called shichi-shō madé no mandō, a disinheritance for seven lives – signifying that in six future lives after the present the erring son or daughter will continue to feel the parental displeasure.
7 The profession is not yet extinct. The ninsomi uses a kind of magnifying glass (or magnifying-mirror sometimes), called tengankyō or ninsomégané.
8 The color and form of the dress, and the style of wearing the hair, are by Japanese custom regulated according to the age of the woman.
9 The forms of speech used by the samurai, and other superior classes, differed considerably from those of the popular idiom; but these differences could not be effectively rendered into English.
10 The Japanese word mamori has significations at least as numerous as those attaching to our own term ‘amulet’. It would be impossible, in a mere footnote, even to suggest the variety of Japanese religious objects to which the name is given. In this instance, the mamori is a very small image, probably enclosed in a miniature shrine of lacquer-work or metal, over which a silk cover is drawn. Such little images were often worn by samurai on the person. I was recently shown a miniature figure of Kwannon,6 in an iron case, which had been carried by an officer through the Satsuma war.7 He observed, with good reason, that it had probably saved his life; for it had stopped a bullet of which the dent was plainly visible.
11 From shiryō, a ghost, and yokeru, to exclude. The Japanese have two kinds of ghosts proper in their folklore: the spirits of the dead, shiryō; and the spirits of the living, ikiryō. A house or a person may be haunted by an ikiryō as well as by a shiryō.
12 A special service – accompanying offerings of food, etc., to those dead having no living relatives or friends to care for them – is thus termed. In this case, however, the service would be of a particular and exceptional kind.
13 The name would be more correctly written Uhō-Darani-Kyō. It is the Japanese pronunciation of the title of a very short sutra translated out of Sanscrit into Chinese by the Indian priest Amoghavajra, probably during the eighth century. The Chinese text contains transliterations of some mysterious Sanscrit words – apparently talismanic words – like those to be seen in Kern’s translation of the Saddharma-Pundarika, ch. xxvi.8
14 O-fuda is the general name given to religious texts used as charms or talismans. They are sometimes stamped or burned upon wood, but more commonly written or printed upon narrow strips of paper. O-fuda are pasted above house-entrances, on the walls of rooms, upon tablets placed in household shrines, etc., etc. Some kinds are worn about the person; others are made into pellets, and swallowed as spiritual medicine. The text of the larger o-fuda is often accompanied by curious pictures or symbolic illustrations.
15 According to the old Japanese way of counting time, this yatsudoki or eighth hour was the same as our two o’clock in the morning. Each Japanese hour was equal to two European hours, so that there were only six hours instead of our twelve; and these six hours were counted backwards in the order, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4. Thus the ninth hour corresponded to our midday, or midnight; half-past nine to our one o’clock; eight to our two o’clock. Two o’clock in the morning, also called ‘the Hour of the Ox’, was the Japanese hour of ghosts and goblins.
16 En-netsu or Shō-netsu (Sanscrit ‘Tapana’) is the sixth of the Eight Hot Hells of Japanese Buddhism. One day of life in this hell is equal in duration to thousands (some say millions) of human years.
17 The Male and Female principles of the universe, the Active and Passive forces of Nature. Yusai refers here to the old Chinese nature-philosophy – better known to Western readers by the name FENG-SHUI.
INGWA-BANASHI
1 Yaë-zakura, yaë-no-sakura, a variety of Japanese cherry-tree that bears double-blossoms.
2 In Japanese poetry and proverbial phraseology, the physical beauty of a woman is compared to the cherry-flower; while feminine moral beauty is compared to the plum-flower.
3 In ancient Japanese time, the Hour of the Ox was the special hour of ghosts. It began at 2 A.M., and lasted until 4 A.M. – for the old Japanese hour was double the length of the modern hour. The Hour of the Tiger began at 4 A.M.
A LEGEND OF FUGEN-BOSATSU
1 The priest’s desire was probably inspired by the promises recorded in the chapter entitled ‘The Encouragement of Samantabhadra’ (see Kern’s translation of the Saddharma Pundarîka in the Sacred Books of the East, pp. 433–434): ‘Then the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Samantabhadra said to the Lord: … “When a preacher who applies himself to this Dharmaparyâya shall take a walk, then, O Lord, will I mount a white elephant with six tusks, and betake myself to the place where that preacher is walking, in order to protect this Dharmaparyâya. And when that preacher, applying himself to this Dharmaparyâya, forgets, be it but a single word or syllable, then will I mount the white elephant with six tusks, and show my face to that preacher, and repeat this entire Dharmaparyâya.” – But these promises refer to “the end of time”.’
2 The kyōsoku is a kind of padded arm-rest, or arm-stool, upon which the priest leans one arm while reading. The use of such an arm-rest is not confined, however, to the Buddhist clergy.
3 A yujō, in old days, was a singing-girl as well as a courtesan. The term ‘Yujō-no-Chōja’, in this case, would mean simply ‘the first (or best) of yujō.’
4 Mitarai. Mitarai (or mitarashi) is the name especially given to the water-tanks, or water-fonts – of stone or bronze – placed before Shintō shrines in order that the worshipper may purify his lips and hands before making prayer. Buddhist tanks are not so named.
THE CORPSE-RIDER
1 Tatsu no Koku, or the Hour of the Dragon, by old Japanese time, began at about eight o’clock in the morning.
2 Inyōshi, a professor or master of the science of in-yō – the old Chinese nature-philosophy, based upon the theory of a male and a female principle pervading the universe.
THE SYMPATHY OF BENTEN
1 The word tanjō (birth) should here be understood in its mystical Buddhist meaning of new life or rebirth, rather than in the western signification of birth.
2 Tanzaku is the name given to the long strips or ribbons of paper, usually colored, upon which poems are written perpendicularly. Poems written upon tanzaku are suspended to trees in flower, to wind-bells, to any beautiful object in which the poet has found an inspiration.
3 It is difficult for the inexperienced European eye to distinguish in Chinese or Japanese writing those characteristics implied by our term ‘hand’ – in the sense of individual style. But the Japanese scholar never forgets the peculiarities of a handwriting once seen; and he can even guess at the approximate age of the writer. Chinese and Japanese authors claim that the color (quality) of the ink used tells something of the character of the writer. As every person grounds or prepares his or her own ink, the deeper and clearer black would at least indicate something of personal carefulness and of the sense of beauty.
4 There are many kinds of religious exercises called mairi. The performer of a nanuka-mairi pledges himself to pray at a certain temple every day for seven days in succession.
5 The term chigo usually means the page of a noble household, especially an Imperial page. The chigo who appears in this story is of course a supernatural being – the court-messenger of the Goddess, and her mouthpiece.
6 Gekkawō. This is a poetical appellation for the God of Marriage, more usually known as Musubi-no-kami. Throughout this story there is an interesting mingling of Shintō and Buddhist ideas.
7 As it is the old Japanese rule that parents should speak depreciatingly of their children’s accomplishments the phrase ‘rather well’ in this connection would mean, for the visitor, ‘wonderfully well’. For the same reason the expressions ‘common way’ and ‘ordinary nature’, as subsequently used, would
imply almost the reverse of the literal meaning.
THE GRATITUDE OF THE SAMÉBITO
1 The Long Bridge of Séta (Séta-no-Naga-Hashi), famous in Japanese legend, is nearly eight hundred feet in length, and commands a beautiful view. This bridge crosses the waters of the Setagawa near the junction of the stream with Lake Biwa. Ishiyamadera, one of the most picturesque Buddhist temples in Japan, is situated within a short distance from the bridge.
2 Literally, ‘a Shark-Person’, but in this story the Samébito is a male. The characters for Samébito can also be read Kōjin – which is the usual reading. In dictionaries the word is loosely rendered by ‘merman’ or ‘mermaid’; but as the above description shows, the Samébito or Kōjin of the Far East is a conception having little in common with the Western idea of a merman or mermaid.
3 Ryūgū is also the name given to the whole of that fairy-realm beneath the sea which figures in so many Japanese legends.
4 Tama in the original. This word tama has a multitude of meanings; and as here used it is quite as indefinite as our own terms ‘jewel’, ‘gem’, or ‘precious stone’. Indeed, it is more indefinite, for it signifies also a bead of coral, a ball of crystal, a polished stone attached to a hairpin, etc., etc. Later on, however, I venture to render it by ‘ruby’ – for reasons which need no explanation.
OF A PROMISE KEPT
1 Related in the Ugétsu Monogatari.2
2 One of the old poetical names for the Province of Izumo, or Unshū.
3 A ri is about equal to two and a half English miles.
OF A PROMISE BROKEN
1 Izumo legend.
2 A game resembling draughts, but much more complicated.
BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT
1 Sambō (Ratnatraya) – the Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Priesthood.
2 He reigned during the second quarter of the eighth century.
3 ‘Golden Plum-Flower’.
4 The Shaba-world (Sahaloka), in common parlance, signifies the world of men – the region of human existence.
THE STORY OF KWASHIN KOJI
1 Related in the curious old book Yasō-Kidan.2
2 The period of Tenshō lasted from 1573 to 1591 (A. D.). The death of the great captain, Oda Nobunaga,3 who figures in this story, occurred in 1582.
3 Oguri Sōtan was a great religious artist who flourished in the early part of the fifteenth century. He became a Buddhist priest in the later years of his life.
4 The term ‘bowl’ would better indicate the kind of vessel to which the story-teller refers. Some of the so-called cups, used on festival occasions, were very large – shallow lacquered basins capable of holding considerably more than a quart. To empty one of the largest size, at a draught, was considered to be no small feat.
THE STORY OF UMÉTSU CHŪBEI
1 Related in the Bukkyō-Hyakkwa-Zenshō.2
2 Ujigami is the title given to the tutelary Shintō divinity of a parish or district. All persons living in that parish or district, and assisting in the maintenance of the temple (miya) of the deity, are called Ujiko.
THE LEGEND OF YUREI-DAKI
1 The exclamation Oi! is used to call the attention of a person: it is the Japanese equivalent for such English exclamations as ‘Halloa!’ ‘Ho, there!’ etc.
IN A CUP OF TEA
1 The armed attendant of a samurai was thus called. The relation of the wakatō to the samurai was that of squire to knight.
2 The shorter of the two swords carried by samurai. The longer sword was called katana.
IKIRYŌ
1 An Ikiryō is seen only by the person haunted. For another illustration of this curious belief, see the paper entitled ‘The Stone Buddha’ in my Out of the East, p. 171.
THE STORY OF O-KAMÉ
1 The Japanese dead are placed in a sitting posture in the coffin, which is almost square in form.
THE STORY OF CHŪGORŌ
1 The ashigaru were the lowest class of retainers in military service.
THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HŌÏCHI
1 See my Kottō, for a description of these curious crabs.
2 Or, Simonoséki. The town is also known by the name of Bakkan.
3 The biwa, a kind of four-stringed lute, is chiefly used in musical recitative. Formerly the professional minstrels who recited the Heiké-Monogatari,3 and other tragical histories, were called biwa-hōshi, or ‘lute-priests’. The origin of this appellation is not clear; but it is possible that it may have been suggested by the fact that ‘lute-priests’, as well as blind shampooers, had their heads shaven, like Buddhist priests. The biwa is played with a kind of plectrum, called bachi, usually made of horn.
4 A respectful term, signifying the opening of a gate. It was used by samurai when calling to the guards on duty at a lord’s gate for admission.
5 Or the phrase might be rendered, ‘for the pity of that part is the deepest’. The Japanese word for pity in the original text is awaré.
6 ‘Traveling incognito’ is at least the meaning of the original phrase – ‘making a disguised august-journey’ (shinobi no go-ryokō).
7 The Smaller Pragña-Pâramitâ-Hridaya-Sûtra is thus called in Japanese. Both the smaller and larger sûtras called Pragña-Pâramitâ (‘Transcendent Wisdom’) have been translated by the late Professor Max Müller, and can be found in volume xlix of the Sacred Books of the East (‘Buddhist Mahâyâna Sûtras’).6 Apropos of the magical use of the text, as described in this story, it is worth remarking that the subject of the sûtra is the Doctrine of the Emptiness of Forms – that is to say, of the unreal character of all phenomena or noumena … ‘Form is emptiness; and emptiness is form. Emptiness is not different from form; form is not different from emptiness. What is form – that is emptiness. What is emptiness – that is form … Perception, name, concept, and knowledge, are also emptiness … There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. But when the envelopment of consciousness has been annihilated, then he [the seeker] becomes free from all fear, and beyond the reach of change, enjoying final Nirvâna.’
JIKININKI
1 Literally, a man-eating goblin. The Japanese narrator gives also the Sanscrit term, ‘Râkshasa’; but this word is quite as vague as jikininki, since there are many kinds of Râkshasas. Apparently the word jikininki signifies here one of the Baramon-Rasetsu-Gaki – forming the twenty-sixth class of pretas enumerated in the old Buddhist books.
2 A Ségaki-service is a special Buddhist service performed on behalf of beings supposed to have entered into the condition of gaki (pretas), or hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, see my Japanese Miscellany.
3 Literally, ‘five-circle [or “five-zone”] stone’. A funeral monument consisting of five parts superimposed – each a different form – symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth.
MUJINA
1 O-jochū (‘honourable damsel’) – a polite form of address used in speaking to a young lady whom one does not know.
2 Soba is a preparation of buckwheat, somewhat resembling vermicelli.
ROKURO-KUBI
1 The period of Eikyō lasted from 1429 to 1441.
2 The upper robe of a Buddhist priest is thus called.
3 A sort of little fireplace, contrived in the floor of a room, is thus described. The ro is usually a square shallow cavity, lined with metal and half-filled with ashes, in which charcoal is lighted.
4 A present made to friends or to the household on returning from a journey is thus called. Ordinarily, of course, the miyagé consists of something produced in the locality to which the journey has been made: this is the point of Kwairyō’s jest.
YUKI-ONNA
1 That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square.
2 This name, signifying ‘Snow’, is not uncommon. On the subject of Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled Shadowings.
THE STORY OF AOYAGI
1 The name signifies ‘Green Willow’; though rarely met with, it is still in use.
2 The poem may be read in two ways; several of the phrases having a double meaning. But the art of its construction would need considerable space to explain, and could scarcely interest the Western reader. The meaning which Tomotada desired to convey might be thus expressed: ‘While journeying to visit my mother, I met with a being lovely as a flower; and for the sake of that lovely person, I am passing the day here … Fair one, wherefore that dawnlike blush before the hour of dawn? – can it mean that you love me?’
3 Another reading is possible; but this one gives the significance of the answer intended.
4 So the Japanese story-teller would have us believe – although the verses seem commonplace in translation. I have tried to give only their general meaning: an effective literal translation would require some scholarship.
Japanese Ghost Stories Page 26