Yurei Attack!: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide
Page 4
Keeping a novelty chonmage wig like this one handy may just save you from Isora’s wrath!
Sexy & Scary: 06
ORUI
Sexy & Scary: 06
ORUI
Name in Japanese: お累
Origin: A true story known as Kasane-ga-fuchi (“The Depths of Kasane”)
Gender: Female
Date of death: 164 7
Age of death: 32 (Estimated)
Cause of death: Murder by drowning
Distinctive features: Left side of face disfigured
Place of internment: Unknown
Location of haunting: Joso City (Ibaragi Prefecture)
Form of Attack: Haunting, causing of illness, possession
Existence: Based in part on a true story
Threat Level: High
Claim to Fame
This epic tale of murder and betrayal spanning sixty years and three generations is more “possession” than “haunting,” but it is all the more chilling for being based on an actual crime. The tale of Kasanega-fuchi is considered a bookend to that of the Yotsuya Kaidan (p.16), as Orui’s disfigurement is on the opposite side of the face as Oiwa’s.
In fact, spoken or staged performances of Orui’s story are traditionally never held on the same day as those of Yotsuya Kaidan. Although their origins are different (Orui’s being natural, as you will see, while Oiwa’s was caused by poison), the opposing disfigurements resemble each other so closely that bringing the two together creates a potentially dangerous symmetry for both performer and audience alike. Or so they say.
The Story
… begins in 1612, when a farmer by the name of Yoemon marries Sugi, a young widow with a little boy named Suké. Born with deformities from face to foot all down the left side of his body, Suké’s presence grated on Yoemon, who was never really “father material” to begin with. So one fine spring morning after the snowmelt, he kicked the young boy into a raging stream. Yoemon swore it was an accident, a lie that those around him chose to believe. (In fact, some speculate that Sugi actually collaborated with Yoemon out of fear he would leave her.)
But you can’t fool karma. When Yoemon and Sugi conceived their own child several years later, she was born with the exact same facial deformity and withered limbs as Suké. Although they named her Orui, villagers whispered of the evildoings that must have brought about such a strange fate. They began calling the child Kasane, an alternate reading of the same kanji-character, which means “double trouble.”
Yoemon and Sugi died while Orui was still quite young, leaving her the home and their meager savings. Yet her handicaps made it difficult to find a husband, and she lived alone for many years. One day, a drifter by the name of Yagoro wound up on her doorstep, virtually collapsing into her arms from the many maladies that beset even young men in an era before hospitals or real medicines. Orui dutifully nursed him back to health, and the grateful Yagoro married her in thanks for her generosity. It must have seemed a dream come true for Orui.
But the good times wouldn’t last. Yagoro quickly regretted his decision to marry and schemed with his mistress to get rid of Orui once and for all. Late in the summer of 1647, in a virtual replay of what had happened to her half-brother, Yagoro pushed Orui into a fast-moving river† to drown.
Yagoro married his mistress, but soon after tying the knot she took to her sickbed and died. He met and married again, with the same result. And again. And again. Eventually, his final wife died in childbirth, leaving him a daughter, Kiku.
The Attack
The problems began one December in 1672, when Kiku, now grown and married, fell ill and began speaking in a voice not her own. The voice claimed to be Orui, offering up a detailed account of how Yagoro had caused her death, and vowing to torment Kiku until given a proper funeral ceremony. A monk by the name of Yuten — a man we’ll be reading more about in chapter six (p.164) — happened to hear of the story and arrived to perform the requested rites. But no sooner had he drawn the spirit from her body than she fell ill again. Yuten probed Kiku for information, and discovered that she was inhabited by the restless soul of Suké as well. Connecting the dots between the two murders in a psychic version of a detective story, Yuten managed to guide the little boy’s spirit to the afterlife.
Of what happened to Yagoro, no record remains — but given his evil deeds, one can assume the remainder of his life — and presumably afterlife — were anything but pleasant.
Surviving an Encounter
If you’ve gotten yourself involved in a sordid tale of betrayal like this, chances are you’re beyond any help this book can give you. For the rest of us, the ghosts of Orui and Suké were content to make their own sad stories known and are no longer considered a threat. Rule of thumb for restless spirits: consult your local temple. And pray that an exorcist-monk as sharp as Yuten is on duty.
Trivia Notes
In 1957, director Nobuo Nakagawa filmed a version of Orui’s story called Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi (“The Horror of Kasane Swamp”). It is based, however, on an old rakugo (spoken word) dramatization that bears little resemblance to the original story. In this version of the tale, the ghost of a blind masseuse killed by a samurai lures his murderer to his death in Kasane swamp, seemingly avenging himself. But when the masseuse’s orphaned daughter Orui unwittingly falls in love with the samurai’s son years later, the cycle of death begins anew.
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† Rivers are well-known haunts for spirits of various kinds. See also Ukai Kansaku (p. 85). Also see Kappa and the Azuki-Arai, in Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide.
CHAPTER TWO
Furious Phantoms
TAIRA NO MASAKADO
SUGAWARA NO MICHIZANE
EMPEROR SUTOKU
KOHADA KOHEIJI
SAKURA SOGORO
MORINAGA SHINOH
HIIMI-SAMA
The “Onryo” are ghosts driven by righteous anger. Pray you don’t chance into any of these fellows: they represent some of the most dangerous spirits to stalk the islands of Japan.
Furious Phantoms: 07
TAIRA NO MASAKADO
Furious Phantoms: 07
TAIRA NO MASAKADO
Name in Japanese: 平将門
Gender: Male
Date of Death: March, 940
Age at death: Roughly 37
Cause of death: Killed in battle
Type of ghost: Onryo
Distinctive features: Generally speaking, Masakado’s ghost does not physically manifest
Place of internment: Tokyo
Location of haunting: Tokyo
Form of Attack: Death, disaster, and misfortune
Existence: Historical fact
Threat Level: Extremely High
Claim To Fame
One of Tokyo’s most famous ghosts is that of a man many consider to be Japan’s very first samurai. Decapitated on the battlefield, his disembodied head refused to die and took on a life of its own — something like a reverse Headless Horseman. In a testament to the power his name still holds over people, Masakado’s shrine occupies some of the choicest real estate in the city today, surrounded by gleaming modern skyscrapers a five-minute walk from the Imperial Palace. Even now, none dare attempt to reclaim this land from Masakado. He is the prototypical onryo — angry spirit.
The Story
A minor but successful warlord, Masakado’s ambitions put him at odds with the Imperial government of Kyoto. Establishing an independent kingdom in the Kanto region, he proclaimed himself the “new Emperor of all Japan.” In response, the existing government — run, of course, by the “old” Emperor, who was none too thrilled by the prospect of sharing power — quickly placed a bounty on the warrior’s head.
Within two months Masakado was dead, felled by an arrow between the eyes during a ferocious battle. The emperor’s men decapitated the corpse and carried the head to Kyoto for a public showing.
Infuriated at the insult of being removed from its bo
dy, Masakado’s head took to the skies over Kyoto and returned to the Kanto region in a frantic quest for its missing body. Desperate to make itself whole and fight another day, the head of the Japanese samurai searched far and wide to no avail.
Finally spent from the fruitless effort, the severed head crashed from the sky over a tiny fishing village called Edo (which would centuries later grow into the metropolis of Tokyo). It came to rest on a plot of land known forever after as Masakado no Kubizuka (The Hill of Masakado’s Head). Terrified villagers washed the head, buried it and erected a memorial stone to appease its fury. Generations thereafter tended to it as a symbol of anti-authoritarian power.
The Attack
Over the centuries, a great many calamities have been ascribed to Masakado’s influence. Some of the most recent make up a “greatest hits” list of sorts.
When the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed much of the city, Tokyo’s Ministry of Finance took the opportunity to level the Hill of Masakado’s Head, filling in the pond where the Japanese samurai’s head was supposedly washed and erecting a temporary office building on the spot. Within two years some 14 employees had died, felled by accidents, illnesses, and other misfortunes — including the Minister of Finance himself. In the meantime, a spate of inexplicable injuries broke out among the other employees, many to the feet and legs. Mounting fear of treading upon the cursed ground led officials to raze the building and rebuild the hill after holding a Shinto ritual to soothe the angry spirit. Thereafter, the government held a small service in its honor every year, until the outbreak of World War II, which drew the government’s attention to other things, and the ceremonies eventually lapsed.
In 1940, the thousand-year anniversary of the warlord’s death, lightning struck the Ministry of Finance, touching off a fire that destroyed much of the structure adjacent to Masakado’s hill. In response, the latest Minister of Finance (undoubtedly moved by the fate of his predecessor) sponsored an extravagant ceremony to appease Masakado’s angry soul once again, erecting a stone memorial that stands on the site to this very day.
But the story doesn’t end there. When the American forces took control of Japan after the war, they tried to raze the shrine to build a motor pool for military vehicles. During construction, a bulldozer inexplicably flipped over, killing the driver. A string of other accidents combined with pleas from local officials convinced the Americans to cancel the project, and Masakado once again enjoyed peace and quiet, and still does today.
Surviving an Encounter
Masakado may be as potent a force today as he was on the battlefield a thousand years ago, but one thing is for sure: like a true samurai, he never launches an unprovoked attack. His fury is inevitably focused upon those who fail to pay proper respect to his final resting place. Bottom line: think twice before attempting to drive a bulldozer over it.
Perhaps because of his penchant for only lashing out at those who strike against his resting place, Masakado’s presence certainly isn’t viewed as a negative by locals. He is seen as a guardian of Tokyo — someone who might return one day to protect the city in times of danger.
All in the Family
Understandably upset, Masakado’s daughter, the Princess Takiyasha, visited Kifune Shrine to place a curse upon those who had killed her father. The request was apparently a success, for one of Japan’s most famous woodblock prints depicts her conjuring forth the skeletal yokai known as O-dokuro to terrorize the man responsible for her father’s death. (For more about curses, see p.140).
The skeleton conjoured up by Princess Takiyasha— Utagawa Kuniyoshi, (1798 - 1861)
Heading Home
With all of this talk about his head, whatever happened to Masakado’s body? According to one legend, it went running around to look for its head!
Supposedly it ended up collapsing at the site of what is now Kanda Myojin Shrine, located in the Otemachi section of Tokyo. Every May, the Kanda-Myojin Matsuri festival is held in his honor. So if you’d like to make the acquaintance of Japan's first samurai, feel free to drop by!
Trivia
• It’s a common misconception that all of the desks in the surrounding skyscrapers are arranged to face Masakado’s shrine. While the burial plot is meticulously maintained, outside of its borders Tokyoites go about their daily business as usual.
• Lone among the ghosts profiled in this book, Taira no Masakado actually has his own bank account. Opened at the nearby Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank, it’s used by the volunteer organization that maintains the shrine.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Masakado’s head turns out to have been quite a shrewd real estate speculator. In a 1970 article, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper estimated the value of the plot of land upon which Masakado’s grave sits at just under two hundred million yen, which is close to $2.5 million American dollars at the 2011 exchange rate. It hasn’t been officially appraised in recent years, but given the prices in the surrounding area it must be many, many times that figure today.
It is believed to have fallen on the site of what is now Kanda Myojin Shrine, located in present-day Otemachi. Masakado may have been a traitor to Kyoto, but he was a hero to Tokyo. Every May, the Kanda-Myojin Matsuri festival is held in his honor. If you’d like to make the acquaintance of Japan’s first samurai — or at least his body — feel free to drop by!
Furious Phantoms: 08
SUGAWARA NO MICHIZANE
Furious Phantoms: 08
SUGAWARA NO MICHIZANE
Name in Japanese: 菅原道真
Gender: Male
a.k.a. Sugawara no Michizane; Tenman Daijizai Tenjin (after death); Kan Shojo
Date of Death: March 26, 903
Age at death: 57
Cause of death: Starvation
Type of ghost: Onryo
Distinctive features: Generally speaking, Michizane’s ghost does not physically manifest itself.
Place of internment: Fukuoka, Kyushu
Location of haunting: Heiankyo (Kyoto)
Form of Attack: Causing plagues, droughts, other unpleasantness; Bolts from the blue
Existence: Historical
Threat Level: High
Claim to Fame:
A serious political operator turned angry ghost, hell-bent on avenging his mistreatment at the hands of the Imperial family.
In life, Michizane was a highly intelligent, artistically inclined scholar. (According to one account, he once wrote twenty complete poems on twenty entirely different subjects while eating supper.) Quickly rising through the ranks, he attracted the attention of then- Emperor Uda, giving his career a serious boost. Before long, he had climbed the ladder almost as far as a bureaucrat could climb, attaining influential positions including Udaijin (“Minister of the Right,” essentially a Secretary of State), ambassador to T’ang era China, and Assistant Master of the Crown Prince’s Household, among others. But while his future seemed assured, in reality storm clouds were brewing on the horizon.
The Michizane Incident
The imperial court burned many official records concerning Michizane in an attempt to obscure the connection to his furious spirit. The details of what came many years later to be known as the “Michizane Incident” must necessarily be pieced together from a variety of secondhand accounts.
Overwhelmed by his responsibilities, Uda abdicated the throne in 897, stripping Michizane of his former influence. Far less qualified people from families better connected to the new emperor were promoted, while the talented and loyal Michizane slid into undeserved irrelevance. Demoted, slandered, and accused of crimes he didn’t commit, Michizane was banished to distant Kyushu in 901.
Michizane soldiered on and continued to compose poetry, but had been reduced to abject poverty. He succumbed to malnutrition in the early spring of 903. Upon hearing word of his demise, his rivals must have patted themselves on the back for a job well done. Only Michizane wasn’t done. The attacks began that very year.
The Attacks
A partial list of tatari (attacks) officially attributed to Michizane, by year
903 TORRENTIAL RAINS ALL YEAR LONG
905 DROUGHT
906 FLOODS
907 BAD FLOODS
910 TERRIBLE FLOODS
911 FLOODS OF THE SORT THAT SWALLOW ENTIRE VILLAGES
912 LARGE FIRE IN HEIANKYO
913 DEATH OF MICHIZANE’S RIVAL
914 MORE FIRES IN HEIANKYO
915 OUTBREAK OF CHICKEN POX
918 FLOODS SO HORRIFIC WE HAD BEST NOT SAY ANY MORE
922 WHOOPING COUGH OUTBREAK
923 UNTIMELY DEATH OF EMPEROR’S SON, THE CROWN PRINCE, AT AGE 21
925 UNTIMELY DEATH OF LATE CROWN PRINCE’S INFANT SON
930 BOLT OF LIGHTING FALLS WITHIN PALACE WALLS, KILLING NUMEROUS IMPERIAL OFFICIALS. EMPEROR DAIGO COLLAPSES FROM SHOCK. DIES THREE MONTHS LATER.
Surviving An Encounter
Ever read the Bible? Remember the bit about the plagues Moses’ God brought down upon the Egyptians? Similar thing here. You are in serious trouble. There is nothing the average individual can do to stem the mayhem, other than packing their bags and leaving town at the first hint of bad weather or outbreak of illness. Not exactly a realistic option.
If you happen to be the Emperor of Japan, on the other hand, it’s another story. Appeasing a spirit of this magnitude requires major — almost infrastructural — measures. In this particular case, defusing the spirit’s fury required the Imperial court not only to posthumously reinstate Michizane’s former titles, but to underwrite the construction of an opulent memorial to his memory: the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine.