by Aoko Matsuda
“Enoki”: Chibusa no Enoki (The Breast Tree)—rakugo
With great cunning, the villain Sasashige muscles his way inside the house of Shigenobu and his devoted wife, Okise. Eventually Sasashige persuades the house servant to kill Shigenobu, and takes his place as Okise’s husband. Next he orders the servant to kill Shigenobu and Okise’s child, Mayotarō. The servant is about to throw the child into a river, but Shigenobu’s ghost steps in and saves him. The servant decides to bring the child up in secret, surviving by living next to an enoki (Chinese hackberry), rumored to produce curative milk, in Akasaka-mura in the outskirts of Tokyo.
Meanwhile Okise has a child by Sasashige, but it dies. She develops growths on her breasts, which the enoki resin temporarily cures, but her dead husband comes to her in dreams, causing her more suffering. Sasashige attempts to let the pus in Okise’s breasts by lancing them with his sword, but accidentally strikes her too deep, killing her. Sasashige goes mad and appears in Akasaka-mura where he is slayed by Mayotarō and Shigenobu’s ghost.
“Silently Burning”: Yaoya Oshichi (Oshichi the Greengrocer’s Daughter)—folk legend
In Japan, every Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine has several unique woodcut stamps, or shuin. For a small fee, worshippers can have the temple or shrine calligrapher (often one of the monks or the kannushi) print these stamps in red ink on a piece of paper, and write the name of the temple, the day of the visit, and so on around the stamped portions. People often collect these stamps in purpose-made albums called shuinchō.
“A New Recruit”: Zashiki Warashi—folk legend
The zashiki warashi is a much-loved member of the Japanese yōkai canon. A young child-spirit with a bowl cut, he or she usually takes up residence in zashiki—tatami-matted guest rooms. Although zashiki warashi have a reputation for being somewhat mischievous, they are also said to bring good luck to anyone who sees one, and to bestow fortune on the houses they reside in.
“Team Sarashina”: Momijigari (Maple Viewing)—kabuki
The kabuki version of this story, adapted from the more classical Noh play, was the first ever motion picture to be made in Japan. Out hunting deer in the mountains, the warrior Taira no Koremochi stumbles across a beautiful woman and her retinue, enjoying a banquet to celebrate maple-leaf season. The warrior tries to ride past, but the woman bids him to drink with her. She turns out to be a demon-princess called Sarashina-hime. When the man falls into a drunken sleep, Sarashina-hime goes to abandon him and curses him to never awake, but a mountain god steps in and hands Koremochi a divine sword with which to defeat the demon-princess.
“A Day Off”: Shinobiyoru Koi wa Kusemono (The Suspicious Nighttime Visitor)—kabuki
Mitsukuni, a young warrior, is exploring the ruined palace of Taira no Masakado when a sudden rainstorm forces him to take shelter in the palace, where he falls asleep. When he awakes, he finds beside him a mysterious and beautiful woman dressed like a courtesan, who confesses that she has been in love with him for a long time. Feeling suspicious, the young warrior tests her by narrating the story of Taira no Masakado’s final hours on the battlefield. The woman is unable to hold back her tears, thus revealing her true identity as Masakado’s daughter, Takiyasha no Hime. Seeing her attempt at seduction has failed, she instead asks Mitsukuni to break his allegiance to his clan and start a rebellion with her. Mitsukuni refuses and summons his warriors, but the princess easily defeats them with her magical powers, before disappearing and summoning an earthquake, from which Mitsukuni manages to escape. Finally, the princess reappears on top of a giant toad and unfurls Masakado’s battle flag.
“Having a Blast”: San Nen Me (The Third Year)—rakugo
In this tale, a dying woman makes an agreement with her husband that, should he be forced to remarry after her death, she will return to haunt him on his wedding night, thus scaring off his new bride. However, there is a hitch in the plan when she discovers she must wait three years for her hair, which has been shaved upon her death according to custom, to grow back. Without her fully grown hair, she reasons, she could not possibly be attractive to her husband.
By the time she finally appears as a ghost, her husband has given up on the idea of her ever returning, and he and his second wife have had a child.
“The Missing One”: Sarayashiki (Plate Mansion)—rakugo
This classic story tells of the beautiful Okiku, servant to a samurai. For some time Okiku’s master attempts to have his way with Okiku, but she resists his advances. Growing impatient, the master tricks Okiku into believing she has lost one of the household’s ten precious Delft plates. After counting the plates over and over, Okiku finally breaks down in tears to confess her oversight to her master, who agrees to forgive her only if she will become his mistress. When Okiku refuses, he throws her down a well to her death.
Okiku’s ghost, it is alleged, counts to nine before emitting an ear-splitting screech. Successful exorcism relies on a worldly being crying out a hearty “Ten!” when she reaches the end of her count.
“On High”: Tenshu Monogatari (The Tale of the Castle Keep)—play
This play by Kyōka Izumi follows the story of spectral Tomihime gazing down from Himeji Castle keep, where she resides with a retinue of female attendants, at the dashing falconer Zushonosuke Himekawa. When Tomihime uses her unearthly powers to capture a falcon belonging to Himekawa’s master to give to her sister Kamehime, the young Himekawa comes to the castle keep to reclaim it, and Himekawa and Tomihime fall in love.
Translator’s Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Motoyuki Shibata for all his invaluable suggestions, as well as Meena Kandasamy, Saba Ahmed, and Yuka Igarashi, from whose thoughtful and creative edits the translation has benefitted hugely. And thanks above all to Aoko Matsuda, for writing a book that was such a delight to work on, and for being a continual inspiration to me.
© Taihei Ohara
© Michael Troy Judd
AOKO MATSUDA is a writer and translator. In 2013, her debut book, Stackable, was nominated for the Yukio Mishima Prize and the Noma Literary New Face Prize. Her novella The Girl Who Is Getting Married was published by Strangers Press in the UK in 2016. In 2019, her short story “The Woman Dies” was short-listed for a Shirley Jackson Award. She has translated work by Karen Russell, Amelia Gray, and Carmen Maria Machado into Japanese.
POLLY BARTON is a translator of Japanese literature and nonfiction, currently based in Bristol, UK. Her book-length translations include Friendship for Grown-Ups by Nao-Cola Yamazaki, Mikumari by Misumi Kubo, and Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki. She has translated short stories for Words Without Borders, The White Review, and Granta. After being awarded the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize, she is currently working on a nonfiction book entitled Fifty Sounds.