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UNCLE HAYATOS

GHOST STORIES

Japanese Tales of Mystery and Horror

By

H. Tokugawa

SHISEI-D PUBLICATIONS,Tajimi, Gifu, Japan

Copyright 2009 by H. Tokugawa and Shisei-D Publications. All rightsreserved.

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DEDICATION

For Aoi Tokugawa, my wife, my muse, andhunter of ghosts.

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The Secret of Iidamachi Pond

It was not so long ago, in the first year ofBunkiu(which is 1861 1864 by the moderncalendar), that there lived in the district of

Kojimachiin Kasumigaseki,1

a man namedYehara Keisuke. Yehara was hatomoto; that is,he was a direct vassal and sometimes advisor tothe Shgun himself; and therefore, a man towhom some respect was due. I must tell youalso that it was not just because of his position

1 Kasumigaseki (, or , literally Fort of Fog) isa district in Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo. It is now the locationof most of Japans cabinet ministry offices.

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that Yehara was respected; he was also liked forthe kindness of his heart and for the general

fairness he showed in dealing with all people.Now, there was also another hatomoto who

happened to live nearby in Iidamachi, namedHayashi Hayato, and he had been married toYeharas sister for almost five years. They werea remarkably happy couple; their four year-olddaughter was the happiness of their lives.

Even though the cottage they lived in wasrather dilapidated in the eyes of many people,Hayashi took great pride in it; for it was his own;not rented or loaned from someone else. Thehouse had a beautiful pond in front of it, andalso on the property, which comprised almost200 acres, there were two busy farms. This wassuch a fortunate circumstance for Hayashi, for

he was thus able to live without working toohard and thus had the time to do things whichbrought him pleasure. In the summer, he fishedfor carp; in the winter, he spent his time writing,for he as considered locally to be somewhat of apoet.

As our story begins, it was spring andHayashi had just completed planting his rice

and sato-imoor sweet potatoes. With thesetasks completed, he found he had little to do, sohe spent most of his time with his wife, fishingin is ponds; one of which contained large suppon(turtles) as well as koi(carp). That seemed like apretty nice life indeed; however as we all know,something was bound to go astray.

One fine morning, Yehara received a surprisevisit from his sister, Hayashis wife, Okom. Ihave come, dear brother, she began tearfully,

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to beg you to help me to obtain a divorce frommy husband.

Yehara was stunned. Divorce? What?Howhowhow is this possible? hestammered, which was something quite out ofcharacter for our esteemed hatomoto. Whywould you possibly want a divorce? How is thispossible? Have you not always said that youwere happy with your husband, my dear friendHayashi? Why do you make this suddenrequest? For what sudden reason do you ask fora divorce? Remember, you have been marriednow for five years. That is sufficient time, by thelaws, to prove that your life has been happy andthat Hayashi has indeed treated you well.

At first Okom tried to explain; but in truth,as she went on, she could not give any good

reason as to why she wished to be separatedfrom her husband; however, she at last said,Brother, please do not think that Hayashi hasbeen unkind. His is everything that can becalled kind and we deeply love each other; yet,as you know, Hayashis family has owned theland and the farms, including the one on ofwhich we live, for some three hundred years.

Nothing could ever induce him to move to anyother place, and I would never have wished himto do so until some twelve days past.

What could possibly have happened withinthe last twelve days: asked Yehara.

Dear brother, I can not stand it any longer,was her desperate reply. Up until twelve daysago, all has gone so well; but then a terriblething has happened. On a warm and darkevening, twelve days past, I was sitting outside

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our house, looking up a the clouds as theypassed over the moon, at the same time talking

to my daughter. Suddenly, there appearedbefore me, as though walking on the lilies of thepond, a white figure. Oh, it was so white, andwet, so very wet! And so miserable to look at! Itseemed to rise from the pond and then to floatupon the air toward me; approaching slowly,until it was perhaps only ten feet away. As itdrew near, my daughter cried out, Why mother!There comes Osumi! Do you know Osumi?

I answered her that I did not think so; buttruthfully, I was so frightened I hardly knowwhat I said. The figure was horrible to look at.It was that of a girl, perhaps of eighteen ornineteen years, with unkempt hair that washanging loose, over wet, white shoulders.

Help me! Please help me! cried the ghastlyfigure.I was so frightened that I covered my eyes

and screamed for my husband who was inside.He ran out and found me in a dead faint, withmy child at my side, in a state of terror. Hayashisaid nothing, but carried us both in and shutthe doors. Then he told me that I must have

been dreaming. Perhaps, he addedsarcastically, you saw the kappa2 that is said todwell in pond, but which no one of my familyhas seen for over one hundred years. That wasall that my husband said on the subject.

2Kapa (?) or river child are legendary creatures, a

type of water sprite or elf-like creature found in Japanesefolklore. In Shint, they are regarded as one of many typesof water gods.

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But the next night however, when I was inbed, my daughter grabbed my suddenly, crying

out, terror stricken. Osumithere is Osumi!Oh, mother! She looks horrible! Mother!Mother! Do you see here?

I did see her, standing not three feet from mybed, dripping wet. The ghostly whiteness, thewetness, and her disheveled hair truly gave her ahorrifying appearance!

Help me! Help me! cried the phantomwoman; and then she disappeared.

After that I could not sleep at all, nor could Iget my child to do so. Now, every night, theghost has come: Osumi! I will kill myself if Ihave to remain any longer in that house! Myhusband does not see the ghost and laughs atme! That is why I see no other way out of this

difficulty but to divorce.Yehara sat in silence for a long time,thinking. Then he told his sister that the nextday, he would visit Hayashi; and on the verynext day, Yehara did call on Hayashi. Afterhearing what his visitor had to say, Hayashispoke, all the time shaking his head, It is sovery strange. I was born in this house almost

thirty years ago; but never, ever, have I seen theghost to which my wife refers. I have neverheard of it; not even the slightest allusion hasever been made to it by my honored father ormother. Thank you for telling me, my old friend.I will make inquiries of all my servants and theneighbors as well, and try to make some sense ofthis. I will find out, once and for all, if they haveever heard of the ghost or even of anyone thathas come to a unexpected and unfortunate end.

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There must be something to it; that much isobvious. It is impossible that my little girl would

know the name Sumi, having never knownanyone bearing such a person's name.

To be sure, inquiries were made;nevertheless, Hayashi could learn nothing fromthe servants or from the neighbors. He reasonedthat, the ghost being ways wet, draining thebeautiful pond in front of his house mightpossibly solve the mystery. Perhaps somewherein its depths lay the remains of some poor,murdered person, whose bones demanded adecent burial and for prayers to be said overthem.

Now the pond was very old and very deep;covered with water plants and to his memory, ithad never been emptied. Family tradition said

that the pond contained a kappa. Well, if therewas a kappa, Hayashi would hate to disturbhim; but in any case, there were many turtles inthe pond, the capture of which would certainlymake up the cost of draining and replacing thewater. And so the bank of the pond wasbreached and the next day all that remained ofthe pond was a dark pool at what had been the

deepest part. Hayashi had all but decided todrain even this and then to dig into the mud thatlay below when at that very moment, hisgrandmother arrived. She was an old woman ofsome years, perhaps over eighty but still of clearmind, and she said, You need not go on furtherwith this. I can tell you all about the ghost.Osumi does not rest and it is quite true that herghost appears. I am so very sorry about it, nowthat I am in my old age; for it was my fault. The

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sin is mine. Listen to me now and I will tell youeverything.

Everyone stood silent; astonished at thesewords, waiting for the secret that was about tobe revealed.

The old woman continued with her story:When Hayashi Hayato, your grandfather, wasalive, we had a beautiful servant girl whose agewas seventeen. Her name was Osumi. Yourgrandfather fell in love with this girl and alsowith him. I was at that time about thirty and Iwas oh so jealous; for, my youth and good lookshad passed away. One day, when yourgrandfather was away from home, I took Sumi3

to the pond and gave her a severe beating. Itwas during the struggle that she fell into thewater and became entwined in the weeds. I left

her there. I walked away, fully believing that thewater was shallow and that she could get herselfout. Nevertheless, she did not and wasdrowned.

When your grandfather returned, he foundthe dead girl. In those days, the police were notvery particular with their inquires. The girl wasburied; nothing more was said to me, and the

matter was eventually forgotten.Fourteen days ago was the fiftieth

anniversary of this tragedy. Perhaps for thatreason, the ghost of Sumi has been appearing;for, appear she must have, or your child couldnot have possibly known her name. It must beas your child says, and the first time sheappeared, Sumi revealed her name.

3 The prefix O is added to a womans name as an honorific; thus, the

ghost is referred to here as both Osumi and Sumi.

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By then the old woman was shaking terriblywith fear. Still, she had the presence of mind to

tell all who were present to say prayers atOsumis tomb. This was done that very day, andthe ghost has never been seen again.

Of the matter, Hayashi later said, ThoughI am samurai, and have read many books, Inever before believed in ghosts: until now!

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