Japanese Folk Tale Blog

The Ghost Mother

2008-01-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

Long ago near the Temple of Six Paths lived a husband and wife who had no children. Desperate for a child, they went to pray to the Buddha of Pure Water, and at last were given a baby. Unfortunately though, the mother died from a disease that was running rampant at the time. They all mourned this tragedy but there was nothing to be done. Off they went to the nearby Tori-beh Field to cast away the body.

Not far from the Temple of Six Paths was a single candy store. The owner of the candystore was trying to rest when he heard a rapping noise on the door.

As he came to the dirt floor of the entranceway and called out to his visitor, he saw there a pale woman who he had never seen before.

"Some candy, please," said the woman, who had come to buy some sweets. Handing over a coin she took the candy and drifted off without a word.

The same thing happened again for a few nights. When the owner went to take the coin, the woman's hand would feel as cold as ice... Feeling ill at ease, the owner decided one night to follow after the woman as she left the store, walking over towards Tori-beh Field. He felt even more ill at ease, and the hairs on his neck stood up on end.

He was thinking of turning back, but had decided to go on for just a bit more, when out from the field of dead bodies came the crying of a baby. The candy store owner stood there for a while unable to move, then, crying, "This is too much!" he ran to hide in the Temple of Six Paths. He told the priest there what had happened, who replied, "Well there's nothing we can do until it's light," and so the candy store owner went on home.

The next morning, people gathered from around and went together with the priest to Tori-beh Field. There they found the body of a woman who although had been dead for some time had a face that almost looked alive, and in both arms was holding a baby. The baby was sleeping soundly, nestled in its mother's arms.

And in the mouth of that sleeping baby was a jelly candy. The mother had given birth in the place her body was discarded, and had somehow raised the child by having it lick the jelly candies.

The woman's sorrow at having to die despite having prayed so hard for the baby to be born turned her into a ghost that did its best to raise the child.

All of the people gathered there were filled with pity.

The son was thereafter raised by its father, and after he grew up he began to work in the temple, and after joining the priesthood he held a ceremony to commemorate his mother, and later became the high priest of the temple.

And that's the end of this story.

Unauthorized translation of the Kyoto folk tale「子育て幽霊のおはなし」
from pp 25-30「鬼のうろつく京の都へ」川部節子・谷口哲子編　文芸社 2007年

The Temple of Thirty-Three Doors

2008-01-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

Long ago, a samurai called Yoshikatsu Miurahantaror was travelling through the Kumano mountains of present-day Wakayama.

There was a large crowd of people huddled noisily around a tall willow tree.

"What's everyone talking about?" asked a person nearby.

"His Lordship's falcon got its leg rope caught on a branch of that big willow and can't get down," replied another.

"The tree is so tall that no one can climb up to help the bird, so they're thinking about cutting it down," added a third.

"Cut down such a lovely tree?" thought Yoshikatsu, and he took out the bow and arrows that he had been carrying, picked his target, and with a twang of the bow he let fly an arrow.

The arrow spectacularly cut right through the leg rope of the falcon, which swooped down unharmed onto the arm of its master.

A few days had passed since then when one night a beautiful woman appeared before Yoshikatsu.

The woman soon began taking care of Yoshikatsu, and the two became husband and wife, having between them a healthy baby boy and living together happily each day.

One night, however, the woman looked sadly at Yoshikatsu and began to tell him the following.

"The truth is that I am the willow tree from Kumano that you saved that day. I have stayed by your side to repay you for your kindness, but this evening I have no choice but to leave you. A temple is to be built on East Mountain in Kyoto, and I shall be used as the ridge beam. Please take good care of our little child."

Saying only that, the woman disappeared like smoke before Yoshikatsu's eyes. It was all too much for Yoshikatsu to even cry. All that he could do was to just sit there unmoving for days on end.

Eventually, the tree was able to be cut down just as the woman had said. Hearing this, woodcutters turned out in droves to help cut down the big tree.

But this big willow tree was not going to be cut down in only two or three days. Woodcutters leaving at night would say, "We'll continue tomorrow," but when they turned up in the morning the cuts in the tree had all healed over as if the trunk had never been touched. Day after day the same thing happened.

At midnight, a fearsome wind would come up, sending all the bits of timber floating back up and settling firmly back in the parts of the tree where they had been cut from. And so no matter how many days they took, the tree would not be cut down.

The foreman of the woodcutters, concerned about how they might ever fell the tree, went to pray to the Kumano Buddha, and one night after this the foreman received a revelation in a dream.

"Keep a fire burning near where you work, and as soon as you cut off timber, feed it to the fire. Just keep burning up all the timber you cut and you'll be fine."

So they started a fire and threw in any and all timber that they cut down, and before long the tree was finally felled.

Then, just as it came time to load into a cart to be taken to the city, another strange thing happened. No matter how many people tried and no matter how hard they tried, the tree would not move an inch.

Yoshikatsu heard about this and sped off towards Kumano with his son. Once there, he placed his hand atop the felled tree and started speaking kindly to it.

After he did so, the tree, which had not moved an in inch before, became as easy to move as a piece of deadwood. The willow tree arrived safely in Kyoto and the magnificent Temple of Thirty-Three Doors was completed in East Mountain.

Yoshikatsu later became a priest and was posted to the Temple of the Thirty-three Doors, where he conducted the Buddhist ceremonies with enthusiasm for the willow tree that had become the temple's ridge beam.

And that's the end of this story.

Unauthorized translation of the Kyoto folk tale「三十三間堂の大棟木のおはなし」
from pp 19-24「鬼のうろつく京の都へ」川部節子・谷口哲子編　文芸社 2007年

The Demon of Rajor Gate

2008-01-08T18:23:00.001-08:00

A long time ago there was a demon that would appear at Rajor Gate. This was just after the Emperor had ordered a man called Raikor Minamoto to rid the land of the demons that lived in nearby Deepwell Mountain. Among Minamoto's men was a fellow called 'Rope' Watanabe, who did not believe in this demon of Rajor Gate.

"We already got rid of every last demon up in Deepwell Mountain," said Rope. This story about a demon appearing at Rajor gate now is nothing more than a rumour."

But people remained afraid, so one rainy night Rope went out to Rajor Gate to check whether or not the demon would really appear.

A man of great courage, Rope waited calmly at Rajor Gate. Yet no matter how long Rope waited, the demon did not appear.

Just as he scoffed at the nonsense of the rumour and was getting on his horse to leave, a young and pretty lady came passing by on the road.

"I am trying to get home to downtown Kyoto but it is dark and I am quite scared," said the lady. "Would you help me, please?"

"No doubt that you are scared - a lady walking by herself at this hour!" replied Rope. Feeling sorry for the young lady he began to help her up into the saddle of his horse, when what should happen but the lady before him was no longer a lady but a big, terrifying demon!

"So," smiled Rope, "you must be the demon they've all been talking about! Well, now that I know, I'm not letting you get away!"

In one swift move, Rope drew out his broadsword and cut down on the demon's arm.

The demon let out a tremendous howl.

"Look!" it wailed. "You've cut off my arm! I will let you keep it for just seven days, but be sure that I will come back to claim it!" With that, the demon disappeared.

Rope carried the demon's arm back to his manor, where he was greeted with cheers of delight.

"Hoorah!" cried someone. "He's done it! So there was a demon after all!"

"And what a demon it was!" said another, peering excitedly at the severed arm, which was covered in needle-like hair.

Rope put away the demon's arm in a sturdy box and bolted the manor gate. He stuck a sign on the door reading "Ritual Fasting - No Visitors Please", and chanted a prayer that would help keep evil beings away. Six days passed without anything happening.

Then on the seventh evening, Rope's old aunt from a distant Osaka village came calling on her nephew at the front gate. But she saw the "Ritual Fasting" sign on the front gate and was not let into the manor.

"Oh dear," sighed the old woman. "To think I've come all this way to check on my darling nephew for nothing."

As she began to cry, Rope felt sorry for his aunt, and decided to let her into the manor house. Asked about the "Ritual Fasting" sign, Rope began to tell everything about the demon.　

"Perhaps you might let me have just a peek..." asked the old lady, and when Rope opened up the lid of the box containing the demon's arm, she exclaimed "My, what a rare thing!"

At that very moment, the aunt grabbed the arm and before Rope knew it she had transformed into the demon, smashed through the ceiling and quick as a flash had bounded off into the distance.

Rope, who had been scared enough to fall over, scrambled to wave around his broadsword, but by then the demon was nowhere to be seen.

What a horrible thought - that the demon of Rajor Gate might come after you in the form of your old aunt!

And that's the end of this tale.

Unauthorized translation of the Kyoto folk tale「羅城門の鬼のおはなし」
from pp 10-15「鬼のうろつく京の都へ」川部節子・谷口哲子編　文芸社 2007年