Mystery Timeline｜1603–1867
The era when Toriyama Sekien's yokai paintings and ghost stories such as Yotsuya Kaidan flourished, and countless yokai were depicted in art and tales.
A ghost-cat story set in the Nabeshima household of the Saga domain. To avenge the mother of a retainer killed by the lord, her pet cat becomes a bakeneko and torments him. It was a huge hit in late Edo-period storytelling and kabuki, and is counted first among Japan's three great ghost-cat disturbances.
A tale of a vengeful spirit set in Hanyu Village, Shimousa Province (today's Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture), in the Edo period. The spirit of Kasane, murdered by her husband, haunted two generations until the high priest Yuten Shonin laid it to rest. It is also known from the rakugo epic Shinkei Kasanegafuchi.
A mysterious figure who appeared at the courts of 18th-century Europe. He spoke several languages, was versed in alchemy, and was rumored never to age. Records say he died in 1784, but sightings continued to be told afterward, and he became legendary as an "immortal man" and "time traveler."
One of the "Seven Wonders of Honjo," ghost stories of Honjo in Edo (today's Sumida, Tokyo). When anglers tried to take home fish caught in the moat, a voice from the water said "Leave it, leave it," and the fish vanished. It is said to be the origin of the Japanese expression "oitekebori" (being left behind).
The folk belief that people who suddenly vanish have been taken by gods, tengu or mountain spirits. Many stories tell of people returning years later, and records are found throughout Japan.
A ghost story set in Bancho, Edo. Okiku, a maid in a samurai mansion, was killed for breaking a treasured plate and thrown into a well, and from then on a voice counting plates was heard from the well every night. It is one of Japan's most famous ghost stories.
Japan's most famous ghost story, told in the Edo-period kabuki play Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan. Betrayed by her husband Iemon and poisoned so that her face is disfigured, Oiwa returns as a vengeful ghost. It is said that a curse falls on productions whose members do not first visit the shrine dedicated to Oiwa.
