Traditional Japanese Ghost Story: Oiwa

四谷怪談

One of Japan’s most well known ghost stories is Yotsuya Kaidan or Oiwa. This story was first told in the form of a Kabuki play in 1825. The story that is told today bears little resemblance to the original story. However the basic elements have remained the same. This story is about a female ghost who seeks revenge.

This version of the story is faithful to the original.

This story begins with a murder. Tamiya Iemon (iemon), an unemployed ronin—a samarai who has lost his masters favor—is married to a loving, devoted wife, Oiwa. 

He kills his father-in-law because this man has found out about Iemon’s evil past deeds. Oiwa trusts her husband so she believes him when he comforts her and tells her he will help find her father’s murderer.

No longer a samarai Iemon is forced to make a living as an oilpaper umbrella maker in order to support his young wife and baby. His lowered circumstances and the fact he is becoming bored with his marriage cause him to resent his young wife who he had at one time loved.

At this point, Iemon’s wealthy neighbor lures him into an evil scheme. The neighbor knows his granddaughter loves Iemon so he mentions to Iemon that if he were not married he could marry his beautiful granddaughter and have all her wealth. 

Iemon wanting the granddaughter and her wealth devises a plan to murder Oiwa. Once again devoted to her husband Oiwa is blind to her husband’s evil nature.

Iemon gives Oiwa a medicine he states will strengthen her but it is actually poison. Iemon watches coldly as the poison disfigures his wife—her eye droops and big chunks of her hair start to fall out. He is disappointed that she does not die. When Oiwa sees herself in a mirror for the first time she is completely undone by her disfigurement. 

This combined with the fact that she now knows her husband has tried to murder her is more then she can bear—her knowledge of his betrayal causes her to die of a broken heart.

When Iemon discovers Oiwa’s faithful servant, Kobote Kohei knows what he has done he accuses him of theft and arranges for someone to kill him. He then has Kohei and Oiwa’s bodies strapped to two sides of a wooden door and thrown into a river.

Without a care for what he has done Iemon plans for his new marriage. To his horror on his wedding day as Iemon lifts his new brides veil he sees Oiwa’s disfigured face. He instantly beheads her with his sword only to discover he has killed his new young bride. 

Terrified, he flees to the neighbors’ house to tell him what he has done but before he can confess Kohei’s ghost confronts him. Iemon slashes at this ghost with his sword only to find he has killed his new father-in-law.

From then on everywhere that Iemon goes Oiwa’s vengeful spirit pursues him. He even sees her disfigured face reflected in the lanterns that light his way. 

Seeking escape he travels to the mountains where he goes fishing but instead of catching fish he hooks the door that holds Kohei and Oiwa’s corpses. He then runs to a cabin where the vines turn into snakes and the smoke from the fire turns into Oiwa’s hair.

At his wit’s end Iemon flees the cabin only to run into Oiwa’s brother who kills him--finally all his evil deeds are avenged.

In Japan, a female ghost that seeks revenge is known as an “onryo.” Oiwa just like Okiku, another Japanese ghost story I wrote about here, wears the white burial kimono and has long ragged hair. But what sets Oiwa’s ghost apart from all the rest of the onryos is she has a drooping right eye and she is partially bald-- both caused by the poison.

Yotsuya Kaidan when first staged in the Bunsei era was popular because it was a time when women in Japanese society were severely repressed. 

Oiwa’s character went from a sweet trusting victim to a powerful avenger and the evil Iemon transformed from the tormentor to the tormented which the female audiences appreciated.