The Cursed Laughing Buddha

A middle-aged couple, the Lamberts were on a cruise ship headed for Asia in 1928. Their first stop was Japan. Mrs. Lambert fell in love with an old statuette in one Kobe junk shop window. The couple was pleasantly surprised to discover it was priced reasonably.

Kobe Japan 1920s

The shopkeeper told them that it was a Laughing Buddha or Ho-tei. It was the Japanese god for good luck, especially for travelers. But by the end of their voyage the Lamberts would discover this would not be true for them.

The shopkeeper told them that Ho-tei had been a Buddhist monk in the 6^th century who spent his life helping the poor and caring for children. He later was made a god.

Two ivory Laughing Buddhas.

The Lamberts admired the finely carved statue. It was old, made of creamy ivory and was of a half-naked fat man sitting on a cushion. They discovered a small ivory plugged hole at the bottom.

The statue had the figure of a child clinging to its back. The shop owner told them that many Laughing Buddhas had “children” on their backs.

This was because of a legend that stated Ho-tei had once carried a child to safety across a flooded river. 

The couple happily bought the statue and went on their way. Back on the ship Marie Lambert wrapped the statue carefully and placed it in one of her suitcases.

Soon after the couple began to be plagued by fevers and toothaches. At two separate ports in Australia, Marie and then her husband C. J. sought out dentists to ease their pain—but once ashore their pain was mysteriously gone.

Once back onboard their toothaches resumed. Marie pulled out the statue one evening to show a fellow traveller who admired the fine workmanship.

He had lived in Japan, and he told them that St. Christopher, which is used by westerners as a good luck charm and for travel protection, might have originated from Ho-tei.

On their way back to their home in London the Lambert's stopped in the states to visit Marie’s mother. This woman also admired the ivory statuette. Marie then gave it to her as a gift.

But within hours her mother suffered a toothache and she gave the statue back to the couple stating it had not brought her good luck.

This is when the couple made the connection between their toothaches and the old statue. Each time the statue had been in their cabin onboard ship they had become ill but when the suitcase it was in had been removed to the ship’s storage they had recovered.

While they had been ashore in Australia—they had been away from this suitcase so their toothaches had disappeared.

On board another ship headed for London, Marie wanted to throw the statue overboard but C. J. stopped her stating that they best not for all their teeth might rot.

Home in London, the couple took the statue to an Asian antique dealer. Admiring the statue he offered to pay them more than what they had paid but they refused stating they just wanted to get rid of the statue—but were afraid to destroy it.

After hearing the Lambert’s stories of painful toothaches and fevers this man called in an old Japanese friend.

The two examined the statue and discovered the plugged hole on the base. Several days later this dealer requested the Lambert's stop by his store at their convenience.

As they entered his store they noticed the Ho-tei had a place of honor on one counter. In fact, it looked like a shrine. There were lit joss sticks in front of it.

Laughing Buddha Shrine

He told the couple what his friend had told him. This Ho-tei was probably used as a temple god. The two men had discovered a small medallion inside the statue.

These medallions where placed in Laughing Buddha statues in order to give them a “soul.” This meant this statue just needed to be treated with reverence.

He pointed out the shrine. He then bowed down. He told the skeptical couple with proper care this statue would no longer be a threat.

Kwaidan: The Black Hair

This is a traditional story "kwaidan"—a Japanese ghost story—that Lafcadio Hearn shared in one of his books entitled Kwaidan.

Hearn’s history is shared here, along with another Yurei (ghost) story he collected.

The Japanese ghost story I share here-- The Black Hair is the original—this story is re-told in the modern-day film Kwaidan.

There was an impoverished samurai who lived in the capital city. His fortune changed when a foreign lord summoned him into service.

The Black Hair

The samurai gladly accepted his offer, but instead of taking his wife of many years with him, he abandoned her and took another woman he desired with him.

Many years later, the samurai, no longer in the service of the lord, returned to the capital city.

The samurai found himself longing for his old wife. One night at midnight, he returned to the old house, where he had lived with her.

In the autumn moonlight, he saw the gate to his old home was ajar. He went in and saw his wife sitting silently by herself.

To his joy, she expressed no resentment or bitterness toward him for his ill use of her. Instead, she greeted him with happiness.

The film version.

The samurai, now overwhelmed with gratitude, swore to her he would never leave her again. He said nothing could part them in the future.

Pleased with the happiness he now saw in her eyes, the samurai embraced his wife, and the two fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Bright sunlight awoke the samurai the next morning. He saw the house was more run-down than it had appeared in the moonlight.

He looked down at his wife, who was still lying in his embrace. To his horror, he found he was holding a corpse where only bits of flesh still clung to the bones.

The skull was wrapped in long black hair.

The samurai leaped to his feet and rushed to the neighbor’s house.

He asked, “What happened to the woman who lived next door?”

They told him, “She was abandoned by her husband many years ago. She died just last summer from an illness, brought on by her sorrow at this loss.”

Since there was no one to care for her or give her a funeral, her body remained where she had died.

A traditional Japanese belief is if a dead person is not given a proper funeral with respect after they die—they often return as a Yurei to seek revenge.

Japanese Ghost: Funa Yurei

The ghosts that have appeared in Japanese folklore since the Edo Period are much scarier entities than the ghosts portrayed in the western world. The main reason for this is Japanese ghosts often return to exact revenge or even kill the living.

One such ghost in Japan known as Funa Yurei often appears in Japanese ghost stories. This ghost is a water spirit, which is not surprising since Japan is an island nation.

Funa Yurei is said to be the souls of people shipwrecked and lost at sea in the past. They like most ghosts in Japan are depicted as female as opposed to male.

They are believed to be very bitter and wrathful toward the living--they rise up from the bottom of the sea to attack boats and ships.

Their goal is to take the souls of the unsuspecting sailors to increase their own numbers--for it is said once killed by this female ghost a man’s soul then becomes a Funa Yurei.

Japanese sailors are extra cautious during stormy weather, foggy nights and rainy days or during a new or full moon for it during these times that the Funa Yurei appears.

Their powers allow them to transform and appear as another ship--the name Funa Yurei translated means Ghost Ship.

This ghost ship overcomes other ships or boats by heading straight for them. When the panicked crew turns their vessel to avoid this collision, their boats run aground or capsize. Then all onboard are lost.

Sailors can see this ghost ship even at night for it glows.

Funa Yurei often would lure their victims further out to sea. In olden days the Japanese would set bonfires along the shore to help seaman find their way home, but it is said the Funa Yurei would trick these sailors.

They too would light a fire, but on the open sea which would mislead the sailors to where they would wreck and drown.

Another way the Funa Yurei would trick sailors is by appearing as one of them and requesting a container of water. They would board the unsuspecting ship or boat and request a container that holds water--such as a barrel or ladle known as a hisyaka.

Whatever they did they must not give this container to the spirit for the Funa Yurei would then flip it over and water would magically begin to spill out and wouldn’t stop until it sank the vessel.

Sailors were also cautioned that these spirits could prey upon their emotions.

Stories about the Funa Yurei were told in each Kuni or province of Japan. So there are many legends connected to how to drive the Funa Yurei away--or fool them.

One way to mislead these spirits was to have at least one container on board ship that had a hole in the bottom so it would not hold water. This belief was so strong that even today vendors in Japan carry ladles with holes drilled in them to trick the Funa Yurei.

A general belief was if a ship should see a Funa Yurei ship approach they should stand their ground--not swerve away. For if they did this, the ghost ship would just pass right through them.

Another belief was that they should just stop and stare at the ghost vessel for a while.

Yet another way to outmaneuver these water spirits was to stir the sea with a stick.

Offerings especially food was considered a significant deterrent--for it was said the Funa Yurei like most ghosts are hungry, so they would accept food as opposed to the men’s souls.

It was also believed that things could be thrown into the sea to stop the Funa Yurei. Depending upon the Japanese province, these items included: flowers, washed rice, incense, burnt wood, ashes, water, summer beans, and woven mats.

Here is a link to an excellent site Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, which has translated Japanese ghost stories. This is just one of many stories told about the Funa Yurei.

Japanese Ghosts in the Arizona Desert

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that deported tens of thousands of Japanese-American citizens into internment camps located in the western U.S.

Poston

One of these camps called Poston was located on the Colorado River Indian Reservation that extents across the Arizona-California border. This reservation is the home for 4 Native American nations--the Mohave, Hopi, Nu Wu, and Navajo.

Between May and August of 1942, 17,876 Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes and were put on trains that relocated them to this reservation.

For the next 4 years these internees--mostly from the temperate California coast-- had to adjust to life in the desert. They endured sweltering hot summers, freezing winters and a constant barrage of dust and wind.

Many lived in barracks but some lived in homes they built themselves--with wood supplied by the government. Most reflected traditional Asian architecture-- pagoda style.

The Japanese endeavored to keep their lives as normal as possible. They grew community vegetable gardens and built a movie theatre. Bands and orchestras were formed and babies were born.

Japanese family in barracks at Poston.
Originally published 1943, LA Times

Others died. A Japanese cemetery was established at Parker--the largest town on the reservation.

In 1946, when these Japanese-Americans were finally released some families had their deceased loved ones disinterred and returned to the their homes. Others remain in this cemetery.

Most of the homes constructed by the internees were torn down and the lumber was given to the Native Americans. A few of these homes were left standing and they were offered to families on the reservation that wanted them. *

The families that moved in immediately knew these homes were haunted.

Doors would open and close without cause. Lights turned on and off at all hours of the day and night. One family saw a kitchen chair push away from the table and then move back as if someone had sat down with them.

Several residents mentioned they saw “shimmering human outlines” drifting through various rooms only to disappear through walls.

Many families were awakened by crashing silverware and rattling plates in the middle of the night. Others heard phantom footsteps and stomping throughout the day and night.

Yet others heard the sounds of voices, whispers and babies crying. One family constantly heard a woman shouting in one corner of their home.

These strange disturbances did not frighten the families that lived in these homes. They were more concerned because they understood the suffering that had been endured in the internment camp.

Native Americans are taught to respect spirits so when they encountered these Japanese spirits they knew they meant no harm. **

Excerpts taken from:

* Dan Asfar, Ghost Stories of Arizona and New Mexico.

** Antonio Garcez, American Indian Ghost Stories of the Southwest

Pearl Harbor: The Ghost of the USS Arizona

The USS Arizona has been a tomb ever since the morning of December 7th. 

When this ship was bombed and sunk, 1,177 crew members perished with her, making it the most significant loss of life on any United States warship in American history. 

On this date in 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into the Second World War. 

Today the USS Arizona rests in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor off Oahu, Hawaii, as a tribute to all those who died.

Sunk

Forward Magazine Explode

The USS Arizona was based along with seven other battleships in Pearl Harbor's "battleship row," its shallow waters ideal for these massive ships. 

During the attack, several bombs hit their mark, one of these penetrated her forecastle, which detonated her forward ammunition magazines. The resulting massive explosion wrecked Arizona’s forward hull, collapsing the forward superstructure, and causing her to sink. 

After the attack, in the following months, much of her armament and topside structure was removed. Two of her aft triple 14^th gun turrets were transferred to the Army encampment as coast defense batteries for Oahu.

Arizona’s wrecked hull remains where she sank. 

In the 1950s, she began to be used as a site for memorial ceremonies, and, in the early 1960s, an official memorial was built. 

It is run by the National Park Service. It is a permanent shrine for all those brave souls who lost their lives in Pearl Harbor, and those who died fighting the Pacific war that began there. 

All warships that enter and leave Pearl Harbor, pause and salute the USS Arizona.

Countless visitors to this memorial, which stands on pillars astride Arizona’s broken hull, pay their silent tribute to this tragedy. 

A few bits of this sunken hull, rusted, twisted metal, can be seen near the shallow waterline. Still attached to the deck is the ship’s flagpole; Arizona’s hull still leaks oil from her bunkers—all these decades later. 

Some state this is a fitting tribute for she appears to still bleed for all who were lost on the day Franklin D. Roosevelt called, “a date that will live in infamy”.

For years, people who have visited this memorial and park service employees have witnessed some strange activity. 

Many photographs that have been taken around the memorial have captured strange foggy spots and misty human figures seem to appear in the background of these photographs.

 One specific ghost that appears is said to be the officer who was posted on Arizona’s deck the morning of December 7, 1941.  

Distracted by something personal, he left his station briefly. It was during this time the Japanese planes attacked. This officer was killed. 

Some speculate he is seen because he is driven by guilt to walk the deck, and then look out near the flagpole. He is seen mostly at night, low tide, and in the dim light of dawn.

USS Arizona in the 1930s