Ghost of Okiku

Medium pin. Transparent red and gold sandblast. 

The ghost story of Okiku centers around power and obsession. Far back in Japan’s past, a young servant girl called Okiku became the focus of samurai lord Tessan. No matter how hard he tried to woo her, Okiku refused to become his lover.

One of Okiku’s duties was to clean ten precious plates. Tessan tricked her into believing she had lost a plate, a crime punishable by death. He told her he would cover up this mistake on only one condition; that she would finally submit to his advances. Despite a grim fate hanging over her, Okiku still refused.

Enraged at his rejection, Tessan had Okiku bound and hung above a well. There he beat her for the crime she was innocent of and eventually cut her down with his sword. Her lifeless body was flung into the well.

Okiku didn’t find rest in the water. Instead she would rise nightly, counting the plates. When she reached the missing tenth, she would wail and count again.

It drove Tessan to throw himself down after her. But ghostly counting wasn’t satisfied with his death. A priest was called. His sutras and prayers did nothing, and every night brought more counting. At his wit’s end, he decided to wait for Okiku to reach ‘nine’ and the priest shouted back ‘ten’. Finally no more counting was heard.