Case file · Folklore / legend
The peony lantern
Asai Ryōi's 'Otogi Bōko' (1666) told the story of a widower visited every night by a beautiful woman carrying a peony lantern, who turns out to be a skeleton.
1666 CE · 35.00, 135.77 · status: legend
The account
Adapted from a Chinese tale, it became a rakugo and kabuki favourite set in Edo. It is still told at Obon, when the dead return.