Case file · Haunting
Okiku and the plate mansion
A servant drowned in a well after being blamed for a lost plate returns each night to count the plates and scream at the missing tenth.
1741 CE · 34.84, 134.69 · status: legend
The account
The Banchō Sarayashiki story exists in versions set in Edo and in Himeji, where 'Okiku's well' is shown at Himeji Castle. It was staged as kabuki and bunraku from the 18th century and shaped later Japanese ghost imagery.
The sceptical view
A folk tale and stage play with several competing locations.