A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Hearn attributes this unnamed woman’s story to Kinjuro in “Of Ghosts and Goblins.” Betrothed from childhood, she waits while her intended husband follows a samurai employer to war. He promises to return within a year, but conflict obstructs his journey. After news ceases and more seasons pass, she believes him dead, falls ill and dies. Her grieving parents sell their house and begin a long pilgrimage, depositing her mortuary tablet and the family’s sacred belongings at Myokoji. The story does not name the woman, her lover, or the ruling daimyo.
The young man returns four days after the parents leave and learns of her death. Recovering from an illness brought on by grief, he goes to her grave intending to kill himself. She appears beside him, takes his hand and claims that she was mistakenly buried alive. She asks him to leave the city with her because its inhabitants still believe her dead. They settle at Minobu, where she expects her parents eventually to arrive on pilgrimage, and open a small shop supplying food, toys and cakes. Their shared life lasts two years, and they have a son.
When the parents reach the shop, the child is a year and two months old. The husband sends them into the inner room to meet their daughter, but only the sleeping child remains. Her pillow is still warm, and she is never seen again. Beneath the bed coverings they discover the mortuary tablet they had left at Myokoji. That ending overturns her earlier denial that she was a ghost: the tablet reveals the returned dead woman behind the apparently ordinary married life. Her disappearance is not narrated as the death of the child or the destruction of the household.
Hearn elicits this tale by challenging the idea that returning spirits appear only through hatred, envy or sorrow. Kinjuro’s answer offers affection and reunion rather than revenge, while keeping the reunion temporary. This is an attributed literary record of an oral story, not evidence that the named temple preserves a verified historical case. It is also separate from the preceding tale in the same chapter, where a girl’s apparent corpse-eating is a deliberate trick using confectionery.
Origins & earliest records
Kinjuro’s unnamed Japanese tale as presented in Lafcadio Hearn’s1894 collection.
Records & interpretation
Entire chapter, including contrasting performances, staged deception, final mortuary-tablet revelation and all endnotes, read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Second Series — Of Ghosts and Goblins
Hosted chapter X, sections1–7 and all4 endnotes read; original two-volume numbering XXV, beginning p.637 in Nichibunken catalogue. No unverified subsection pagination assigned.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Second Series — Of Ghosts and Goblins
Second Series; hosted X, original XXV. Section7, complete chapter context and four notes
Kinjuro explicitly narrates; woman and lover unnamed. Initial denial of ghosthood reversed by vanished mother and recovered ihai; son remains. Complete cache hearn-glimpses2-ghosts.txt with master hearn-glimpses-8133.html.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical English account of performances and attributed oral narrativesHearn, complete Of Ghosts and GoblinsResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Institutional bibliographyNichibunken —1894 two-volume edition record and contentsResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.