Okiku

Day 31 finale

The onryo (vengeful ghost) of Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture. She is one of the Nihon san dai aku kaidankai. 3 great ghost stories of Japan along with Oiwa and Otsuyu. In the Edo period she was employed by the castle's lord to watch over his 10 very expensive Dutch plates. A samurai of his named Tessan Aoyama lusted over her and hid one of the plates. He promised to have it overlooked if she accepted him. She refused. So he and his men tied her up and dunked her in and out of the well. She still refused. So Aoyama killed her and tossed her body down the well. Okiku's onyro tormented Aoyama to the point where he suffered the rest of his life from a fevered insanity and he was exiled from the castle. Every night, Okiku's ghost crawled out the well and counted the plates. Ichi... ni... san... san... yong... go... roku... nana... hachi... kyu... unable to count the last missing plate she will scream. Anybody who hears it will fall ill and die