Bancho Sarayashiki
Banchō Sarayashiki is a Japanese ghost story of love separated by social
class, and broken trust and promises that ultimately lead to a dismal fate.
The story of Okiku and the Nine Plates is one of the most famous in Japanese
folklore, and continues to resonate with audiences today.
The story of Okiku is an old one, and the true origins cannot be known; however,
it first appeared under the title Bancho Sarayashiki in July, 1741 at the
Toyotakeza theater. The familiar ghost legend had been adapted into a ningyō
jōruri production by Asada Iccho and Tamenaga Tarobei I. Like many successful
puppet plays, a Kabuki version followed and in September 1824, Banchō
Sarayashiki was staged at the Naka no Shibai theater starring Otani Tomoemon II
and Arashi Koroku IV in the roles of Aoyama Daihachi and Okiku.
A one-act Kabuki version was created in 1850 by Segawa Joko III, under the title
Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki, which debuted at the Nakamura-za theater and
starred Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII and Ichikawa Kodanji
IV in the roles of Tetsuzan and Okiku. This one-act adaptation was not popular,
and quickly folded, until it was revived in June 1971 at the Shimbashi Embujō
theater, starring the popular combination of Kataoka Takao and Bando Tamasaburō
V in the roles of Tetsuzan and Okiku.
The most familiar and popular adaptation of Banchō Sarayashiki, written by
Okamoto Kido, debuted in February 1916 at the Hongō-za theater, starring
Ichikawa Sadanji II and Ichikawa Shōchō II in the roles of Lord Harima and Okiku.
It was a modern version of the classic ghost story in which the horror tale was
replaced by a deep psychological study of the two characters' motivations.
The Story
Okiku was the beautiful servant of the samurai, Aoyama Tessan. She refused his
amorous advances so he tricked her into believing that she had carelessly lost
one of the family's ten precious delft plates. She recounted the nine plates
many times but when she could not find the tenth, Aoyama offered to overlook the
matter if she became his lover. Again she refused and he threw her down a well
to her death.
She became a vengeful spirit who tormented her murderer by counting to nine and
then making a terrible shriek to represent the missing tenth plate. In some
versions of the story, this torment continued until an exorcist or neighbor
shouted "ten" in a loud voice at the end of her count. Her ghost, apparently
easily satisfied, haunted the samurai no more.
Ningyō Jōruri version
Hosokawa Katsumoto, the lord of Himeji Castle, has fallen seriously ill.
Katsumoto's heir, Tomonosuke, plans to give a set of 10 precious plates to the
Shogun to insure his succession. However, chief retainer Asayama Tetsuzan plots
to take over. Tomonosuke's retainer, Funase Sampei Taketsune is engaged to marry
a lady in waiting, Okiku. Tetsuzan plans to force Okiku to help him murder
Tomonosuke.
Tetsuzan, through the help of a spy, steals one of the 10 plates, and plans to
accuse Okiku of stealing the plate if she does not assist in the crime. Tetsuzan
summons Okiku to bring the box containing the plates to his chamber. There, he
attempts to seduce Okiku, although she refuses due to her love for Takatsune.
Rejected, he then has Okiku count the plates, and finds only nine. He blames her
for the theft, and swears to lie for her if she will be his mistress. Okiku
again refuses, and Tetsuzan has her beaten with a wooden sword.
Tetsuzan then has her suspended over a well and, erotically enjoying her
torture, has her lowered into the well several times, beating her himself when
she is raised. He demands that she become his lover, and assist in the murder of
Tomonosuke. She refuses again, and Tetsuzan slashes her with his sword, sending
her body into the well.
While wiping clean his sword, the sound of a voice counting plates comes from
the well. Tetsuzan realizes that it is the ghost of Okiku, but is entirely
unmoved. The play ends with the ghost of Okiku rising from the well, and
Tetsuzan staring at her contemptuously.
Okamoto Kido version
In 1655, in Edo, a vassal of the Shogun Aoyama Harima has fallen in love with a
young servant girl Okiku. Aoyama has promised to marry her, but has recently
received an auspicious marriage proposal from an Aunt. Aoyama promises Okiku
that he will honor their love, and refuse the proposal.
Okiku doubts, and tests him by breaking one of the 10 heirloom plates that are
the treasure of the Aoyama household. The traditional punishment for breaking
one of the plates is death, which is demanded by Aoyama's family.
At first, Aoyama is convinced that Okiku broke the plate by accident, and
pardons her, but when Okiku reveals that she broke the plate as a love-test,
Aoyama is enraged and kills her. He then throws her body down a well.
From then after, Okiku’s ghost is seen to enter the house and count the plates,
one through nine. Encountering her in the garden, Aoyama sees that her ghostly
face is not one of vengeance, but beautiful and calm. Taking strength from this,
he commits seppuku and joins her in death.
An ukiyo-e print by Hokusai depicting Okiku
Okomoto's version is notable for being a much more romantic adaptation of the
story, similar to the Kabuki version of Botan Doro. This was an influence of the
Meiji restoration, which brought Western plays to Japan for the first time.
Western plays were much more noticeable for romantic elements, and this was
adapted into a style of theater known as Shin Kabuki. Shin Kabuki was ultimately
an unsuccessful merger of East and West, although Okomoto's Bancho Sarayashiki
remains as one of the few classics.
Okiku and Ukiyo-e
Like many Kabuki plays, Okiku was a popular subject matter for ukiyo-e artists.
In 1830, Katsushika Hokusai included her as one of the kaidan in his One Hundred
Tales (Hyaku monogatari) series. Ekin, a somewhat notorious artist who had
troubles with the law, painted a Byobu-e [1] of Okiku being accused by Tetsuzan
Aoyama and his brother Chuta.
Most notably, she appeared as one of the New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts by
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Yoshitoshi's version of Okiku is taken from the Okamoto
Kido version. His portrayal of Okiku is unusually sympathetic, particularly as
ghosts were viewed as fearsome apparitions by nineteenth-century Japanese.
Momotaro Kintaro Urashima Taro Issun Boshi Tamamo no Mae Shita kiri Suzume
Yotsuya Kaidan Kachi kachi Yama Hanasaka Jiisan Kamishibai Kiyohime
Back to Spiritual Mythology or Spiritual Ideas