Creative Rakugo | A Different Tale of 'Bancho Sarayashiki' - The Night Okiku Disappeared

Speaking of 'Bancho,' it was the area right at the foot of Edo Castle, where the residences of daimyo and hatamoto samurai were located.

However, in one corner of that area stood a dilapidated samurai residence that seemed out of place with its surroundings.

It was the residence of the former hatamoto, Aoyama Shuzen.

It is known as the 'Bancho Sarayashiki' where a sorrowful woman appears from the bottom of the well in the middle of the night.

Two men, Yota and his older brother, came to that samurai residence out of a desire to see something scary.

“Hey, brother. Does she really appear? That ghost person?”

“She has a name, 'Okiku-san.' It’s a sad story.”

“W-what kind of story is it?”

“Don’t you know? Okiku-san came to this residence as an apprentice servant. But one day, she broke one of the master’s family treasures, one of a set of ten Nanking picture plates.”

“And then?”

“The angry master cut Okiku-san down and threw her into the well.”

“What!”

“Okiku-san probably couldn’t find peace because of her deep resentment. Even now, in the middle of the night, she faintly appears from the well. And then, she sorrowfully counts the number of plates. One, two... counting the number of the missing plate.”

“That’s a pitiful story.”

“It certainly is.”

“But does she really appear? I came along out of a desire to see something scary, but I’m getting the chills. Let’s go eat some late-night soba instead.”

“Shh! Look, take a good look at that well. Isn’t a woman starting to appear faintly?”

“I-I-It’s Okiku-san”

With her hair disheveled, the woman who appeared from the well had an expression filled with resentment. In a dark, stagnant voice, she slowly began to count the plates.

“One... two...”

The brother interrupts.

“Excuse me, miss.”

“Yes?”

"What time is it now?"

"Huh? The hour of the ox?"

"Thanks! Ox, "three, then!"

"Four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten... one is miss... wait, no it's not? Huh? Ten? Huh? It was there? What was I doing?"

Having finished counting the plates up to ten, Okiku faded away.

"Okiku-san disappeared, didn't she? She's finally at peace."

"Right. Well, next, shall we go eat some "soba or something? I just thought of something interesting. Yota, you've got some change on you, right?"

"Brother, you've got a bit of a mischievous look on your face."

The rest of this story is one you all know well.