Two Lanterns Were Lit

August 13th is Ghost Story Day. It is also the start of the Obon festival, observed a month late.

I thought I would tell the scariest story I could, since it was a special occasion. But I chose the wrong audience.

Ghost Story Day was established to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Junji Inagawa's Ghost Story Night. Listening to a chilling story on a summer night—that specific way your body temperature drops is something you can truly only experience at this time of year.

And today is the day of the 'mukaebi' (welcoming fire). It is the day we light a fire in the evening to welcome those who are returning home.

That the day for telling scary stories and the day for the departed to return fall on the same date is likely just a coincidence. But when you line them up like this, it feels like a very convenient coincidence indeed.

In the manga, I intended to be the one telling a scary story, but I ended up being the one who was told a scary story. The story I told was about footsteps coming up the stairs. That was a made-up story. Because it was fiction, I could make it as scary as I wanted. I could lower my voice, pause for effect, or hold up a single finger—I could do anything with those little tricks.

But the number of lanterns is something I cannot do anything about.

I hung only one with my own hands, yet two were lit. That is all there is to it. No one is coming up the stairs, and no shadows are stretching out. The numbers just don't add up. It is so plain that it shouldn't be able to compete with a made-up story, so why is this one so much scarier?

I can hear the sound of firecrackers from down the hill. During Obon in Nagasaki, people set off fireworks and firecrackers at the graves. People from other places are usually surprised by this. They wonder if it is really okay to be so lively at a grave.

I think it is because if they weren't lively, it would be scary.

To welcome someone means they are coming. As long as you are welcoming those who arrive, they are family. But the moment you count them and realize there is one too many, it becomes a ghost story.

I wonder which one has arrived.

*The manga was drawn using the Shin-Usami-style No. 6.

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