Mishimaya, a bag shop in Kanda-sujikai built a recent reputation.
Mishimaya is "collecting strange stories".
The next thing they knew,
they have been receiving one strange story after another.
Ochika
The listener is Ochika, Master Ihei's niece.
The listener is quite clever and charming,
opening up the speaker to reveal the essence of the story,
but...
Head of Mishimaya Ihei
"But..." What is it?
Intermediary Touan
Ochika is careful...
Always wondering what to wear in front of the guests.
Aunt, I don't need a new kimono.
Wife of Mishimaya Otami
Let me just make one more for you!
It's fancy...
Ochika, you should have this one.
Ochika's Mother Okei
But mother, you like this one with the snowflake pattern.
Don't do that because it's like an omen that brings bad luck.
Ochika's Brother Kiichi
Even if it's just in a kimono, I want Ochika to have it.
Fourth night Haunted mirror
It has been a long time, really.
How many years has it been? Has it been 10 years?
You're short by a few years, my lady.
It has been 15 years.
Has it been that long? You haven't changed a bit, Oshima.
My lady as well, still beautiful as ever.
Head Maid Ohshima
Oh, my, I shouldn't have done that.
You're not a young lady anymore.
I have to call you "young master".
It's fine, you can call me that any time.
Oshima is the only one who calls me "my lady" anymore.
Please come on in.
Right this way.
Well...
Please wait a moment.
Oh, my lady!
Not today.
Oh... Yes, Ochika-san.
Is today's guest a former employer of yours, Oshima-san?
Yes.
That is correct.
I apologize if this has caused any offence.
I should apologize to the master....
Today's guest is the daughter of a tailor I worked for when I was young.
A very terrible and mysterious thing
happened to her when she was still a little girl.
You know the story, don't you, Oshima-san?
Yes.
...but now it's all been taken care of.
Thank you for inviting me.
Ofuku
My name is Fuku.
You are Ochika-san... right?
Yes.
I am Chika, niece of Master Ihei.
Are you aware of the purpose of this tatami room?
Yes.
Ochika-san, do you use a mirror regularly?
Yes.
Of course you would.
May I?
After listening to what I have to say,
you may not like looking in the mirror for a while.
20 years ago
we had a tailor shop in Komatsu-cho near Shinba-bashi called Ishikuraya.
It was a store that's been in business for 3 generations.
In my father Tetsugoro's generation,
we had about 15 craftsmen and it was the busiest time of the year.
It was the spring I turned 10.
I remember that day well.
Ofuku 10 years old
I was wondering if she would arrive already...
It was the day I met my sister for the first time in my life.
What?
The first time since you were 10?
Yes.
People say that it was the time when gentlemen were only attracted to beautiful women.
A man's heart is always drawn to beautiful women.
My sister was really beautiful.
Ofuku-san?
Ah, that day, my sister...
arrived home after the sun had set.
She was seriously delayed,
I was worried that something bad might have happened along the way....
I'm not lying when I say this.
When my sister appeared before me,
it became so bright that we didn't need candlesticks anymore.
Sister Osai
You must be Ofuku, right?
I'm your sister, Sai.
I am finally home.
Let's be great companions starting today.
She smelled like flowers.
Sister Osai returned after staying in Ooiso for 14 years
to recuperate from an illness.
You don't have a cough now, do you?
Yes.
Usually, as soon as I arrive at Shinagawa, I can't stop coughing,
and when I return to Ooiso, it goes away again...
Mother Okane
Father・Head of Ishikuraya Tetsugoro
- Whatever it was, it's good now. - Hahahaha...
Stop it, Okane.
Isn't it a happy day?
Sorry.
I was afraid that Osai wouldn't be able to come back this time.
I used to be so afraid of Edo
that I turned my palanquin outside Shubiki around and around.
What is Shubiki?
Kameido to the east,
Yoyogi-mura to the west,
Shinagawa-juku to the south,
and Senju to the north
a red line was drawn on map bordering the town.
That is Edo circled in red.
Heh~ I didn't know that!
But finally, I was able to come back like this.
Sister, shall we visit Edo tomorrow to get rid of the bad luck?
What if she starts coughing again?
It's all right now.
Brother Ichitaro
Where are you taking me?
Of course it's Asakusa!
It's full of people, isn't it?
It's all people, people, people!
I'm sure they'll all look at you.
There's no rush to go out, right?
You just got back today.
You can take your time to go to Asakusa.
If that's the case, please let me start sewing tomorrow.
After all, I've come all the way back to the Ishikuraya tailor shop.
I can't believe you want to start working.... right?
Please, mother.
I want to work.
Even in Ooiso
I had enough sewing practice to be able to sew even one kimono like everyone else.
Sister's needlework is just like father's.
Like parent like child, right?
Heh heh heh. Maybe so.
Father.
Hm?
Be careful, Sister is going to overtake you any minute now.
You can't win against time, you know.
What are you talking about, you stupid idiot?
Hey, Sosuke,
she's the best sister in the whole world, right?
Head Craftsman Sosuke
Heh, you are right indeed.
A black silk futon is rare, isn't it?
It's a hobby of the Daimyo,
I have to deliver them to his residence.
What kind of people would use it?
Well, with white skin like yours....
No, never mind.
Don't say this anywhere else.
It's against the law.
When a fair-skinned woman lies down on a black futon...
It also makes the skin look whiter and more beautiful.
Do you understand?
A master with a concubine?
Or to use a woman like that.
Was he entertaining someone important?
Ishikuraya was also doing such business
and was very prosperous.
Are you still in Shinba-bashi?
Ishikuraya is no more.
What?
It perished because of the events I am about to describe.
Eh...
Is it a marriage proposal? For Osai?
Actually, this isn't the first time.
I've had a lot of requests so far.
You're going to give Sister away as a bride?
A bride?
I was finally able to come back by your side, father and mother.
I won't be getting married for a while!
Can't I...?
I'm not saying that.
That's why I said no right away.
- Hehehehe.... - What?
What indeed.
Well, you know...
If you want, you don't have to be a wife for the rest of your life.
Hahaha, ahh my dear.
Then Sister, you should look for a groom instead.
A groom?
I will eventually get a wife as well,
and we will support Ishikuraya as two couples.
Then the store would double in size, right?
Sister. Please choose someone who you think I'll get along with as your groom.
I can also take a girl who is good friends with sister, as a wife.
Let's do that! It'll be fun.
If that's the case, me too!
Yes, I think so.
Ofuku-chan will stay in this house forever and get a groom one day.
Then us sisters and brother, will live happily together forever.
Let's make Ishikuraya prosperous.
Let's do that.
Alright!
I'm just at the age
where I have to learn to read, write and behave.
But I didn't like it.
I wanted to stay home.
I just wanted to stay home and be with my sister.
Hey, look out, Ofuku.
Aren't you going to the temple school?
I don't want.
You can't not go, you know.
Ah....
Sister!
Huh?
Sister!
Huh?
I was like a goldfish following her and calling her "Sister, sister",
until my sister finally agreed to take me to and from the temple school.
Sosuke, a veteran craftsman in our store,
was assigned to escort my sister.
Even when my sister stepped out for just a minute,
she kept getting love-letters from all over.
Even so, there were times when Sosuke wasn't available.
My brother came with me at those times.
You know at the time,
my brother Ichitaro, if I do say so myself,
had a beautiful face as well,
and he too, had many girls chasing after him.
They were so beautiful together that it's no wonder people passing by would want to keep looking.
We just didn't look back.
So many followers.
Here and there, they were all like goldfish, too.
Ho ho ho...
How enviable.
Oh, my lady, you are beautiful too,
don't you have many suitors too?
No.
I'm just trying to say, I'm envious of your siblings.
Oh...
Weren't you and your brother Ichitaro always close?
Yes, I was treated very well by him.
Were you jealous?
Your beautiful sister suddenly came into your life between you and your brother.
I was not envious.
It made me happy to see my brother and sister getting along with each other.
It would have been better if I had done it.
If someone had interrupted.
Interrupt?
You know, my lady.
Do you think there's a chance in this world for a sister and brother
to have feelings for each other as a woman and a man?
There was definitely something going on, wasn't there?
I had said many times before,
my sister was an exceptionally beautiful person
and my brother who was so close to her, he lost his mind.
If we had lived
under the same roof from the time we were born,
and if we grew up together,
we would be familiar with each other as sisters and brothers,
and, strange to say,
if we were already established as siblings,
then I don't think that would have happened.
It's too late to say this, but...
...Yes.
That's why,
I never had such feelings for my brother.
That's why it was
the evil that came from the sickness that was inside my sister's body.
When my sister was young,
she was kept away from parents and siblings,
and when she grew up beautifully,
she was allowed to return home to recover.
My sister's illness behaved that way.
I'm not being malicious, aren't I?
It is more like a curse than a disease.
Yes, it's a curse.
Within 6 months of my sister's return,
the perceptive ones in the household would sit up and notice, thinking "Oh?"
But even if they thought that, no one would say it out loud.
It was very hush hush.
Day by day,
one by one,
more maids and servants started to notice.
Ah...
But no one would say a thing.
If anyone started to get suspicious
and ask questions,
they would get in trouble instead.
In the end, the only two people who didn't know, were my parents.
November 8,
The Bellows Festival is a festival for blacksmiths and foundries on the eighth day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, on which they would clean their bellows and pray.
this day is a festival for blacksmiths and foundries.
The craftsmen will take a day off from work
and offer prayers, so that they won't get burned by fire.
My family business was a tailor,
but we also had a relationship with a blacksmith,
and they used to invite us and our family to the Bellows Festival.
The craftsmen would spread tangerines from the second floor of their house,
and even though I was a child,
I stood between my sister and brother and helped to spread the tangerines.
- Here! - Here you go.
What happened to my sister and brother?
When I was old enough to understand it properly,
the first thing that came to my mind was the tangerines.
My sister ate the tangerines with the warmth of her hands on them,
one by one, as if she was savoring every bite.
It must have been very sweet.
Then who was the first to inform your parents about it?
Well, that...
our head craftsman Sosuke
often saw the two of them up close...
My sister would sneak off somewhere.
It happened two or three times...
So, did Sosuke confide in your parents about this?
I think it took a lot of courage.
He is a craftsman who is loyal and dedicated to his work.
He was the person who would be furthest removed from things like love and romance....
Even if the Master were to be angry with him
and give him a leave of absence,
his livelihood would not be affected,
so I think that's why he made the decision to tell them.
But it backfired...
I don't get the point of what you are saying.
What the hell are you talking about?
Yes.
In other words,
the two of them...
That's a disgusting joke.
What the hell!
Sosuke...
You know what you said, don't you?
I was just concerned about the store...
Shut up, shut up, you son of a bitch!
- That can't be true! - Stop it, you two!
Hey! Sosuke!
Don't!
Sosuke?
What's wrong?
After five days, Sosuke died.
He died from unusual circumstances,
so when the doctor came,
my parents lied that he fell down the stairs while drunk,
so as to avoid suspicion.
What? What's wrong?
It's already late.
Why don't we do it tomorrow?
Father, mother.
After what happened to Sosuke,
there was a lot of talk around the shop,
and I could hear people
whispering here and there.
Oh...
Of all these whisperings,
what did you hear?
About me...
and Ichitaro-san.
No.
Forget the bad rumors!
I heard that Sosuke told father and mother about it.
All of it,
is true.
To me...
it doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Am I...
not allowed to think of Ichitaro that way?
For Ichitaro-san to think of me that way,
is that wrong?
I like Ichitaro
very very much!
Hearing my sister say it...
my parents turned blue this time.
Sosuke was telling the truth.
And yet,
my father laid his hands on Sosuke.
I'm sorry.
About this unpleasant story.
I wonder if Ichitaro-san
thought the same way as Osai-san.
That...
he doesn't think it was a bad thing.
I knew it was bad.
Sneaking off hidden paths...
However, when I see my sister's face,
I can't help but feel like I'm in love with her.
Eventually, the two were separated
before things could get too public.
However, I couldn't tell my sister about the situation back in Ooiso,
and in the end, we decided to send my brother
to serve my father's friend's tailor shop in Ushigome.
Spring of the next year.
The day before my brother was to leave Ishikuraya.
My sister's letter
was said to contain apologetic words that flowed like a stream.
She wrote, "It is all my own fault that this has happened,
and even if I asked you to forgive me, I don't think you would,
but at least forget me as if I had never existed in the first place"...
My sister
hanged herself and died.
Ah, Osai!
Osai!
Osai! Dear... Osai!
- Osai... - Osai!
Sister....
My sister
"died of illness",
in order to keep up appearances...
Excuse me, could I have some hot water?
Oh... Thank you very much.
If you are tired,
would you like to continue another time?
No, that's fine.
I am almost about to reach the end.
To tell you the truth,
the unpleasant story up to now
was a long and lengthy preamble....
I became totally depressed
nd I couldn't swallow the idea of death very well.
I knew that Sosuke and sister were gone,
even knowing that, the servants quit one after another
and I kept asking myself "Why? How?"
as I kept searching for answers.
After much consideration my parents decided
to throw away all of my sister's personal belongings.
Not a single piece of her garments were left behind.
After my sister's memorial service at the temple and her burial,
we burned it all.
I'm sure you are saddened by the loss of Sister, Ofuku.
Poor thing.
Everyone is busy, and you must be lonely.
I'm about to leave for my apprenticeship,
but I'll be back in two years with improved skills,
so be a good girl and wait for me.
Let me give you this.
That's Sister's!
Mom burned everything that holds memories of Sister.
I couldn't help but keep this because it would be too sad to let it go,
however,
I would want you to at least have one memento of Sister.
It was Sister's cherished mirror.
Keep it in a secret place.
If you show this to mother, she'll burn this too.
However, my brother returned to Ishikuraya after a little more than a year.
He was improving his skills as promised,
but there was one thing different from what he promised.
My brother was not alone.
My name is Kichi.
Okichi
Ichitaro-san has
told me many, many things about father, mother, and Ofuku-chan!
She was a cheerful woman though.
She was so different from Sister.
While my brother was training at the tailor in Ushigome,
he met their second daughter, and one thing led to another.
Three months later, my brother and Okichi married.
My mother used to scold her a lot for being careless.
But she didn't mind.
After all that happened,
nobody laughed out loud in Ishikuraya any more,
but then she came in like a bell, ringing and tinkling all day long.
Ofuku-chan~, I'm going to get hot water!
If you put soy sauce in from the beginning, the burdock won't so be soft.
How many times have I told you....
I got scolded by mother again.
Ofuku-chan. Ofuku-chan~!
I got some manjuu buns, let's eat them.
They're delicious.
Then one day...
My brother came out of nowhere.
Ofuku, can I have that mirror back?
Why?
I've missed it...
I just want to look at it.
I thought you gave that to me.
It's not just for you.
It belongs to us siblings.
Mother, should I call for someone to polish this mirror?
Where.... did you get that?
Ichitaro gave it to me.
It's dated, but the detail work is great!
I'm sure it will be beautiful after some polishing!
I can polish the mirror myself.
There's nothing more to it, mother.
Ofuku was holding on to that mirror.
Sister must have given it to her before she died.
It's a memento.
I happened to find it
and Okichi happened to see it and said, "It's beautiful, isn't it?
This mirror is probably of no use to Ofuku.
No, it's a lie!
A lie!
He made up that story!
Then why did Ichitaro make up such a story?
I don't know!
Listen to me, Ofuku.
The mirror, you know,
is holding a woman's soul.
So...
just forget about the mirror.
In any case,
don't tell anyone about that mirror.
Dad, what's going on?
What? Don't you see it?
What?
No....
I brought tea~!
Please rest your hands.
Okichi's fortune slip always says good fortune.
Omikuji is the fortune slip that can be bought at a shrine. Her name "Kichi" is the word for "good fortune".
Is it a joke? Hahahaha....
- What's wrong? - What's wrong?
Ofuku-chan, let me refill your bowl.
Oh, yes, it was indeed Osai.
Oh, you thought so too?
No doubt.
Osai is back.
Sosuke's soul didn't move on because of resentment.
He's here to tell us something.
He even came to me to remind me of what I did to him.
Bad things are going to happen.
Are you saying that Osai is trying to take Ichitaro away as well?
The mirror!
Where's Sister's mirror?
Mirror?
What are you talking about, a mirror?
Ah! Oh... Osai's mirror!
Osai's mirror....
Hey, this is Osai's!
Father, mother!
I am so glad you finally found me!
Let me out, let me out! Let me out of here!
I've been trapped up here for a long time!
Let me out! Let me out~!
Ichitaro...
The black silk bedding makes white skin look whiter.
You really do have translucent skin.
Beautiful...
you're beautiful, Sister.
Don't stare at me like that.
It's embarrassing.
Mother....
Osai...?
Please don't take Ichitaro with you.
Please go to heaven.
Please spare me! Mother!
My mother hit her with the mirror...
But it was Okichi-san who died.
It seems that even the officials who investigated the matter
had no idea what was going on.
My mother had lost her mind.
The neighbors also heard the screams
and this time we couldn't sweep it under the rug.
Ishikuraya was found guilty,
our fortunes were confiscated,
and both mother and father were thrown in prison.
My father was punished for his negligence.
My mother was spared execution due to her madness,
and lashed a hundred times in Edo.
My mother died
in prison in Denmacho.
What about Ichitaro-san?
After my mother killed Okichi-san that night,
he took his life
in the same place where my sister had hanged herself.
This is how Ishikuraya perished.
This is the story of my past.
What happened to your father?
My father was released from prison
and took refuge with an old fellow craftsman,
and he passed away shortly after.
I was left all alone...
But now I live happily like this.
I was taken in by a business associate
whom my father was always close to
and even offered to eventually marry his heir and son
and he was so kind to me as an adopted daughter.
Both my mother-in-law and father-in-law are very nice.
Some houses are very special.
For every a God who throws away,
there is another who picks up.
Facing one bad thing,
no matter how bad it is,
doesn't mean that everyone will be ruined.
Oshima took great care of me.
I didn't talk to anyone.
I didn't cry. I didn't laugh.
I didn't even eat well.
I felt like a wooden doll,
but Oshima never ceased to make things lively by talking,
laughing, and singing children's songs.
She wasn't trying to humor me.
She was just doing the obvious.
She taught me to slowly appreciate life.
I had gone through something tremendously unfortunate and sad.
I couldn't help it if I sometimes cry
or have scary dreams that make me jump out of bed in the middle of the night.
But she said all that was over now...
So, Ochika-san, you too?
What?
Oshima told me what happened to you, Ochika-san.
Ahh.
But please don't accuse Oshima
of being an overly talkative maid.
Oshima is sincerely concerned about you.
Yes, I know.
But the reason you can live as you do
is because you were a girl without sin, Ofuku-san.
Do you think that makes you different, Ochika-san?
...Yes.
Stop it!
I'm going to kill you!
Ochika-san,
you think the sad events at your parents' house were your fault, don't you?
Yes.
Because it's true.
Then whose fault
would it be for the misfortunes that have occurred in my home?
Was it my sister?
Should my sister Osai bear all the sins and burdens?
No.
I don't think so.
My sister
didn't suffer from the cursed coughing disease,
and she didn't grow up away from her parents because she wanted to.
She did not fall in love with my brother in resentment of Ishikuraya.
Yes.
A boy named Matsutaro
was abandoned and was dying
when he was rescued by Ochika-san's father.
Your father
never did anything wrong, did he?
But
what I did after that was wrong.
You didn't do it on purpose.
You did not do it with the intention of making Matsutaro-san unhappy.
Still, a mistake was a mistake.
If that's the case, what do you think you should have done?
Would it have been better
if everyone in your family had bullied Matsutaro-san from the beginning?
Were you really mean to Matsutaro-san until he couldn't stand it anymore?
I'll never forgive you.
I'll never forget what you did to me!
It would have been kinder to do so.
And yet you couldn't.
You couldn't help it, Ochika-san.
It is no one's fault.
There was really nothing you could do.
You know Ochika-san,
I was afraid of my sister's vengeful spirit.
I was afraid that my sister's grudge
would come to take my life
as a survivor of Ishikuraya.
But it doesn't mean we are doing anything bad.
But I kept quiet...
Even so, it is scary isn't it?
So I asked Oshima to sleep with me.
Oshima! Oh, my lady...
My sister came!
O-Osai-san?
I'm scared!
It's all right. It's all right.
What kind of face did you see from Osai-san?
She looked at me...
and smiled.
Then there's nothing to be afraid of, young lady.
So I was told,
I then started speaking to my sister, who appeared at my bedside.
Sister, I'm fine.
I don't cry much anymore.
But when my sister shows her face, I get a little scared.
Oh Fuku-chan...
sorry.
My sister never showed up again.
She must have been satisfied.
Ochika-san,
the dead certainly return.
But it is here that we give it life.
In the same way as the Pure Land.
The Pure Land is where Buddhists aim to achieve rebirth, known as Amitābha, Sukhavati, "Land of Bliss"
It is in here.
Yes.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to this long story.
I will now take my leave.
Thank you very much.
Ochika-san, take care.
Yes.
Oshima, I will see you next time.
Please take care, Lady Ofuku.
Ochika?
What's going on? The guest has already left long ago.
Oh no, there you go again, crying.
What's wrong?
The guest's story....
It's a very mysterious story, isn't it?
It's going to make your dreams worse.
Even if I say you'll be happy after 20 years...
it won't suddenly clear you mind.
But while it is terrifying,
it is also sorrowful.
You mean Osai-san?
I feel sorry for the craftsman who lost his life after being falsely accused.
Sosuke-san.
Even after death.
He was worried about the store, so he appeared as a ghost...
I wonder if he was able to attain enlightenment after that.
That's true about the brother and sister-in-law, too.
They didn't do anything wrong,
and yet was subjected to such terrible suffering.
Okichi-san...
I wonder if she's still trapped in that mirror?
I wonder if it's crazy to think about that.
How am I going to tell uncle?
Because I heard it first, right?
Ochika~ Ochika?
Ochika? Oh, Otami you're here too?
Uncle.
Kiichi is coming tomorrow. I received a letter.
- My brother? - Yes.
Hmm? What were you talking about?
Ah~, nothing much.
What did you think of today's story?
Do you want to hear it together, Otami?
Oh... I don't want to listen to horror stories.
Why is my brother...
Sandals wholesale store Echigoya
Sister, it's warm today.
Echigoya Seitaro
Otaka
Sister? What's wrong?
What are you trying to say?
The storehouse...
What?
The storehouse opened.