Banchō Sarayashiki

Alternatively referred to as the sarayashiki (皿屋敷, Manor of the Dishes) tradition, all versions of the tale revolve around a servant, who dies unjustly and returns to haunt the living.

The story of the death of Okiku (お菊) first appeared as a bunraku play called Banchō Sarayashiki in July 1741 at the Toyotakeza theater.

[2] The familiar ghost legend had been adapted into a ningyō jōruri production by Asada Iccho and Tamenaga Tarobei I.

Like many successful bunraku shows, 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.

It was a modern version of the classic ghost story in which the horror tale was replaced by a psychological study of the two characters' motivations.

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.

Set in Edo in 1655, a vassal of the Shogun, Harima Aoyama, has fallen in love with a young servant girl, Okiku.

In order to test Aoyama's intentions, Okiku breaks one of ten heirloom plates that passed through generations of his household.

Shin Kabuki was ultimately an unsuccessful merger of East and West[citation needed], although Okamoto's Banchō Sarayashiki remains as one of the few classics.

Ekin, a somewhat notorious artist who had troubles with the law, painted a byōbu-e[i] of Okiku being accused by Tetsuzan Aoyama and his brother Chuta.

His portrayal of Okiku is unusually sympathetic, particularly as ghosts were viewed as fearsome apparitions by nineteenth-century Japanese, reflecting a general trend in his later work.

Manga artist Rumiko Takahashi included a parody of the legend of Okiku in her romantic comedy Maison Ikkoku.

[6] The noted fiction writer Yūko Tsushima refers to the legend in her novel The Chrysanthemum Beetle (菊虫, Kikumushi), where the main character, engaged in a romantic relationship coloured by jealousy, helps her friend clean insects from her flat.

He then tells her of Okiku, a maid who put a needle on her master's (her lover) plate and was murdered as punishment, and whose vengeance lives on in the form of the beetle.

Sadako is a girl that died in a well and seeks revenge by making a haunted videotape and killing whoever views it.