Ever since, Dōjō Temple not only has been bell-less, but its site has been off limits to women. The kabuki begins as the temple has finally been gifted with a new bell, for which a dedication ceremony is to be held. A beautiful young woman arrives at the temple, introducing herself as a traveling dancer named Hanako. Swayed by her enthusiasm and her beauty, the young monks agree to let her in the temple. Hanako steps inside the temple grounds and begins to dance at length. After a while the priests begin to suspect something is awry, but it is too late. By the time Hanako stands atop of the temple bell, she has revealed herself to be the spirit of Kiyohime.
“The Peony Lanterns”: Botan Dōrō (The Peony Lantern)—rakugo
In the rakugo version of this well-known ghost story, Otsuyu meets Shinzaburō Hagiwara, a rōnin, or masterless samurai, and the two fall in love, but are forbidden from being together because they come from different social classes. So deep is Otsuyu’s yearning that she eventually dies of lovesickness. Come Obon (the time in mid-August when spirits of the deceased return to earth), Otsuyu appears at Shinzaburō’s door and the lovers enjoy a passionate reunion. Soon she is visiting him every night, bearing a peony lantern.
Noticing that Shinzaburō is growing more haggard and believing him to be possessed, his tenant hangs a talisman outside the door, preventing the entry of Otsuyu’s ghost. Those passing the house at nightfall see a lantern floating sadly around the vicinity of Shinzaburō’s house.
Eventually, the promise of financial compensation persuades the tenant and his wife to sell Shinzaburō’s soul. They remove the talisman, and the lantern bobs joyfully inside. The next morning, Shinzaburō’s corpse is found embracing a skeleton.
“My Superpower”: Yotsuya Kaidan and Kaidan Ichikawazutsumi—rakugo
Yotsuya Kaidan is arguably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time.
When Iemon’s family decides that he should marry someone else, they send his wife Oiwa face cream laced with poison to disfigure her. Repulsed by Oiwa’s transformed countenance, Iemon asks his brother Takuetsu to rape her to give him grounds for divorce; not having the heart to do so, Takuetsu instead shows Oiwa her own reflection. Oiwa flies into a rage, slips, and accidentally falls on her sword, later returning as a vengeful ghost.
Okon is an ex-geisha from another ghostly tale. She becomes friendly with the gambler Jirōkichi, and the two marry, although Jirōkichi’s dissolute lifestyle means they never have any money. After a while, Okon develops a pimple on her face, which worsens into a terrible disease. Jirōkichi leaves to raise the money for her treatment, promising to return within ten days. He comes back on the eleventh day to find his wife gone. It is much later, when he has married another woman, that Okon returns to pay him a visit.
“Quite a Catch”: Kotsutsuri (Skeleton Fishing)—rakugo
A male geisha is taken by a young gentleman on a boat trip down the river, along with various other entertainers. He isn’t too keen to fish, but when his host offers a reward for whoever turns in the biggest catch, he applies himself, eventually fishing out a skeleton. He starts to throw it back into the river in disgust, but the host tells him to take it to a temple and have it given rites. This he does, and returns home. In the early hours the following morning, he has a visitor in the form of a young woman. The woman tells him of her troubled past, and explains that she’d thrown herself into the river. Thanks to him, she says, she has been saved. When his neighbor comes to complain about the noise, the male geisha tells him what has happened, and the neighbor, wanting to find himself a woman, also manages to locate a skeleton. In the end, however, the ghost who comes to thank him is none other than the warlord Ishikawa Goemon, causing the neighbor great disappointment.
“The Jealous Type”: Neko no Tadanobu (Tadanobu the Cat)—rakugo
One day, Jirōkichi, the pupil of a beautiful jōruri teacher, spies her drinking and snuggling up with a handsome married man, Tsunekichi. Filled with envy, Jirōkichi goes to tell the man’s wife, Otowa, who is known for being “the jealous type.” Sure enough, Otowa is seized by a fit of jealousy, making her want to rip her husband’s kimono. But when Jirōkichi spurs her on to rip the kimono to shreds and smash the crockery, Otowa grows calm, and informs Jirōkichi that her husband is in the back room. Yet having just seen the scene of the infidelity with his own eyes, Jirōkichi is unsatisfied, and eventually persuades Tsunekichi to go over to the teacher’s house, where sure enough he finds another version of himself, drinking with the jōruri teacher. Eventually, it transpires that the man’s double is in fact a cat. The cat’s parents had been skinned alive and used to make the strings for a samisen, which is now kept in the jōruri teacher’s house. Missing his parents, the cat would come along as Tsunekichi in order to meet them.
“Where the Wild Ladies Are”/“Loved One”: Hankonkō (Soul-Summoning Incense)—rakugo
When a rōnin moves into a row of houses, he keeps his neighbors up by ringing a bell late into the night. When the steward goes over to complain, the rōnin explains that he is saying rites for his dead wife. He confesses that he has received soul-summoning incense from her, and that when he puts this on the fire
