“Having a Blast”: San Nen Me (The Third Year)—rakugo
In this tale, a dying woman makes an agreement with her husband that, should he be forced to remarry after her death, she will return to haunt him on his wedding night, thus scaring off his new bride. However, there is a hitch in the plan when she discovers she must wait three years for her hair, which has been shaved upon her death according to custom, to grow back. Without her fully grown hair, she reasons, she could not possibly be attractive to her husband.
By the time she finally appears as a ghost, her husband has given up on the idea of her ever returning, and he and his second wife have had a child.
“The Missing One”: Sarayashiki (Plate Mansion)—rakugo
This classic story tells of the beautiful Okiku, servant to a samurai. For some time Okiku’s master attempts to have his way with Okiku, but she resists his advances. Growing impatient, the master tricks Okiku into believing she has lost one of the household’s ten precious Delft plates. After counting the plates over and over, Okiku finally breaks down in tears to confess her oversight to her master, who agrees to forgive her only if she will become his mistress. When Okiku refuses, he throws her down a well to her death.
Okiku’s ghost, it is alleged, counts to nine before emitting an ear-splitting screech. Successful exorcism relies on a worldly being crying out a hearty “Ten!” when she reaches the end of her count.
“On High”: Tenshu Monogatari (The Tale of the Castle Keep)—play
This play by Kyōka Izumi follows the story of spectral Tomihime gazing down from Himeji Castle keep, where she resides with a retinue of female attendants, at the dashing falconer Zushonosuke Himekawa. When Tomihime uses her unearthly powers to capture a falcon belonging to Himekawa’s master to give to her sister Kamehime, the young Himekawa comes to the castle keep to reclaim it, and Himekawa and Tomihime fall in love.
Translator’s Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Motoyuki Shibata for all his invaluable suggestions, as well as Meena Kandasamy, Saba Ahmed, and Yuka Igarashi, from whose thoughtful and creative edits the translation has benefitted hugely. And thanks above all to Aoko Matsuda, for writing a book that was such a delight to work on, and for being a continual inspiration to me.
© Taihei Ohara
© Michael Troy Judd
AOKO MATSUDA is a writer and translator. In 2013, her debut book, Stackable, was nominated for the Yukio Mishima Prize and the Noma Literary New Face Prize. Her novella The Girl Who Is Getting Married was published by Strangers Press in the UK in 2016. In 2019, her short story “The Woman Dies” was short-listed for a Shirley Jackson Award. She has translated work by Karen Russell, Amelia Gray, and Carmen Maria Machado into Japanese.
POLLY BARTON is a translator of Japanese literature and nonfiction, currently based in Bristol, UK. Her book-length translations include Friendship for Grown-Ups by Nao-Cola Yamazaki, Mikumari by Misumi Kubo, and Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki. She has translated short stories for Words Without Borders, The White Review, and Granta. After being awarded the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize, she is currently working on a nonfiction book entitled Fifty Sounds.
