Scary Japanese Stories

1. Otsuya

Otsuya’s story begins with a widower named Shinojo Ogiwara. One night Ogiwara noticed a beautiful woman walking along a dark road. Beside her was a servant, who was lighting the way with a paper lantern in a peony design. Ogiwara approached the beautiful lady, and asked her name, which was Otsuya. He then invited her to his home, and to his surprise she agreed to spend the evening, only to bid him farewell just before sunrise. The next evening she appeared again and once more stayed with him until dawn. These nightly visits continued thus, with Ogiwara so consumed by an obsession for Otsuya that he isolated himself in his home and stopped going out altogether.

After twenty days, a neighbor grew concerned over Ogiwara's disappearance. Upon again hearing laughter and singing coming from Ogiwara's home, the neighbor peeked into Ogiwara’s room, and there he saw a shocking sight. Otsuyu was not a young maiden but a skeleton. Upon learning this truth the next day, Ogiwara hurried to a nearby temple, where a monk showed him Otsuyu’s grave. There on the grave lay a tattered paper lantern with a peony design. The monk gave Ogiwara a magic charm which would ward Otsuyu’s ghost away from his home. Although the charm worked well, Ogiwara was already entranced and just couldn’t forget Otsuyu. One night, he got drunk and visited her grave. There Otsuya was waiting for him, as beautiful and bewitching as ever.

Ogiwara didn’t return home for many days, prompting the concerned neighbor and monk to open up Otsuya’s grave. The found Ogiwara lying lifeless, wrapped up in the arms of a skeleton.

2. Okiku

Okiku’s story starts long ago, when as a servant woman she was hired to wash the dishes for the lord of Himeji Castle. Okiku's beauty caught the eye of the samurai named Aoyama, and he became obsessed by her. He courted the young servant but to no avail. One day as a desperate ploy to possess her, Aoyama came up with a plan. He hid a priceless dish – one of ten – belonging to his lord, and then questioned Okiku: "What have you done with the tenth plate?" Knowing such an offense was punishable by death, Okiku furiously searched for it everywhere, but could not find the missing dish.

Aoyama calmly watched on. Finally, he made her an offer. If she were to become his mistress, he would tell the lord she was not to blame. Okiku again declined. At this, Aoyama flew into a rage and ordered the young dishwasher beaten and thrown into the well.

Soon after her untimely death, Okiku's ghost could be seen wandering the castle searching for the lost plate. You could hear her counting: "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…" And when no tenth plate was found, she’d let out a bloodcurdling scream. It is said that even today, those who overhear her counting might fall very ill, and those who hear her make it all the way to nine will soon die.

3.Oiwa

The story, known as Yotsuya Kaidan, tells the sad tale of Oiwa who was married to Iemon, a masterless samurai. Although her husband was down on his luck, Oiwa remained a devoted and loving wife, and worked hard to support him. Meanwhile Iemon befriended an elderly and very rich doctor Itoh, whose granddaughter, Oume, fell in love with the out-of-work samurai. As a doting grandfather, Itoh would use all his power to grant Oume happiness. So he offered Iemon great wealth, a life of ease and Oume's hand in marriage – that is, if Iemon would rid himself of Oiwa. Iemon fell to this temptation.

Putting their plan to action, Itoh gave Iemon a mysterious powder to poison Oiwa, slipping it into her food day by day. Oiwa slowly became weaker and weaker. The poison ate away at her beauty. By the time she discovered her husband’s insidious plan, it was too late. Feeling ill and exhausted, she noticed some of her fallen hair on the tatami mats, prompting her to comb and pin up her long tresses. As she stood before the mirror, she caught sight of her hideous, disfigured face and collapsed. The shock was her undoing. In her last moments of life, Oiwa managed to curse her deceitful husband, and in death, her vengeful spirit would bedevil Iemon. He would see her mutilated image everywhere, appearing in the faces of people he would encounter and even materializing in lanterns. It was not long before Iemon would descend into madness.

Onryou, or vengeful ghost, has a long history in Japan. In particular, the stories of Otsuyu, Okiku, and Oiwa captured popular imagination during the Edo period and have appeared again and again in art, on stage, and in stories. These tales have been retold in countless variations. Today you only have to look as far as the big screen with movies such as "The Ring" and "Juon" to see modern-day entertainment that pay homage to these three onryou.

4.The secret of Yamamba

Once upon a time, a Buddhist priest was caught out in a storm but luckily passed by a lonely hut. A kind old woman invited him inside, welcoming him with food and a warm fire. As welcoming as she was, she gave the priest a strange warning: “No matter what, do not look in the back room.” 

Unable to overcome his curiosity, the priest failed to heed the old woman’s warning. As soon as she stepped out to gather more firewood, the priest peeped through a crack in the door. To his horror, he discovered the room filled with half-eaten corpses. The priest realized that the old woman was a Yamamba, luring unsuspecting travelers into her home only to shred them to pieces for her next meal. He fled from the hut as fast as he could and never looked back.

5.The legend of the Jorogumo

A young samurai was accosted in the street by an alluringly gorgeous woman. Although she was beautiful, the samurai saw through her disguise, realizing she was not a human but some kind of yokai. He immediately drew his sword and plunged it towards her, but only injuring the strange woman before she quickly retreated. The samurai followed the scarlet trail of spotted blood, all the way to an old, abandoned house. Inside, he found dozens of bodies bound in spider silk, and a giant Joro spider, dead from the injuries it had received. 

6.Yuki onna

A young man in search of his fortune was passing through the snow-covered mountains, when he’s caught in a sudden snowstorm and loses his way. Nearly frozen to death, he almost gives up hope when a strange woman, covered in frost and with a face as pale as snow, appeared before him—a Yuki-onna. Because he was still so young, the Yuki-onna took pity on him, and guided him to a warm cabin in the woods, saving his life. In exchange for his rescue, however, she made him promise never to tell anyone of their meeting. 

Years later, the young man met and married a charming girl named Yuki, and they lived happily together for many years. But one day, the young man told his wife about how he was once saved by the mysterious Yuki-onna, breaking his promise. As he reveals this tale to his wife, her face grew pale and frost began to cover her body—his wife’s true identity was the Yuki-onna. The promise broken, she vanished back into the winter’s night.

7.The black hairOnce upon a time, there was an impoverished samurai living in Kyoto with his wife. A wealthy lord from a distant land invited the samurai to be his vassal. Because it was such an honorable opportunity, he had no choice but to accept, leaving his wife to wait in poverty at home until he returned.

Years later, having dutifully served his lord, the samurai finally returned to Kyoto. Although his house was in disrepair, his wife was still there to happily welcome him home. Finally reunited, the two spent the entire night talking and laughing together before drifting off to sleep. When the samurai awoke, the warmth he had felt just the night before from having his arms wrapped around his loving wife was no longer there. Instead, he opened his eyes to see that he was only holding a cold skeleton, shrouded in long, black hair.

The samurai learned that his wife passed away from sadness the summer before, but her skeleton had remained in the house all the while, waiting faithfully for his return.

8.The peony lanternOne dark night, the samurai Ogiwara spotted an elegant woman carrying a peony lantern wandering through the streets of Edo. For Ogiwara, it was love at first sight. He invited the beautiful woman, Otsuyu, to accompany him home where they talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company. That night, Ogiwara’s neighbor, hearing eerie laughter coming from Ogiwara’s garden, peeked over the wall. He saw Ogiwara holding, not a woman, but a laughing skeleton! The next morning, Ogiwara’s neighbor revealed to him what he had seen. Horrified, Ogiwara went seeking advice from the priest at a nearby temple. 

To his shock, Ogiwara found Otsuyu’s grave at the temple. He realized that the woman he had fallen in love just the night before with had died long before they had even met. Now that Ogiwara knew the truth, Otsuyu’s ghost no longer appeared before him. 

Even after discovering the truth Ogiwara missed Otsuyu desperately. After some time, he could no longer bear his sadness and returned to the temple where Otsuyu lay buried. At the temple gates, Otsuyu appeared before him once more. Reaching out her hand, she asked Ogiwara to accompany her home. Without hesitation, Ogiwara took her hand, walking with her into the darkness. 

After his final visit to the temple, Ogiwara vanished. The priest, concerned, opened Otsuyu’s grave. Inside the coffin lay two bodies: Ogiwara and Otsuyu, together forever.