In Japan, houses that have seen unnatural or undignified deaths are legally declared Jiko Bukken or "accident properties" (see episode 12: Richard Energy & Legally Haunted Houses!). Homes are also codified as Jiko Bukken if they are built over a well -- what's that about? In this minisode, Shaena explores this question as she tells us about Okiku's Well (located at Himeji Castle), one of Japan's "big three" ghost stories. Here, you'll learn about the origin story as well as the superstitions that have followed it centuries later.
CW: sexual violence, torture
Sources:
- https://www.artelino.com/articles/ghost_story_okiku.asp
- http://yokai.com/okiku/
- http://yokai.com/okikumushi/
- https://thewillowweb.com/2017/06/21/japanese-ghost-stories-himeji-castle-okiku-well/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banchō_Sarayashiki
- https://seeksghosts.blogspot.com/2011/11/traditional-japanese-ghost-story-okiku.html
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P.S. We're in the process of updating our intro and making edits to our episodes. You may notice inconsistencies as we do that!