A young girl named Okiku worked as a maidservant in the house of Shogun Aoyama Harima in the mid-17th century. The Aoyama clan possessed 10 precious plates as an heirloom and the maidservant was instructed to ensure these remained scratch-free. On Jan. 2, 1653, Okiku accidentally broke one of the plates. Furious, Aoyama ordered his guards to cut off the middle finger of her right hand and confined Okiku to her room until the punishment could be carried out. The maidservant managed to escape, however, fleeing the house before throwing herself into a disused well. The next night (and every night thereafter), a woman’s voice could be heard counting the plates from the bottom of the well…
“One…
“Two…
“Three…
“Four…
“Five…
“Six…
“Seven…
“Eight…
“Nine…
A short time later, Aoyama’s wife gave birth to a child that was missing a middle finger on its right hand. News of this reached the Imperial Court, which ordered Aoyama to forfeit his territory. And yet, the woman could still be heard counting. The Imperial Court sent a priest to intervene. Upon his arrival, the priest waited inside the house for the woman to finish her count before adding a “10” at the end. Released from her sorrow, Okiku’s ghost disappears.
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