Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Ayako, The Monk of Arashiyama Madly in Love
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Ayako is a mysterious apparition from a Japanese ghost story set in the early sixteenth century. She was a beautiful seventeen-year-old woman, the daughter of a silk merchant in Kyoto, who fell in love with Sentarō, a young apprentice working in her father’s shop. Although Sentarō returned her affection, he initially suppressed his feelings out of gratitude to his master and fear that their difference in status would bring misfortune upon her. When he finally confessed his love, the merchant secretly arranged for Ayako to marry another man. On the night before the wedding, Ayako disappeared, leaving Sentarō a heartfelt letter promising that they might meet again.
Devastated by her disappearance, Sentarō abandoned his position, shaved his head, and became a Buddhist monk named Jōun. He withdrew to a ruined temple called Rengein, hidden in the mountains near the Hozu River. Although he devoted himself to religious practice, his obsession with Ayako never faded. One night, while calling out for her to visit him even if she were a ghost, a beautiful woman appeared before him. She wore only a purple cloth around her waist, with her long black hair falling loosely over her shoulders and chest. Her pale skin, bright eyes, and red lips made her appear more beautiful than ever. She claimed to be Ayako and told Jōun that she wished to become a nun, but when she entered the temple’s sealed hall, the doors closed behind her and she vanished.
Desperate to find her, Jōun battered his way through the temple’s many doors until he reached the innermost hall. There he found no Ayako, only an old mirror. In a fit of rage, he smashed it and discovered a statue of Kannon, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, hidden beneath it. The statue wore a cloth around its waist and resembled the apparition he had seen. Convinced that the statue was Ayako herself, Jōun tore it from its pedestal and embraced it, keeping it beside him for two days before realizing that it was only wood. Overcome by despair, he decided to end his life.
Jōun climbed to a cliff above the Hozu River, confessed that he had defiled the sacred hall and its Buddhist statue, and declared that he would find Ayako in death. Clutching the statue of Kannon, he threw himself into the raging current. The following morning, a fisherman named Senzo cast his net into the river and discovered the bodies of the dead monk and the wooden statue. From a distance, the statue had appeared to be a naked woman, making the scene resemble the tragic reunion of two lovers in death.
Sources
“綾子 (Ayako).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1074589144.html