Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Monohana
Category: Fish, Goldfish
The Myth
During the reign of Emperor Go-Kōgon, there lived a loyal samurai named Karakoto Uraemon, a retainer of the Shinano guardian Ogushi Jirozaemon. He dwelled with his lawful wife, San, beside the banks of the Chikuma River. Though their life was peaceful, sorrow lingered in the household, for San bore no children despite many years of marriage. Uraemon prayed daily to gods and Buddhas, begging for an heir.
Around this time, goldfish newly arrived from Ming China were admired as rare wonders. Uraemon purchased a pair at great cost for his lord, who rewarded him with a fine sword. The goldfish multiplied, and some were given back to Uraemon, who raised them with devotion until their colors shone red, white, and gold.
Still childless, Uraemon took a concubine, seeking only kindness of heart. He chose a young woman of seventeen, raised in the capital, modest in appearance yet naturally beautiful. He named her Mohana—Weed Flower—and gave her a room in the house. There was no jealousy between San and Mohana, and when Mohana soon became pregnant, joy filled the household.
Soon after, Uraemon was summoned to Kamakura on duty. Before leaving, he told the two women only this: to care well for the goldfish until his return.
While Uraemon was away, San encountered a man named Furutori Minobunta, a handsome but violent youth living nearby. He whispered poison into her ears, claiming that Mohana and Uraemon had long been lovers and were plotting to murder San. At first she doubted him, but forged letters bearing her husband’s hand shattered her trust. Consumed by jealousy and rage, San fell into a secret relationship with Minobunta, who fed her lies and guided her thoughts toward murder.
One day, San lured Mohana—eight months pregnant—into the storehouse. There she abused her, gagged her, stripped her, bound her with rough rope, and beat her with bamboo. Mohana’s face swelled and her body bled, yet she could not scream. For three days she hung there, starving and weak, like a hungry ghost.
At last she escaped and crawled to the goldfish tank, pressing her mouth to the water in desperate thirst. Her cry drew San and Minobunta. Minobunta kicked her, tearing open her womb, and from it a living boy crawled out. Driven mad with jealousy, San strangled the child at once.
Mohana screamed in agony, spat blood, and died.
Her blood flowed into the tank. A fierce wind arose, and the water churned. The goldfish absorbed the blood, their bodies turning the deep crimson of human flesh. Their eyes burned with fury, their bellies swelled, and they thrashed wildly, spitting water as if crying out in wrath.
Minobunta hid the bodies beneath the floor and fled with San into the night. Only a young maid witnessed the truth. Mohana and her child were later buried in secret by Uraemon’s brother.
Unaware, Uraemon labored faithfully in Kamakura. One night, passing a Jizō hall, he saw a woman in white cradling a child. Though gaunt, the face was unmistakably Mohana’s. Shaken, he soon learned the truth by letter and rushed home.
The goldfish swam strangely around him, as if bearing Mohana’s resentment. Uraemon prayed for her soul and released the fish into a temple pond. Through Buddhist teaching, Mohana’s spirit found enlightenment, but the goldfish remained as a warning of cause and effect.
Uraemon became a wandering avenger, seeking Minobunta and San. He eventually met Minobunta on a rainy night, and after a fierce clash, was trampled to death amid pursuing men and horses.
Long after, it is said, the blood-marked goldfish spread through the land, their lineage preserved as living reminders of grief, jealousy, and karmic retribution.
Gallery
Sources
TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 毛羽毛現 (Mōhana). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1037132429.html
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