Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Oosawa, おおさわ
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Osawa is a tragic woman whose vengeful spirit appears in the Japanese supernatural novel Kinsei Kaidan Shimoyo Hoshi, written by Ryūtei Tanehiko and illustrated by Katsushika Hokusai in 1808. The story takes place during Japan’s Bunmei era (1469–1487) and features a character based on Oiwa, the famous vengeful spirit of Japanese ghost lore. Osawa is the daughter and heiress of the Murota family. Although she possesses a pure heart, she is considered exceptionally ugly, with short, curly hair, rough skin, a crooked nose, prominent cheekbones, mottled teeth, and a voice compared to a wolf howling at the moon. She marries Takanishi Ihei, a rōnin from Bōshū, but he resents the marriage and eventually becomes devoted to Hanako, a beautiful woman with whom he had once shared a close relationship.
Ihei conspires with an accomplice to rid himself of Osawa. He pretends to be impoverished, sells her possessions, neglects their home, and falsely accuses her of infidelity before casting her out. Despairing at her treatment, Osawa throws herself into a stream. Ihei subsequently marries Hanako, but on their wedding night strange events begin to occur. Insects repeatedly extinguish their lamp, and a small snake falls from the ceiling. Ihei suspects that Osawa’s vengeful spirit has taken the form of the snake. It repeatedly returns, eventually carrying Hanako’s hairpin in its mouth, before vanishing into a shadowy flame. The couple later have children, but Osawa’s spirit continues to haunt those connected with her suffering, possessing people, causing madness, and bringing death and misfortune upon the families involved.
Osawa’s revenge grows increasingly terrifying. She appears as a pale woman with disheveled hair, manifests as ghostly fire, and confronts Ihei with a cold hand that seizes his collar. Her spirit can vanish and reappear elsewhere, while attempts to attack her prove futile, as though striking through mist. Snakes, hairpins, rats, and other uncanny manifestations become instruments of her curse. Ihei eventually develops a festering wound and confesses that his mistreatment of Osawa has brought these calamities upon him. His daughter Omura is also tormented by the spirit, and Ihei ultimately dies when a sash transforms into a snake and strangles him. Osawa’s haunting continues in the surrounding region, where ghostly fires and the sounds of an unseen carriage inspire fear. The apparitions finally cease after the Buddhist abbot Shōkai builds a mound for Osawa and chants sutras. In the story’s conclusion, Osawa’s accumulated grudges are finally released, and her spirit begins to find a path toward salvation through Buddhist prayer and mourning.
Sources
“Osawa” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1038485591.html