Banchō Sarayashiki

There was a beautiful dishwashing servant named Okiku who worked at Himeji Castle. Her master attempted to make her his lover but she rejected him each time. He grew impatient and wanted to trick her into becoming his, so he hid one of ten precious dishes that she was responsible for. When he called for her, he told her one of the plates was missing. In a frenzy, she counted and recounted the nine plates many times. The samurai offers to overlook the matter if she finally becomes his lover, but she rejects him again. Enraged, Aoyama has his servants beat her, tie her up and suspend her above a well. He tortures Okiku before again demanding that she marry him. Aoyama then slashes her with his sword and drops her body into the well.^[3]

Okiku becomes a vengeful spirit (onryō) who torments her murderer by counting to nine and then making a terrible shriek to represent the missing tenth plate – or perhaps she had tormented herself and was still trying to find the tenth plate but cried out in agony when she never could. In some versions of the story, this torment continued until an exorcist or neighbor shouted "ten" in a loud voice at the end of her count. Her ghost, finally relieved that someone had found the plate for her, haunted the samurai no more.^[3]

Hosokawa Katsumoto, the lord of Himeji Castle, has fallen seriously ill. Katsumoto's heir, Tomonosuke, plans to give a set of 10 precious plates to the shōgun to ensure his succession. However, chief retainer Asayama Tetsuzan plots to take over. Tomonosuke's retainer, Funase Sampei Taketsune is engaged to marry a lady in waiting, Okiku. Tetsuzan plans to force Okiku to help him murder Tomonosuke.

Tetsuzan, through the help of a spy, steals one of the 10 plates and summons Okiku to bring the box containing the plates to his chamber. There, he attempts to seduce Okiku. She refuses due to her love for Taketsune. Rejected, Tetsuzan then has Okiku count the plates to find only nine. He blames her for the theft and offers to lie for her if she will be his mistress. Okiku again refuses and Tetsuzan has her beaten with a wooden sword.

Tetsuzan then has her suspended over a well and, erotically enjoying her torture, has her lowered into the well several times, beating her himself when she is raised. He demands that she become his lover and assist in the murder of Tomonosuke. She refuses again, whereupon Tetsuzan strikes her with his sword, sending her body into the well.

Mientras limpiaba su espada, oyó una voz que contaba platos proveniente del pozo. Tetsuzan se dio cuenta de que era el fantasma de Okiku, pero permaneció impasible. La obra terminó con el fantasma de Okiku emergiendo del pozo, mientras Tetsuzan la miraba con desprecio.

Ambientada en Edo en 1655, Harima Aoyama, vasallo del shogun, se enamora de Okiku, una joven sirvienta. Se han prometido matrimonio, pero Aoyama recibe una propuesta de una tía. Para poner a prueba las intenciones de Aoyama, Okiku rompe uno de los diez platos heredados de su familia. El castigo tradicional por romper una reliquia así era la decapitación. Cuando Aoyama se entera del incidente y le dicen que Okiku lo rompió accidentalmente, la perdona y le reafirma su amor. Sin embargo, cuando ella confiesa, Aoyama se enfurece, rompe los platos restantes, la mata y la arroja a un pozo. ^{[ 4 ]}

A partir de entonces, se ve al espíritu de Okiku entrar en la casa y contar los platos, del uno al nueve. Al encontrarse con ella en el jardín, Aoyama percibe que su rostro fantasmal no refleja venganza, sino belleza y serenidad. Fortalecido por esto, comete seppuku y se une a ella en la muerte.

La versión de Okamoto se estrenó en febrero de 1916 en el Hongōza de Bunkyō, Tokio , protagonizada por Sadanji Ichikawa II y Shōchō Ichikawa II. ^{[ 4 ]} Destaca por ser una adaptación mucho más romántica de la historia, similar a la versión kabuki de Botan Dōrō . Esto fue influenciado por la Restauración Meiji , que trajo las obras de teatro occidentales a Japón por primera vez. Las obras occidentales eran mucho más notables por sus elementos románticos, y esto se adaptó a un estilo de teatro conocido como Shin Kabuki , o Nuevo Kabuki. El Shin Kabuki fue, en última instancia, una fusión fallida de Oriente y Occidente, aunque el Banchō Sarayashiki de Okamoto sigue siendo uno de los pocos clásicos.

En algunas versiones del cuento, Okiku es una sirvienta que despierta los celos de su ama. Su ama rompe uno de los platos que Okiku debe lavar y Okiku se suicida. Al igual que en otras versiones, se oye a su fantasma contando los platos, pero su ama enloquece y muere. ^{[ 5 ]}

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• Monnet, Livia (1993). "Connaissance Délicieuse or the Science of Jealousy: Tsushima Yūko's Story 'Kikumushi' (The Chrysanthemum Beetle)". Japan Review . 4 : 199–239 . JSTOR 25790930 . 
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