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Sexy & Scary: 05

ISORA

Sexy & Scary: 05

ISORA

Name in Japanese: 磯良

Origin: “The Kibitsu Cauldron” from Ugetsu Monogatari (“Tales of Moonlight and Rain”)

Gender: Female

Date of Death: ca. 1700s

Age at Death: 18?

Cause of Death: Heartbreak

Distinctive Features: A former beauty, rendered ghostly; Sunken eyes; Sallow skin; Wild hair

Place of interment: Okayama Prefecture

Location of haunting: Village of Arai (now Takasago), Hyogo Prefecture

Form of Attack: Manifestations; Brutal retaliation; Spiriting away of living humans; Forcible depilation (hair removal)

Existence: Fictional

Threat Level: High (if you happen to be married to her)

Claim to Fame:

Isora might not have the instant name recognition of other ghostly femme fatales like Okiku and Oiwa, but trust us, this is no spirit to be trifled with. Isora’s is a cautionary tale. Fooling around behind your spouse’s back is one thing. But certain betrayals are so egregious that the only way to bury the hatchet is in the back of the offender’s skull.

The Story

Long ago, in a far away village, lived a young man named Shotaro. He was the son of a farmer who worked very hard and built a small fortune, but he was not at all like his father. Instead of getting up early to till the fields, Shotaro stayed out late drinking sake and partying with the village girls. Finally, his parents got so fed up that they went and hired a matchmaker. They hoped that if they could just find the perfect wife for their son, he just might mend his wild ways. so they told the matchmaker to spare no cost in her search.

She looked long and hard before finally coming back with a match. Isora, the seventeen-year-old daughter of the head priest at a nearby shrine. When they heard about how wealthy Shotaro’s family was, they were overjoyed. The families met and set a wedding day.

Because he was a priest, Isora’s father decided to conduct a secret ceremony to determine the couple’s fortune: the Kibitsu Cauldron Ritual. He assembled the shrine-maidens, made holy offerings to the gods, and boiled water in a sacred wooden cauldron. If Shotaro and Isora’s future was bright, the boiling pot would make a deep sound, like a cow lowing. But the boiling pot made no sound at all. Even the insects outside stopped chirping.

It was a bad sign. But Isora’s mother really wanted to see her married, and convinced her husband that the shrine-maidens had made some mistake. The wedding went ahead just as planned.

Shotaro and Isora settled into their new married life. At first, everything was great. Isora happened to be a crack koto floor-harp player and entertained the family with recitals. Even Shotaro seemed to have turned over a new leaf, staying home to listen to the poetry his devoted wife composed for him.

But you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and Shotaro was dog through and through. He launched into a poorly concealed affair with a lady of the night named Sodé, growing so infatuated that he actually bought out her contract and set her up in a private love nest. The more Isora told him to knock his sleazy antics off, the longer he stayed away from home. Shotaro’s behavior even started embarrassing his own parents. They forbid him to leave the house until he pulled his act together.

After a week or so of being grounded, a chastened Shotaro emerged to plead for Isora’s forgiveness. He promised to be faithful, and begged Isora for some money so that he could send Sodé away to begin life afresh in another city.

Isora saw the money as well spent if it meant having her husband back. She sold off her prized kimono and even asked her parents for a little extra money, just to make sure. Shotaro thanked her profusely… then ran off with Sodé, never to return.

Isora collapsed and took to her bed, unable to eat or sleep. In spite of the best medical care both families could buy, she slipped away soon after. She was gone; Shotaro had gotten away with it.

Or had he?

The Attack

Shotaro and Sodé settled into a new home in a distant village. She fell ill with what seemed to be a common flu, but quickly took a turn for the worse. She began hallucinating, then wailing of an “alien presence” in her chest, and a pain so fierce she could hardly stand it. After a week of agony, Sodé passed away.

Incidentally, physical complaints are almost word for word those the victim of Lady Rokujo’s “living ghost (p.28)

At the cemetery, a grief-stricken but incorrigible Shotaro wasted no time in chatting up a lovely lady tending the grave next to Sodé’s. She offered to introduce Shotaro to her mistress, a beautiful woman who had only just lost her husband. Shotaro eagerly agreed to meet the widow and followed the servant to her house. For modesty’s sake, the widow remained behind a screen — a common arrangement in times of old.

When Shotaro asked her name, the “widow” whipped the screen back, revealing herself to be none other than Isora! “Let me show you how I repay your cruelty!” she shrieked, her sunken eyes and ashen skin that of a yurei. Shotaro fainted from shock at the sight.

He regained consciousness in an empty field. It had all been an illusion woven by his dead wife’s furious spirit! Terrified, Shotaro consulted an onmyoji (exorcist), who told him to paste consecrated ofuda slips on the openings of his house and — this was critical — to remain inside for forty-two days and nights.

But Isora’s ghost was cunning; on the very last night, she made it appear as though dawn had broken early. When Shotaro ran out to greet the sun, he was confronted with the cold light of the moon, and realized with horror that he had stepped out too early.

Hearing a shriek, Shotaro’s nextdoor neighbor came over to see what was wrong. But there was no trace of Shotaro … except for blood-splattered walls and Shotaro’s topknotted scalp, dangling from the eaves. His body was never found.

Surviving an Encounter

Simple. When the onmyoji tells you to stay in the house for forty-two days, stay in the house for forty-two days. C’mon, in the internet era this is hardly a stretch. Some useful tips:

1) Stock up on frozen foods, snacks, soft drinks, etc.

2) Don’t forget the toilet paper, too.

3) When you get to forty-two days? Stay one more. At this point, how much worse could it be? (Rhetorical question; just go back and re-read a few paragraphs up to see how much worse it could be. You know how bad it hurts to peel a band-aid off of hairy skin? Imagine your whole head going that way.)

If holing up for weeks on end doesn’t suit your style, you can always just wig out. Literally! Many Japanese variety shops carry faux “chonmage” wigs for use as party costumes. If you fear Isora may be breathing down your neck, donning one of these may give you the briefest of chances to escape when she gives your topnot a tug. Even better news: at just ¥600 (US $7) a pop, you can afford to stock up.

Keeping a novelty chonmage wig like this one handy may just save you from Isora’s wrath!