Japanese Print "The Ghost of Okiku" by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Artist:Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title:The Ghost of Okiku
Date:August 1890
Details:More information...
Source:Worcester Art Museum
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Description:
Sarayashiki means “Plate Mansion” and refers to a well-known ghost story. A young servant girl, Okiku, is falsely accused of breaking one of her lord’s dishes, a precious piece from a set of ten imported Dutch plates. As punishment, she is thrown to her death into the garden well. As a ghost she rises each night to count the number of dishes, releasing a blood-curdling scream after she reaches number nine. Ghost stories were traditionally told in summer––the chill of fear they provoked providing welcome relief in the humid evenings.
