One of my favourite things about Japan is how often even small, insignificant things can have a grand story behind them. Small shrines, road or trail side altars and even individual trees are an endless source of lore but can also be in danger of being forgotten. A great example of this is a tiny monument in the seemingly unremarkable suburb in Western Osaka. Known as the Fue-zuka or Flute’s Tomb, it sits in-between Kumeda-dera and Kumeda-ike, a large irrigation lake and gets largely ignored by everyone who passes by.
But this unusual little grave is connected to a fascinating yet little-known ghost story. The earliest recorded version I can find was noted down by a British traveller Richard Gordon Smith in his 1918 book “Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan”.
The story goes something like this:
Table of Contents
The Ghost of the Flute’s Tomb
Some time in the 18th century, an “Amma”, or blind masseur called Yoichi lived on the shore of Kumeda-ike. He was a popular member of the community not only because he was an extremely skilled masseur but also because he was known to be kind and honest to a fault.
Since he was blind, he would always carry an iron stick with which to feel his way around and a bamboo flute called a “fue” which he would play to let people know that he was available. Thanks to his reputation, he had a decent income which enabled him to maintain a small house and a servant to cook for him.
Not far from his house, further along the bank of the pond, there stood a small tea house. One evening during cherry blossom season, he was making his way home after a long day when he heard the sound of weeping coming from the direction of the lake. After listening for a minute, he realized that a young lady was about to drown herself in the cold waters.
Just as she was about to throw herself into the deepest part of the lake, Yoichi managed to grab the sleeve of her kimono and pull her to safety. “Who are you and why are you so intent on dying?” he asked. “I am Asayo, the tea house girl, we have spoken many times”, she replied. “I should tell you that I have not eaten for two days and the pittance that my master pays me is not enough to live so now I choose to die”.
“That is no reason to end your life”, said Yoichi. “Please come and stay at my house for a time and I will give you some food. Although I cannot see, I have been told that you are an attractive young lady so perhaps we can find a husband for you”. Yoichi led Asayo back to his house, gave her some dry clothes and had the servant prepare some dinner.
Marriage and Betrayal
After some months of living together, the young tea girl and the old, blind masseur came to be married. But while Yoichi was devoted, generous and kind, Asayo was selfish, cruel and unfaithful. She would spend all of his money as fast as he could earn it and while everyone in the village was aware of Asayo’s actions, Yoichi was sadly oblivious.
Some time later, an acting troupe came to the village. Among them was a handsome young actor called Sawamura Tamataro. Asayo was smitten and spent most of Yoichi’s hard earned money on daily trips to the theatre and buying gifts for Sawamura. Before long, they began having a torrid affair with Sawamura visiting Asayo in Yoichi’s house daily while the elder was at work. Sometimes Sawamura would still be in the house when Yoichi came home so Asayo would quietly let him out.
Normally, people do not like to meddle in the affairs of others but the villagers of Kumedamura were so appalled by Asayo taking such advantage of a kindly old man that one day while he was working, his customer decided that enough was enough and told Yoichi the whole story.
“Every day when you go to work, Asayo lets that young actor into your house. She takes advantage of your blindness and your kind heart and everyone in the village is aware of it except for you”. Yoichi couldn’t believe it but the son of the customer affirmed “you are a kind man and well respected in the village. We would have no cause to lie to you so please believe us”.
Yoichi didn’t want to believe them but he made his way home as quickly as he was able, being careful not to make too much noise with his iron walking stick. Sure enough, when he arrived home, the door was locked so he made his way to the back of the house and found that door locked too.
He didn’t want to alert the adulterous couple by kicking the door down so instead he found the strength to climb onto the roof to try and enter the house through the temmado chimney hole. Unfortunately the straw rope he was climbing was old and rotten, causing it to snap under his weight. He fell heavily onto a large wooden block used for stretching cotton, fracturing his skull and dying instantly.
Asayo and Sawamura heard the noise and rushed to see what had happened. On finding the body of Yoichi they were overjoyed because the only obstacle to their being together was gone. They waited until the following day to report Yoichi’s death, saying simply that he lost his footing and fell down some stairs. They then had him quickly buried and paid very little respect.
Since Yoichi had no children, by Japanese law, all of his property went to his unfaithful wife and they only waited a short time before she and the actor were married. They were seemingly happy but were somewhat shunned by the people of Kumedamura for their disgusting behaviour towards the respected Yoichi.
An Old Friend
Several months passed and life went back to normal around the village. Asayo and Sawamura kept largely to themselves and the villagers were content to ignore them. Eventually the events surrounding the death of Yoichi became little more than a memory. The dead have longer memories though and soon the spirit of Yoichi began to stir to seek his revenge.
In a village called Minato, far to the west, lived an old friend of Yoichi who was called Okuda Ichibei. He and Yoichi and attended school together and vowed to always remember each other and help each other in an hour of need, even when Ichibei had moved away. When Yoichi became blind, Ichibei returned to Kumedamura to help him set up his business as a masseur and even gave Yoichi his house in the village since he no longer needed it.
In those days news took a very long time to travel, especially to the more remote towns and villages, so Ichibei still had not heard of Yoichi’s death, or even of his wedding. It came as a great surprise one night when he awoke to see a figure standing next to his pillow, whom he quickly recognised as his friend.
“Yoichi, I am happy to see you old friend but what brings you here at so late an hour? And why didn’t you let me know you were coming? Please take a seat while I fetch a servant to prepare food and a bed for you and you can tell me all that has happened these last few years. And how you managed to travel so far from Kumeda, through mountains and wild places, despite your blindness”.
“I am no longer among the living”, spoke the ghost of Yoichi. “I am the spirit of your friend cursed to wander until I am avenged because a great injustice was done to me and I have come to beg your assistance so that my spirit can finally rest. If you will listen I will tell you my story”.
Ichibei was surprised and more than a little nervous to be in the presence of a ghost but he was a man of resolve and determined to listen to his friend. He was deeply saddened to learn of the death of his friend and the restlessness of his spirit meant that the wrong done to him must have been great indeed, so he immediately vowed to help any way that he could.
The ghost then told the story of all that had happened since Ichibei moved to Minato. Yoichi described the success of his business, how he rescued Asayo and their subsequent marriage. He went on to talk about the arrival of the acting company and the betrayal by his wife. He spoke of his death and hasty, irreverent burial and the immediate marriage between his wife and the actor. “I need to be avenged so that I can be at peace, can you help me?”
Revenge
Ichibei promised he would do all that he could and the ghost of Yoichi disappeared. Ichibei was suddenly exhausted and immediately fell asleep. When he woke the next morning, he was sure the encounter was just a dream but he remembered everything so clearly. Then, as he roused himself from his bed, he caught sight of something near his pillow, a small flute bearing the name Yoichi.
Ichibei set off immediately and it took a challenging 10 days for him to reach Kumeda Village since there were no railways and only occasionally a rickshaw to speed up progress. As soon as he reached the village, he went straight to Yoichi’s house where he was once again told the story of Yoichi’s fate, only this time the story was wholly different.
“Yes he did save my life and we were married,” confirmed Asayo. I helped my husband with everything but one day he unfortunately mistook the staircase for a door and fell to his death. Now I am married to his great friend, an actor by the name of Sawamura, whom you see here.”
Obviously Ichibei didn’t believe her so her pressed her for more details but Asayo just reiterated the same story. Unsure how to proceed, Ichibei just continued to ask and ask, hoping to buy some time. After hours of arguing, it was close to midnight when suddenly a fierce wind blew through the village. Within the wind, distant at first, but drawing ever closer was the unmistakable sound of a flute. Asayo immediately recognized the style of playing as that of her former husband.
The frigid wind then rushed down through the chimney and the ghost of Yoichi materialized before them, translucent, cold and forlorn. Asayo and Sawamura tried to run but they were so terrified that their legs would not work.
Sawamura grabbed an oil lamp and hurled it at the apparition but it passed straight through him and shattered. The old wooden house immediately caught fire and the strong wind whipped the flame up into an inferno. Ichibei quickly made his escape but neither Asayo or Tamarato could move and were consumed by the flames while their anguished cries pierced through the night.
The following morning, Ichibei had all of the ashes swept up and placed in a grave. And on the site of the house he buried Yoichi’s flute in memory of his tragic friend. The grave remains on the edge of the lake to this day.
Kumeda-dera Temple
Just across the street from Kumeda-ike lake and the grave is the very interesting but virtually unknown temple of Kumeda-dera. It was established in 738 by Gyoki, an extremely influential monk and civil engineer of the Heian Period who also worked on Sayama-ike, the oldest irrigation lake in Japan. Gyoki was even responsible for work on Kumeda-ike itself.
At the time, Kumeda-dera was extremely significant and covered quite a wide area. Much of Kumeda-dera was destroyed in 1221 during a conflict called the Jokyo War which took place between Emperor Go-Toba and Hojo Yoshitoki, a top general of the Kamakura Shogunate.
It was quickly rebuilt and considered particularly special by Emperor Go-Daigo during the Nanbokucho Period. He considered it to be of such high importance that he directed one of his most trusted commanders, Kusunoki Masashige, to defend it. At the close of the civil war that marked the end of the Nanbokucho Period, newly appointed Shogun, Ashikaga Takauji designated Kumeda-dera as an Antokuji, a special kind of temple of which there was just one in each province.
Kumeda-dera was heavily damaged once again during the Battle of Kumeda in 1562 and, in 1575, it was almost completely destroyed during the Battle of Takaya Castle. It wasn’t fully rebuilt until the middle of the 17th century and then underwent further renovations in the middle of the 18th century.
While Kumeda-dera no longer commands the fame it once did, it still holds a large number of cultural properties including a lock of hair from Empress Komyo who ruled from 729 to 749, a special Buddhist Mandala called the Hoshi (Star) Mandala and numerous documents relating to the important Kusunoki family.
The temple grounds consist of several attractive halls and a small, two story pagoda. It also has a garden that includes a number of interesting statues such as a pair of fierce Nio guardian statues and a representation of O-Fudo-Myo-o-sama, one of the principle deities of Shugendo. What I found particularly interesting though was a collection of small statues of varying age and design, many of which were missing their heads. I could not find any information as to why so it may be that they were damaged during one of the many destruction phases of the temple.
Kumeda-ike is a popular place in the local community for exercise, whether it be walking or running. It also has a handful of small parks around the perimeter where kids will often go to play after school. And thanks to the relative flatness of this part of southern Osaka, on clear days you have a fairly good view of the mountains that mark the border between Osaka and Wakayama Prefectures.
The Flute’s Tomb and Kumeda-dera are about a 20 minute walk from Kumeda Station on the Nankai Main Line, accessible from Namba Station in downtown Osaka. While it is very much a niche, off-the-beaten-track kind of place, it could be an interesting place to consider for people with an interest in quiet temples or ghost stories.
