Pathway to Japanese Literature
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Water GhostAuthor: Okamoto Kidō
| Original Title | 水鬼 |
|---|---|
| Author | 岡本 綺堂 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a rural Japanese town near the enigmatic Obana River, a young student returns home during a sweltering summer, only to become entangled in a haunting tale of curses and vengeance. The river, shrouded in legends of a drowned Heike court lady whose spirit is said to linger in ghostly aquatic plants, becomes the backdrop for a chilling encounter. On a stifling stagecoach ride, he meets a troubled brother and his pale, silent sister—a geisha named Omutsu—whose sudden disappearance foreshadows darker secrets. \nYears later, as the narrator fishes along the river’s silvergrass-lined banks, he reunites with an old acquaintance, Ichino, whose furtive behavior and shadowy companion hint at a buried past. Omutsu reemerges, her life unraveled by betrayal and a mysterious illness tied to the river’s cursed flora. Whispers of ghostly visions and a lethal obsession intertwine as she confesses to a violent act, drawing the narrator into a web of guilt and supernatural dread. \nBlending folklore with psychological tension, this atmospheric tale weaves a slow-burning mystery where human frailty and spectral forces collide, leaving the truth as murky as the river’s depths. |
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