it pacified. There are other unhappy conditions of this revisiting
of life's scenes; as when the dead mother returns to nurse her infant,
or the dead mistress to console a lover. In the latter case, at least,
the expressed affection has a malignant effect, perhaps purpose--as in
the Bo[u]tan Do[u]ro[u] of Sanyu[u]tei Encho[u], a writer most careful
in observing all the niceties called for by the subject.

In the Nipponese ghost story the vengeful power of the ghost acts
through entirely natural means. The characters involved suffer through
their own delusions aroused by conscience. In the old days, and among
the common people in Nippon to-day, the supernatural was and is believed
in, with but few exceptions. Such stories still are held to be fact,
albeit the explanation is modern. Hence it can be said that the "Yotsuya
Kwaidan" is a true story. O'Iwa, the Lady of Tamiya, really did exist in
the Genroku and Ho[u]rei periods (1688-1710); just ante-dating the
reforming rule of the eighth Tokugawa Sho[u]gun, Yoshimune Ko[u]. Victim
of an atrocious plot of her husband and others, she committed suicide
with the vow to visit her rage upon all engaged in the conspiracy. The
shrine of the O'Iwa Inari (Fox-witched O'Iwa) in Yotsuya was early
erected (1717) to propitiate her wrathful ghost; and the shrines of
Nippon, to the shabbiest and meanest, have their definite record. On the
register the name of the husband appears as Ibei; "probably correct," as
Mr. Momogawa tells us. With him the name of Iemon is retained in the
present story. Iemon is the classic example of the wicked and brutal
husband, on the stage and in the _gidayu_ recitation of Nippon. There
was but little reason to revert to the record. The shrine always
prospered. It appears on the maps of the district as late as Ansei
fourth year (1857); and the writer has had described to him by a friend
a visit to this shrine some twenty years ago. The lady in question
referred to it rather vaguely as beyond Samegafuchi: _i.e._, at Yotsuya
Samoncho[u]. It was particularly favoured by the hair dressers, and to
the eyes of a young girl was a gorgeous structure in its continually
renewed decoration. Inquiry of late in the district elicited the
information that the shrine had been removed. Many changes have been
made on the southern side of Yotsuya by the passage of the railway from
Iidamachi to Shinjuku. The Myo[u]gyo[u]ji, with other temples there
located, has been swept away. In