Okiku and the Nine Plates

Okiku was a beautiful servant girl in the service of the samurai Aoyama Tessan. Among Aoyama's most prized possessions was a set of ten exquisite gold plates. Aoyama, consumed by a forbidden desire for Okiku, attempted to coerce her into becoming his mistress. When she steadfastly refused his advances, he devised a cruel scheme to break her spirit. He hid one of the ten plates and accused Okiku of stealing it—a crime that meant certain death. Distraught, Okiku counted the plates over and over, but the tenth was always missing. Aoyama offered to spare her life and overlook the 'theft' if she would finally submit to him, but Okiku chose honor over a life of shame. In a fit of rage, Aoyama had her killed and her body thrown into a deep well. From that night on, the ghost of Okiku rose from the well every evening. Her pale form would slowly count the plates aloud: 'One... two... three...' up to nine. Upon reaching nine, she would let out a bone-chilling shriek or break into agonizing sobs, her restless spirit unable to find peace without the tenth plate.