The Konyaku Spirit

from the 3/02 paper Ibaraki Report

Do you know what konyaku is? I think most of you have already had the opportunity to taste it. It is kind of tasteless gelatin one sometimes eats in "nabe" or "oden."

In the town of Tenri, in the Prefecture of Nara, the perceptive traveler will notice during his walks a wooden bridge situated between the Inaba and Kabata districts, sometimes referred to as "The Konyaku Bridge."

A long time ago, a young rice vendor called Sonbei was on his way home at dusk after a long day of work. Suddenly, a ghost that looked like a young lady with a piece of konyaku in her mouth appeared. Seeing such an apparition, Sonbei got scared and started to join his hands in order to pray for Buddha. After a while, the ghost finally disappeared. It is said that this ghost is the spirit of a housewife murdered by her husband after an argument about a piece of konyaku.

This is the reason the ghost is called the "Konyaku Spirit."