Kaidan

Toyoshiga and Osono's father is killed by the samurai Shinzaemon over a debt dispute. His body is dumped into a mysterious lake believed to be haunted by a wrongfully killed woman. This tragedy seeds a legacy of vengeance that echoes through the sisters' lives.

Years later, Shinzaemon kills his wife and himself, leaving their baby, Shinkichi, an orphan in the care of his uncle. The infant's precarious start foreshadows the tangled fates that will later bind Toyoshiga and Osono to him. The orphan's existence becomes a quiet thread through the coming drama.

Toyoshiga grows into a respected teacher who runs a school for young girls in Edo. She falls in love with Shinkichi, the orphaned boy living with his uncle. Their romance begins to shape the futures of both families.

Toyoshiga and Shinkichi decide to live together as husband and wife. Shinkichi begins flirting with students, especially Oisa, which fuels Toyoshiga's insecurity. The mounting tension foreshadows further conflict within the school and household.

Toyoshiga quarrels with Osono, who disapproves of her relationship with Shinkichi, and Osono runs away. The sisters' rift weakens Toyoshiga's support and deepens her isolation. This estrangement raises the stakes for their fragile arrangement.

Shinkichi admonishes Toyoshiga for driving away her sister and declares he wants to end their relationship. Toyoshiga pleads with him not to leave. During their quarrel, Shinkichi accidentally wounds Toyoshiga with the shamisen's bachi on her left brow.

Toyoshiga's wound contributes to a lingering illness that weakens her. The couple tries to reconcile, but her health deteriorates as the days pass. The illness casts a shadow over their fragile happiness.

At a festival, Oisa meets Shinkichi, who is there to buy medicine for Toyoshiga. They decide to elope together, and Shinkichi promises to run away with Oisa. The prospect unsettles Toyoshiga and heightens the sense of impending tragedy.

Shinkichi goes to his uncle's house and finds Toyoshiga waiting for him there. She tells him he can leave, but asks him to promise to stay by her side when she dies. The exchange deepens their doomed bond and clarifies their paths ahead.

Toyoshiga succumbs to her illness and is given a proper burial. Shinkichi is left to grieve and to reckon with the consequences of their life together. Her death ends one chapter and intensifies the push toward a new fate.

Shinkichi discovers a letter Toyoshiga left, warning that if he remarries she will haunt his new wife until she dies. He and Oisa elope and flee Edo, but they lose their way in a rainstorm. Toyoshiga's vengeful spirit begins to terrorize them, culminating in a frightful apparition.

Out of fear, Shinkichi strikes at the apparition with a scythe and, to his horror, pierces Oisa's neck. He collapses and later wakes in the house of a wealthy man. The act seals the tragedy and forces him into a new, uneasy existence.

Shinkichi wakes up in a wealthy man's house and discovers Oisa is dead. He travels to Hanyo and reunites with Osono, who helps him rebuild his life by finding him work. He becomes known as the master of the household in the wealthy man's circle.

The wealthy couple pressures Shinkichi to marry their daughter Orui, Oisa's cousin. He initially declines the arrangement. After noticing Orui's burn and scars that echo Toyoshiga's, he reluctantly agrees to marry Orui to secure his future.

Orui gives birth to a pale daughter with a scar on her left brow, and the child soon displays strange characteristics. The new generation carries echoes of the past tragedies and unresolved tensions. The tale closes with a haunting sense that history may repeat itself.