Oiwa Inari Shrines

One of the most typical version of the tale issues Lady Oiwa of the Tamiya family members, the other half of a unfaithful and violent guy named Iemon, that stories to remove Oiwa to wed one more woman. After getting drastically damaged by the poisonous substance provided by Iemon, Girl Oiwa loses her mind and passes away a terrible fatality. Later on, the vengeful ghost of Oiwa haunts and triggers several deaths around Iemon, that is likewise eliminated at the end of the tale.

One of the shrines, Oiwa Inari Tamiya Jinja, was once venerated by the real Tamiya family members, however shed down in 1879 and transferred to today’s Shinkawa area, where one more Oiwa shrine can still be discovered. It declares to have been the website of a well used by Woman Oiwa herself, and started an Oiwa temple in Tamiya Shrine’s absence.

After The Second World War, in 1952, Oiwa Inari Tamiya Temple was rebuilt in Yotsuya to redeem the title of the initial Oiwa temple. The rivalry in between both temples runs fairly deep and survives to now, overlooking each various other’s existence completely.

If you see Yotsuya today, you may discover another fascinating point in the location: There are two Inari shrines dedicated to Girl Oiwa, nearly facing each various other on the same road. Recognized for their competition, these two temples have a complicated background.

Probably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time, Yotsuya Kaidan is a bone-chilling story of dishonesty, murder, and macabre revenge, set in the Yotsuya district in contemporary Shinjuku City, Tokyo. It has been adapted into many cinema plays, stories, movies, and television dramatization because the start of the 19th century.

Surprisingly, Woman Oiwa as well as her spouse Iemon were real people and known to have had a happy marriage. It is supposed that the tale made either was up by a 3rd party that had some enmity towards the Tamiya family or confused with an additional story in the neighborhood and overemphasized with hearsay.