Yoarashi Okinu
Encyclopedia
Yoarashi Okinu is the moniker of , who was a Japanese female poisoner and geisha
and lived from the end of the Edo era to the beginning of the Meiji era. Her nickname Yoarashi means night-storm in Japanese.
of Awa Province
, or she was born in Edo
. There is another opinion that she was a daughter of Sajiro, a fisherman who lived on the island of Jōgashima at the tip of the Miura Peninsula
. According to a non-fiction writer Atsushi Hachisu
, she sold herself into geisha
because her family was poor, and she worked as a geisha. There is another opinion that she was an employee at the decorative collar shop in the Nakamise neighborhood in front of Senso-ji
.
As she was beautiful, people in the Edo longed for her. She became a mistress
of Ōkubo Tadayori (大久保忠順) in the capital Edo
. He was the daimyo
of the Karasuyama Domain in Shimotsuke Province
, which was rated at thirty thousand koku
. Ōkubo had a son, the successor to the Ōkubo family, by her. However, he hated her, and abandoned her in the Meiji Restoration
.
She became a mistress of Kobayashi Kinpei, but she paid for sex with kabuki actor Arashi Rikaku, and then fell in love with him, so she killed Kobayashi with poison on March 2, 1871. Rikaku harbored her but they were arrested. She was sentenced to death, and she was executed by decapitation
after she had a child by Rikaku.
Rikaku was sentenced to 3 years in prison, and he was released in September 1874. He became kabuki actor Ichikawa Gonjūrō after his release.
agree that mass media
adapted her and there were untruths in her tradition. In 1878, she was called a serial killer Yoarashi Okinu. A book characterized her as a she-devil, and her tradition is based on this virtual fiction.
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
and lived from the end of the Edo era to the beginning of the Meiji era. Her nickname Yoarashi means night-storm in Japanese.
Biography
Her early life is generally undocumented and has produced many ideas and opinion. Some sources assert that she was a daughter of a samuraiSamurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
of Awa Province
Awa Province (Chiba)
was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. It lies on the tip of the Boso Peninsula , whose name takes its first kanji from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was or...
, or she was born in Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
. There is another opinion that she was a daughter of Sajiro, a fisherman who lived on the island of Jōgashima at the tip of the Miura Peninsula
Miura Peninsula
is a peninsula located in Kanagawa, Japan. It lies south of Yokohama and Tokyo and divides Tokyo Bay, to the east, from Sagami Bay, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and Kamakura....
. According to a non-fiction writer Atsushi Hachisu
Atsushi Hachisu
is a Japanese non-fiction writer for murders and a critic for manga. He dropped out of Waseda University. He writes books about Japanese serial or spree killers such as Tsutomu Miyazaki, Sataro Fukiage and Mutsuo Toi....
, she sold herself into geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
because her family was poor, and she worked as a geisha. There is another opinion that she was an employee at the decorative collar shop in the Nakamise neighborhood in front of Senso-ji
Senso-ji
is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine.- History :The temple is...
.
As she was beautiful, people in the Edo longed for her. She became a mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
of Ōkubo Tadayori (大久保忠順) in the capital Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
. He was the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of the Karasuyama Domain in Shimotsuke Province
Shimotsuke Province
is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...
, which was rated at thirty thousand koku
Koku
The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
. Ōkubo had a son, the successor to the Ōkubo family, by her. However, he hated her, and abandoned her in the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
.
She became a mistress of Kobayashi Kinpei, but she paid for sex with kabuki actor Arashi Rikaku, and then fell in love with him, so she killed Kobayashi with poison on March 2, 1871. Rikaku harbored her but they were arrested. She was sentenced to death, and she was executed by decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
after she had a child by Rikaku.
Rikaku was sentenced to 3 years in prison, and he was released in September 1874. He became kabuki actor Ichikawa Gonjūrō after his release.
Fictional story
Her case was reported sensationally several years after that, but many researchers such as a Japanese art historian Naoyuki KinoshitaNaoyuki Kinoshita
is a Japanese art historian. He currently works in the University of Tokyo. He was born on Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture and graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He took part in publishing the book The History of Japanese Photography as an essayist along with Kōtarō...
agree that mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
adapted her and there were untruths in her tradition. In 1878, she was called a serial killer Yoarashi Okinu. A book characterized her as a she-devil, and her tradition is based on this virtual fiction.
Real life differences
- She lost her parents when she was 16 years old, and then she was accepted into her uncle's family as a foster child, living in Edo. There she became a geisha in the restaurant Owari-ya. She gave out as Kamakura Koharu.
- She met not Okubo Tadayori, but Okubo "Sado-no-Kami (defender in SadoSado Provincewas a province of Japan until 1871; since then, it has been a part of Niigata Prefecture. It was sometimes called or . It lies on the eponymous Sado Island, off the coast of Niigata Prefecture ....
)" (his name was unwritten). - She had a son Haruwaka-gimi, in "1857" (At that time, she was about "12 years old". It was Okubo Tadayori's birth year).
- In those days the woman of low social class couldn't marry a nobleman. Fictional story claimed that Kurosawa Gentatsu, a physician who lived in NihonbashiNihonbashi, or Nihombashi, is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603, and the current bridge made of stone dates from 1911...
, became her foster parent, the middle class family. She changed her name to Hanayo and became a concubine (In fact she was a mistress). - When her son was three years old, her husband died (Okubo Tadayori died in 1914. His father died in 1864).
- After his death she changed her name to Shingetsu-in. She became a BuddhistBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
nun, and lived a calm life to pray for her dead husband followed the Japanese custom which is that a widow of high status entered nunhood after her husband died. She felt run-down in this life and went to HakoneHakone, Kanagawais a town in Ashigarashimo District in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the town had an estimated population of 13,339 and a density of 144 persons per km². The total area was 92.82 km².-Geography:...
. She fell in love with another man Kakutarō. She was exiled from the Okubo family (In fact, the Okubo family abandoned her, because Okubo Tadayori had a son by her). - A part of her dying word was "Yoarashi" so she was called Yoarashi Okinu (unproved claim).