Okiku-Mushi

The famous Japanese ghost story Banchō Sarayashiki tells of the love between an upper class samurai named Aoyama and a beautiful servant girl named Okiku. It is set in 1655, and many versions of this story have been written since the seventeenth century, sometimes Okiku returns Aoyama's love, other times she rejects him. One thing remains true throughout however, the couples web of broken trust and promises ultimately leads to Aoyama killing Okiku, and casting her body down into a well. Her spirit then returns to haunt the grounds, either out of sorrow or anger.
In 1795, Japan suffered from an infestation of a type of worm that could be found in old wells that came to be named Okiku mushi. This worm, covered in a thick thread as if it were bound, was believed to be the reincarnation of Okiku. Since then she has often been depicted as a beautiful girl with the body of a worm from the waist down, and her arms tied behind her back.

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