History:

The story of Okiku originated from the Kibuki play, Bancho Sarayashiki. There are many different and competing version of the story but all with the common theme of a samurai, plates, and a servant girl dying in a well. What you will see depicted in the following is my favorite version of the story but of course with an S.W.K twist. Okiku is one of many popular Yurei, japanese female ghosts most of whom were, like Okiku, victims of their masters' or husbands' brutality and then as ghosts tortured their murderers from the afterlife.

For more information feel free to visit any of the below sites:

Wikipedia Article on Okiku

Article from an Art Auction Site: Note Yoshitoshi's print

Further Reading:

Kwaidan: A famous collection of japanese ghost stories by Lufcadio Hearn

Japanese Ghosts and Demons: A beautiful collection of Japanese prints edited by Stephen Addiss