Characters
Tamiya Iemon
Cold-hearted playboy, formally a retainer in Enya Hangan’s now-disbanded household. He gladly commits the most unspeakable acts to satisfy his desires. He is an archetypal handsome criminal. He promises the wife that he will find her father’s murderer, without telling her that he himself was the killer, and later dumps her for another woman by poisoning her and driving her mad. After her death, he is tormented by her angry spirit.
Oiwa
Yotsuya Samon’s daughter and Osode’s stepsister. She falls in love with Iemon and lives with him as his common-law wife. She is forced to separate from him while pregnant because of his criminal record. She reunites with him on condition that he kill her father’s murderer, without knowing that he himself was the killer. Betrayed by her husband and neighbor, she dies with hatred in her heart, and comes back as a ghost to torture them.
Naosuke Gonbei
Previously served in the now-disbanded Enya household, now a successful medicine seller. He kills a man he thinks (wrongly) is Osode’s husband in order to win her for himself. He promises her that he will avenge the murder and begins to live with her.
Osode
Yotsuya Samon’s stepdaughter. She has a brother from whom she was separated as a child. She marries Yomoshichi, a servant in Enya’s household, but after the Enya family is dissolved, her husband goes missing. Thinking her husband dead, she agrees to marry Naosuke on condition that he find the killer. She secretly becomes a prostitute in a brothel. Unexpectedly, her first husband reappears, and pressured by both sides, she chooses death.
Sato Yomoshichi
A servant in the Enya household and Osode’s husband. After the termination of the household, he loses his job and lives in hiding while plotting revenge. He is entangled in a three-way relationship with Osode and Naosuke, but having seen them die, he kills his father-in-law’s enemy Iemon and finally achieves the revenge he was seeking.
Takuetsu
A masseur in Asakusa. He secretly runs a brothel in his home with his wife Oiro. Osode is one of the workers. An evil but cowardly man, he obeys Iemon’s instruction and sets a trap of infidelity for Oiwa to force her separation. That brings him to a horrible fate.
Kobotoke Kohei
An assistant to the Iemon household. He hides the lame son of his former master at his home. He lives a poor life. To cure the child, he tries to steal medicine from the Tamiya family, but fails. He has his fingers broken and is murdered. He is then framed as Oiwa’s secret lover. His fury carries on beyond the grave, and he appears as a ghost with Oiwa to take his revenge.
Ito Kihei
A callous retainer in the household of the evil Kono Moronao. Leads a comfortable life. To help his granddaughter win Iemon, he poisons Oiwa while pretending to be helping her. In the end, he is killed by Iemon.
Oyumi
Kihei’s daughter. After the birth of a daughter and her husband’s death, she returns to her father’s household. Her father and daughter are killed by Iemon and the household terminated, causing her to lead a disparate life. She is later pushed into a moat by Iemon and drowns.
Oume
Kihei’s granddaughter and Oyumi’s daughter. She was once saved from an accident by Iemon, her next-door neighbor, and falls in love with him. Her passion leads to the death of Iemon’s wife Oiwa. She finally wins his hand in marriage, but is killed by him on their wedding day when he mistakes her for Oiwa’s ghost.
Yotsuya Samon
A retainer in the Enya household. He is Oiwa’s father and Osode’s step-father. He realizes Iemon was stealing public money and forces Oiwa to divorce him. After the termination of his master’s household, he becomes a beggar. He is later killed by Iemon.
Okuda Shosaburo
A son of a retainer in the Enya Hangan household. He secretly discusses the revenge plot with Yomoshichi. He exchanges clothes with Yomoshichi for plot purposes, but as a result is mistakenly killed by Naosuke. His face is so mutilated that the dead body cannot be identified, and Osode believes that it was her husband who was killed.
