The Seven Wonders of Honjo: Origins of Edo Ghost Tales and Urban Legends

A water-born anomaly said to haunt the moats and canals around Edo’s Honjo. When anglers tried to take home their catch, a voice rose from the water—“Leave it behind!”—and the fish in their creels vanished or were stolen. Counted among the Seven Wonders of Honjo, the tale appears in rakugo and picture books. Explanations vary: kappa, tanuki, mujina, otters, or softshell turtles. Sites named include Kinshi-bori, Sendai-bori, and the area near Genmori Bridge. The phrase oitekebori (“left behind”) is sometimes linked to this legend.

A will-o’-the-wisp-like light that appears before travelers without a lantern on night roads, gliding ahead as if to lead them on. When approached it snuffs out; when distance grows it reappears, always just out of reach. Counted among the Seven Wonders of Honjo in Edo, it’s akin to the “Guiding Clappers” and to Odawara lanterns that mislead people, and is related to the trickster lantern spirit known as Chōchin Kozō. It seldom harms; its nature is to toy with people and throw their journey into confusion.

One of the “Seven Mysteries of Honjo” told around Edo’s Honjo district. When night watchmen struck their wooden clappers (hyōshigi) while calling “Beware of fire,” the same cadence would continue behind them even after they stopped, as if an unseen presence were escorting them. Some say it was simple echoing in the quiet streets, but accounts tell of the sound on rainy nights even without clappers being struck, so the tale endured as a mystery.

A haunt linked to a “ni-hachi” soba night stall said to appear near Minami-Warigesui in Edo’s Honjo district. The proprietor never showed himself, and the shop’s andon lantern stayed dark—yet anyone who lit it was later struck by misfortune. In other tellings the oil never ran out and the lantern burned all night. Rumored to be a tanuki’s trick, it survives as one of the Seven Wonders of Honjo.

One of the Honjo Seven Wonders told in Edo. A giant, bristly foot bursts through a hatamoto mansion’s ceiling as a voice commands, “Wash the foot.” If obeyed, the foot withdraws quietly; if ignored, it stomps through the ceiling in a violent rampage. Its identity is unknown. In some versions the haunting ceases when the mansion changes owners; in others, only a woman’s washing can appease it. Besides causing harm, it is also said to have restrained thieves, giving it a protective aspect.

One of the “Seven Wonders of Honjo” from Edo. After a certain incident, the reeds growing along the canal were said to sprout only a single blade, a strange botanical sign taken as proof of a curse or lingering grudge. Some versions name a culprit or victim, but details vary by period and source, and the cause is usually left unexplained.

In the Edo period, a venerable chinquapin/oak tree in the garden of the Matsuura clan’s upper residence at Hirado Shinden, Honjo, was said never to drop a single leaf throughout the year. Counted among the “Seven Wonders of Honjo,” it was viewed as ominous because even evergreens shed leaves. Household members kept their distance, feeling it foretold misfortune. Accounts differ on the exact site and the identity of the actual tree, and details remain uncertain.

A nocturnal sound phenomenon: flutes, drums, and festival music seem to rise from nowhere. When pursued, the music recedes, making its source impossible to pin down. In Edo’s Honjo district it was called the “Fool’s Festival Music” and counted among the Seven Wonders of Honjo. Often blamed on mischievous tanuki, though no physical cause was confirmed. Some attributed it to windborne echoes and overlapping festival music. The name survives in the legend and children’s song of Shōjōji Temple in Chiba.

A curious tale from the fire watchtower of the Tsugaru Etchū-no-kami residence in Edo’s Honjo district: instead of the standard wooden clapper used to signal fires, a drum was hung and struck. The reason was never recorded. Another version claims that even when the clapper was hit, a drum’s booming sounded. Sometimes counted among the Seven Wonders of Honjo, it is occasionally omitted due to its faintly supernatural nature.