Minakuchiみなくち

Even among early modern ghost fire tales, the Jiosenbi is a rare example where "who, where, and why" are told in concrete detail. The victim is not a nameless monster, but a peddler selling a real-life sweet called Jiosen, and the scene is the Hizagashira Pine at Izuminawate near the Tokaido's Minakuchi post town—a large tree whose location people could identify. The conditions for the fire's occurrence are also restricted to "rainy nights." It is thought that the experience of seeing will-o'-the-wisps or fox fires on humid nights became intertwined with memories of murders along the highway, solidifying into a single ghost story. The fire as a symbol of obsession with money connects to the lineage of grudge tales born from the monetary economy of early modern cities. As an apparition rooted in the land of Minakuchi, Koka District, it holds value in being passed down alongside other local entities like the Katawa-guruma and Koka Saburo.