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Lamp-less Soba Stall

ah-kah-ree NAH-shee SOH-bah

Lamp-less Soba Stall

Lamp-less Soba Stall

Their soul is listening — speak, and they will answer.

Basic Description

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.

Folklore & Legends

At night the stall would appear, but the owner never once emerged, and the andon remained unlit. Those who, out of curiosity, set it alight were later beset by illness or bad luck. Another version says the oil was never replenished, yet the lantern burned until dawn. In either form, merely approaching the stand was said to invite a curse, so people avoided late-night travel. Many suspected a tanuki’s deception, though no proof was ever found.

Yokai Cards2

Lamp-less Soba Stall across multiple art-style decks

Card gallery

Detailed Analysis

A stall-based apparition type rumored in the town quarters of Edo’s Honjo. It does not attack directly but carries a taboo-like dread in which misfortune befalls those who touch it after a delay. Two variants are told side by side: one where the lantern stays extinguished, and one where the oil never runs out and the flame keeps burning. Both are marked by lights that stray from the ordinary. The absence of a stall keeper echoes empty-mansion ghost tales; though often explained as a tanuki trick, local lore commonly avoids naming a definite identity. It appears near watersides at night when foot traffic thins, drawing no customers and inspiring fear simply by existing. Records appear in local folktale collections and oral traditions, with details varying by storyteller.

Character Profile

This section is our own creative profile for storytelling. It is not historical fact or scholarship.

Rarity
Uncommon
Personality
unfussed, taciturn, relentless
Compatibility
at odds with thrill-seekers who enjoy test-of-courage outings, unrelated to those who avoid night roads
Abilities
abnormalities of lamplight (persistently extinguished or ever-burning), indirect calamity upon contact, night-only manifestations, masquerade of a shopkeeper with no visible form
Weaknesses
do not approach carelessly, avoid nighttime travel, prayers at local roadside shrines and dosojin (general countermeasures)
Habitat
around Minami-Warishigesu in Honjo, Edo, nighttime crossroads, watersides

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