The Candy Ghost / Legends and Folktales

The Candy Ghost

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who would come knocking on the door of a candy shop every night at two in the morning after everyone had gone to bed.

The owner could not understand why the woman kept coming every night. So, he decided he would find out who she was. One night, he followed her along the street and through the gates of the Ankokuji temple. Once inside the temple grounds, the woman disappeared, but the owner found a freshly dug grave and heard a baby crying somewhere under the ground.

Together with the temple's chief priest, the candy shop owner dug up the grave and found a baby born from a dead woman. Perhaps the woman-ghost was sad because she could not breastfeed her baby and instead came to the candy store to get candy to feed to her baby.

The temple records indicate that the baby did not live long. The year was 1679.

Even today, in the temple grounds there is a stone with the woman's name engraved on it. Beside it, there is also a small grave stone, which is thought to be the baby's.

Ankokuji temple is located in 3 chome, Tenjin.