Ishimaru Tetsuo buys a house

When he came into his inheritance as a young man, Ishimaru Tetsuo decided to purchase a house in the village of Kosage. Most houses were lived in by people, of course, but there was a large house on a street corner which had been unoccupied for many months. When Tetsuo inquired about the house, the neighbors told him it was haunted by the ghosts of the old man and woman who had once lived there.

“What were their names?” Tetsuo asked.

He was told their names were Ichiro and Keiko, and that they had both lived in Kosage all their lives.

“Did they die violent deaths?” Tetsuo asked the neighbors.

No, he was told: the old couple had died mysteriously in their sleep.

“Did they have heirs?” Tetsuo inquired.

No, he was told: Ichiro and Keiko were childless.

“Who owns the house now?” Tetsuo asked.

The neighbors told him the old man and woman had no heirs, and a decision was to be made by the village elders.

“Could it be their ghosts own the house now?” Tetsuo asked the neighbors.

The neighbors thought Tetsuo must be mad or silly, and they knew better than to disagree with any samurai, no matter how mad or silly he may be, so they all agreed that the current owners of the house were indeed the ghosts of the former owners, thinking this would cause the mad or silly samurai to go elsewhere in search of his home.

The neighborhood was surprised the following week when Ishimaru Tetsuo and his retainers returned in the company of the village elders, along with a well-known business negotiator from Akita and a Shinto priest. The neighbors peered from within their darkened huts as the samurai and his entourage entered the abandoned home. Soon the entire neighborhood had gathered in the village street and waited for nearly an hour, speculating in whispers as to what might be going on inside.

Later the entourage exited the old abandoned house. The samurai respectfully bid goodbye to the village elders, the Shinto priest, and the negotiator from Akita, then ordered his retainers to begin cleaning up the old house.

Ishimaru Tetsuo saw his neighbors gathered outside and approached them, showing them the freshly inked deed of ownership in his hand. “Honorable neighbors,” the samurai said in a strong voice. “When doing business with ghosts, always bring witnesses and get everything in writing!”