![]() The storyteller is Sekiguchi, a shy, depressive freelance writer in post-World-War-II Japan who dabbles in tales of the supernatural the friend who hears his tale is an eccentric bookseller and would-be Sherlock Holmes who goes by the nickname of Kyogokudo. Scandalous! Throw in Japanese folklore, Gothic dread, and way too much pop psychology, and you have The Summer of the Ubume. In the classic mode of the genteel ghost story, a man visits his friend, and shares with him a strange tale: the daughter of a distinguished family of medical practitioners has been pregnant for twenty-one months without giving birth – a pregnancy that was discovered soon after her husband inexplicably disappeared from a sealed room. She appears then as an apparition, drenched in blood from the waist down, and crying like a bird, saying “wobaryo, wobaryo.” Presented with stories of people transforming into such creatures after they die, how can we truly believe in Hell? It is beyond understanding. It is said that when a woman who is with child passes away, her attachment to the babe takes physical form. ![]() ![]() Of all the tales told, that of the ubume is the most confounding. Book from: Personal collection, via Vertical, Inc. ![]()
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