Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain)- “Kibitsu no Kama” (The Cauldron of Kibitsu) written by Ueda Akinari starts off with a large rice cauldron that indicates good or bad fortune; if the sound is loud and clear, it means fortune and when there is no sound it means misfortune. Shotaro the main character pulls on the sleeve of a beautiful woman named Isora. She is the daughter of Kasada Miki, the chief priest of Kibitsu. Isora is an unmarried noblewomen; there was a footnote that said unmarried noblewomen would hide their faces from men with the long sleeves of their kimono. Shotaro’s status in society is of the low-class and he says if the marriage were to take place, his family would ascend to aristocracy class. The divination of the cauldron at the shrine whistled loud and clear and so Shotaro and Isora married. Isora was a dutiful wife who woke up early in morning to do chores such as hoeing and had other capabilities like clean fish and pluck chickens. She was a good wife in that she made breakfast for Shotaro. If she remained in the Kasada household, she would be playing the koto, but now her hands have become rough because of work. She regrets nothing as long as she can make a good wife to Shotaro. Isora doesn’t know that Shotaro is messing with a prostitute named Sode. Shotaro’s father catches him in the act and Isora defends Shotaro and from the father’s scolding saying “I am sure all this happened because the other woman somehow deceived him to go to her.” From thereon the cauldron is dead silent. Isora sold her kimonos and gave the money to help out Sode. Shotaro leaves Isora and goes to Sode being ungrateful of her act of kindness. Sode starts getting nightmares every day since the passing of Isora, who became an angry vengeful ghost and is haunting Shotaro. Isora repeats the lines in Sode’s body:”I regret nothing, as long as I can be a good wife to you. Your Isora regrets nothing.” Shotaro freaks out and doesn’t survive the last day behind the charms of the closed house and both Shotaro and Sode die. The cauldron resounds loud and clear upon someone’s wish of coming true. The story ends with: “That is why you must never twist the answer of the gods.”

This story is similar to Akinari’s Bewitched in the case a supernatural force is plagued upon the main characters. Much alike Manago being placed in a higher station in society, Isora was the daughter of a head priest so she was also placed into higher society. It is comparable to Akinari’s usage of character in Manago in the Bewitched story where she is a symbol of a deceiver. Isora gave Shotaro the benefit of the doubt in his defense saying Sode somehow deceived him to going to her. Could it be that Akinari just thinks of women as people who manipulate and deceive men? Women were portrayed as intermediaries of class, wealth, and fortune. Here, Shotaro, the male main character of the story “Kibitsu no Kama” acts as an intermediary of class and fortune. Shotaro resides in low-class society and mentions how his family would ascend to aristocracy class when the marriage is done. His social standing would increase when he and Isora marries. The cauldron itself is a representation of fortune- good and bad. Shotaro was a part of good fortune, Isora was a good, loyal, and loving wife. He was blind to this and his fortune turned into misfortune, where Isora’s vengeful ghost pursues Shotaro and his prostitute lover, Sode and kills them both.