Kayako Saeki and The Grudge : How Historical Traditions Shaped The Female Japanese Ghost

Kayako and The Grudge: How Historical Traditions Shaped The Female Japanese Ghost is an attempt at examining the Japanese historical past, and to unearth the tropes, traditions and legends that laid the foundation for one of the most beloved horror icons of the past thirty years. From the rise of the J-horror genre, where Japanese horror films were first introduced to Western cinema during the late 1990s to the early 2000s, few characters have become as well known or as beloved as Ju-On:s Kayako Saeki. She may not have been the first to cross the sea, that title goes to Ringu:s Sadako Yamamura. Kayako is a tragic figure, living an unfulfilling life and meeting a brutal end – something that is surprisingly common in Japanese ghost stories as a whole. These stories often focus on distressed women, who are bereft of either the things they love, their lives, or both – and after their deaths, these women find themselves using their newfound powers to wreak havoc upon the living through a sudden lust for vengeance. Yet, as the epitome poster girl for a woman scorned, Kayako has given the long lived trope a face – she is the definitive iteration of the Japanese vengeful ghost, but she was not born in a vacuum. Kayako is the final step on a long journey throughout history, one that has been shaped and defined largely by the male perception of the female person. So how do we, as women, reclaim, embrace and see ourselves in such a complex figure? And what exactly, historically, is it that has given birth to this compelling and sympathetic villain who seeks only to satiate her grudge?