00:00I am the reason you should never visit Himeji Castle in Japan.
00:04Hi, my name was Okiku, and I served at Himeji Castle in Japan during the early 1600s,
00:10when the castle stood tall under the Tokugawa rule.
00:13I was just a servant girl, young and quiet, trusted with caring for ten priceless Dutch plates,
00:19a gift to the lord of the castle.
00:21One day, I discovered a secret plot against him.
00:24I tried to warn someone, but a high-ranking samurai named Aoyama Tisan heard me.
00:29He feared I would expose him, so he set a trap.
00:32He hid one of the plates and accused me of stealing it, a crime punishable by death.
00:36I begged, cried, explained I was innocent, but he only watched as I broke down.
00:41Then, without mercy, he dragged me to the stone well behind the castle walls and threw me in.
00:45I hit the cold water and never came back up, but my spirit stayed.
00:49Even now, when the halls fall silent at night, I rise from that well, soaked in death and sorrow.
00:55I count the plates like I used to.
00:56One, two, three.
00:58But I always stop at nine, and then I scream.
01:00A sound so sharp and full of pain, it shakes the stone walls of Himeji.
01:04Would you count with her?
01:05Or run?
01:06Be honest in the comments.
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