Miyuki is Here

Source: UH-Manoa Student Folklore Project, 1973
INFORMANT: James Shepherd

The following true account of spirit return was written down by the informant. This is his story, slightly edited:

A few days after my wife had received the news that her 4-year old niece had been killed by a taxicab in Okinawa, the ghost or spirit of her niece came to live with us. The first I learned of this was one night just after we had gone to bed. The bed shook a little, as if someone had gotten in bed with us. My wife became very stiff and even in the dark I could see fear on her face. She kept whispering, "she’s here, she’s here." I had to ask several times who was here. Finally she said, "Miyuki is here." This happened off and on for the next couple of weeks.

One day while I was sitting in the living room reading, I sensed that someone had come into the room. I looked up but no one was there. However, there was this cold feeling, and a kind of sadness in the room. This occurred several times over a couple of days, so one day I thought, what could it hurt, so I said, "Hi Miyuki." I continued talking to her even though I could not see her. I asked if she would like to see the pictures in the magazine I was reading. The "feeling" became more intense as if she was coming closer, so I turned the magazine around and showed the pictures to where I thought she would be standing. The sensation left so I went back to my reading but I kept remembering how sad the "feeling" had been.

In a few days it happened again so this time I asked her if she would like to hear a story. I began telling her a children’s story. It seemed as if she were coming closer and then I felt someone touch my arm. I still could not see her but someone was resting their hand on my arm, just as a child would do. I continued with the story when I felt her climb up into my lap. I could feel her weight on my lap but I still could not see her.

After I finished the story, I waited to see what would happen next. Just as suddenly as the feeling had come, it was gone. This routine continued off and on for a couple of weeks, me telling her stories and she sitting in my lap. I noticed that the "feeling" in the room when Miyuki would come began to be warm and happy. I would even look forward to her visits, and then the visits just stopped - she never came back. I never told my wife about what had happened because she was very much afraid of ghosts.