Sakura Sōgorō: Law and Justice in Tokugawa Japan through the mirror of a ghost story

Ghost stories flourished during the Edo period (1603-1868) in Japan. Some are very interesting for the jurist analyzing the Tokugawa legal system through the lens of popular culture. This paper examines one of those stories, the tale of a peasant leader whose martyrdom at the hands of an unjust lord - and his return as a ghost - constitute a faithful depiction of the tension between law and justice under the Tokugawa. The story is surprisingly accurate about the description of the procedural system, and the difficulties and risks of bringing legal actions against the nobles are described in detail. Finally, the ghost itself plays a distinctive and important role in the collective imaginary as the agent to correct the defects of a legal system unable to provide justice for the lower strata of the population.