Takahashi Oden (高橋お伝)
Oden TAKAHASHI (1848 - January 31, 1879) was a woman who became a model of the character that appears in 'Takahashi Oden Yasha Monogatari' (Story of Yasha [a Buddhist guardian deity sometimes depicted as a demonic warrior] Oden TAKAHASHI) by Robun KANAGAKI
She was born in Shimomaki-mura Village, Tone Country, Kozuke Province (present Minakami-machi, Tone-gun, Gunma Prefecture).
She was called 'the evil woman of the Meiji period.'
Family
Father recorded in the family register
Kangoemon TAKAHASHI
Mother
Kino TAKAHASHI
Biological father
Hanemon HIROSE (chief retainer of the Numata clan)
Foster father
Kyuemon TAKAHASHI (natural older brother of Kangoemon TAKAHASHI)
Brief Personal History
1848: Soon after the birth, she was adopted (according to one theory, her year of birth was 1850 and to the other, 1852).
1867: She married Naminosuke TAKAHASHI. 1872: Naminosuke TAKAHASHI died of Hansen's disease. Although she was said to have poisoned the husband, in reality she dedicated herself to take care of her husband, and this account was nothing but dramatized to make the image of 'evil woman' prevalent at the time. Afterwards, she came to be emotionally involved with Ichitaro OGAWA.
August 27, 1876: She killed an antique dealer, Kichizo GOTO, for money in Asakusa Kuramae, Tokyo.
September 9, 1876: She was arrested on suspicion of burglary and murder, and she was sentenced to death in court.
January 31, 1879: She was executed in the Ichigaya prison. She was beheaded by Asaemon YAMADA, the eighth, as the last female criminal commanded to death by decapitation in Japan. Her graveyard is in the Yanaka Cemetery, however, her grave is also found in Kozukapparaekoin Temple and the gravestone is located next to the six outstanding figures collectively called Tenpo Rokkasen (outstanding persons in the Tenpo era), Nezumi Kozo (a famous thief who lived during the Edo period), and Ude no Kisaburo (a chivalrous person who lived in the Edo period).
Trivia
The body of Den (Oden) was autopsied by the Daigo (fifth) Tokyo Metropolitan Police Hospital, and a part of it, is still preserved in the reference room of the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo.
The autopsy of her body was conducted by Takeshi OSANAI (army surgeon), the father of Kaoru OSANAI.
Her grave has a reputation that if someone pays a visit, his or her skill of shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese banjo) will be improved, and accordingly, a considerable number of people who are learning shamisen visit her grave even today, after a certain period of time since the death of Den (Oden).