# #289 怪談説法 三木大雲さん（後編） - Show: 島田秀平とオカルトさん！ - Published: 2026-10-16 - Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1561323848_afa56e9cf5c2.html - Audio: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/67122501-9b17-4d77-84bd-a93d00dc791e/4ecf53f4-b9e7-4199-b6b7-acf6005ae634/11ef7357-a273-447a-9147-b4e5008875d6/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=7804a73c-2d1a-4e19-b7f0-acf6005b8557 - Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary. Jodo-shu Buddhist monk Miki Daiunn (三木大雲) explains the Buddhist view that the deceased can cross back to visit the living, then recounts how a carpenter who had already been dead for one to two weeks physically intervened to save him from an attempted kidnapping in early childhood. The episode also unpacks a psychological game — "What is your very first memory?" — testing it against the life stories of host Shimada Shuhei (島田秀平), Nakata Atsuhiko (中田敦彦) of Oriental Radio, and Kajuemon (カジエモン). ## What this episode answers ### Can deceased pets and people visit us at milestones such as the first anniversary of their death? According to Buddhist teaching, those who have passed on can come to visit the living, and the deceased find it easier to cross over to this side than the living do to reach them — the late cat's unusually affectionate behavior on the exact date of the first anniversary is interpreted as the previous cat coming to visit. ### Who really saved Miki Daiunn during the attempted kidnapping he experienced just before starting kindergarten? The carpenter who stepped in and physically broke the attacker's grip had already been dead for one to two weeks; Miki is convinced the intervention was the carpenter's ghost, and his certainty grew when the crossdressing perpetrator was later arrested for a separate kidnapping case. ### How is a person's earliest memory connected to their character formation? The earliest memory is the most powerfully imprinted event among all one's memories and tends to have a formative influence on personality; Nakata Atsuhiko's, Kajuemon's, and Miki's own earliest memories each align precisely with who they have become. ### According to Buddhist scripture, what happens if you do not specify a name when offering incense? Miki says Buddhist scriptures state that if you light incense without calling out the deceased's name, they will hesitate and be unable to receive it; for multiple recipients, you should either name each person with a separate stick or address a bundle with the words 'please share this among yourselves.' ### What is Shimada Shuhei's earliest memory, and how does it match his personality? Shimada's earliest memory is the day before his kindergarten graduation, when a teacher used tickling rather than a comedy bit to make him smile for the class album; though he found it completely unfunny, he forced a smile so the teacher would not be embarrassed and the children behind him would not be kept waiting — a pattern Miki called 'the origin of Shuhei Bosatsu, sacrificing himself for those around him.' ## Article ## A Listener's Story: The Late Cat's Mysterious Behavior on the First Anniversary The episode opens with a letter from listener Ayuko-san. After sixteen years together, her cat crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and the following year the family adopted a new one through a foster program. The new cat was extremely shy — aloof with the entire family and even with delivery workers. But on one particular day it was warm and affectionate with everyone. Her son noticed the date: it was the first anniversary of the late cat's death. The family laughed and wondered whether the previous cat had come by to give the new one lessons in showing affection. Sure enough, the shyness returned the very next day. Miki Daiunn offered a Buddhist reading of the event. "Those who have gone to the other side can come to visit us here. The sutras say those on that side find it easy to cross over, while we who remain find it hard to reach them." He also noted a practical detail from the scriptures: when you light incense for the deceased, you must say the person's name aloud — "Here, [Name]-chan" — before placing it. Without that invitation, the deceased feels too reserved to accept it. For multiple recipients, you can either use one stick per name or offer a bundle with the spoken words, "Please share this among yourselves." Shimada added his own story: his French bulldog Blan died in the summer two years ago, and shortly afterward his young son said, "I'm not lonely — he's always over there playing," and slept for a while on the cushion where Blan used to sleep. ## A Childhood Abduction Attempt: Saved by a Dead Carpenter The main story of this week's kaidan seppo (怪談説法) takes place just before or just after Miki entered kindergarten. He had stormed out over something trivial, declared he was running away, and was sitting on the drainpipe in front of the house when a woman passing by offered to buy him a toy and took his hand. Even as a small child he sensed something wrong — the hand did not feel like a woman's. When he tried to refuse, the voice shifted to a man's and he was dragged forcibly. A neighborhood carpenter interrupted them. "Hold on," the man said, striking the arm of the attacker and pulling Miki's hand free. Miki ran home in tears and reported everything to his parents, but they did not believe him. A few days later, his father took him to the carpenter's house to thank the man — and the grandmother who answered the door told them the carpenter had already passed away. He had been dead for one to two weeks. Later, the crossdressing man was arrested in connection with a separate kidnapping case, and when Miki saw the face on television he was certain: that was the man. His parents still do not believe him. Miki framed the experience in broader terms. "Behind events we write off as lucky escapes, there is often a concerned spirit who stepped in. From the attacker's perspective, he may have experienced something inexplicable — he had the child's hand in his grip, yet his arm suddenly hurt and he let go." ## What Your Earliest Memory Reveals: A Psychological Game The kidnapping story, being one of Miki's earliest memories, led naturally to the question: "What is your very first memory?" According to Miki, the memory that lodges most powerfully among all early recollections tends to be one that shaped the person's character — their identity seeps through it. Shimada shared what Nakata Atsuhiko of Oriental Radio answered when asked the same question. Nakata claims to have a memory from just a few months after birth: lying by a hospital window, a beam of sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtain and fell on him like a spotlight, and he felt wonderful. Miki's verdict: "The joy of being in the spotlight was already written into him — perfectly fitting for the man who created 'Perfect Human.'" Kajuemon's earliest memory came from around kindergarten age. He was walking hand-in-hand with both parents — his parents later divorced — and he remembers thinking that his mother always worked so hard at housework and he wanted to help her. That wish maps directly onto the domestic-tips content he puts out today, Shimada observed. ## Shimada Shuhei's Earliest Memory: The Origin of His Consideration Shimada's own earliest memory dates to the day before his kindergarten graduation. The class was being photographed for the yearbook: one teacher held the camera while another cycled through one-liner gags to get each child laughing. Shimada was looking forward to his turn. When the moment came, however, the teacher skipped the gag and went for tickling instead. He didn't find it funny at all. But he thought: if I don't laugh, the teacher will be upset, and everyone lined up behind me will have to wait. So he forced a smile. Miki called it "the origin of Shuhei Bosatsu — sacrificing yourself for the people around you." Shimada agreed: "I tend to find more joy in keeping things running smoothly than in voicing my own feelings." Then he added, laughing, "If the teacher had done a proper gag, I might have become a comedian instead." ## Takeaways - According to Buddhist teaching and the scriptures Miki cites, the deceased can visit the living — and incense must be offered with the recipient's name spoken aloud, or they will be too reserved to accept it. - The carpenter who saved Miki from a kidnapper had already been dead for one to two weeks, and Miki's belief that it was the carpenter's ghost was later reinforced when the crossdressing attacker was arrested for a separate abduction. - A person's very first memory tends to mirror who they become: the game of asking "What is your earliest memory?" aligned precisely with Nakata Atsuhiko's hunger for the spotlight, Kajuemon's domestic focus, and Shimada Shuhei's deep-seated instinct to put everyone else first.