Akinari Tabata

**Akinari Tabata** (田幡明成, *Tabata Akinari*?) was the estranged older half-brother of Kiyohisa Tabata and the uncle of Kiyomitsu Tabata. After his death by hitting his head on a stone lantern at the Tabata estate, his ghost haunted the mansion until he was able to pass on.

## Biography

### Life and death

Akinari was the eldest son of the then-Viscount Tabata and his mistress. Even though Viscount Tabata also had a legitimate son, there was a family dispute over which of the two sons should be heir. Viscount Tabata wanted Akinari to be heir because he was the eldest. Because of his father's favor, Akinari assumed that he would be the heir and lived his life in dissipation.

When he was a child, he tried to jump from a tree to a stone lantern in the garden. The lantern fell over, and Akinari discovered a trove of red quartz hidden inside. He claimed that they were his since he found them, but the maid Kame Ikuta told him that they belonged to the family. He insisted that since he would inherit the family one day, they belonged to him, so Kame backed down.

When Akinari was in his forties, he was involved in a scam where his name was used to trick people out of their money. Not even his father was able to shield him from the scandal, so he was disowned and kicked out of the estate. The red quartz was sold off in order to compensate the victims. However, his father still doted on Akinari and gave him a small house in Azabu, as well as a monthly allowance. Akinari lived in the house with a Tabata maid he had an affair with, and though they were never formally married, she was considered his common-law wife. At some point, she gave birth to a daughter. The maid supported the family by working various jobs. Akinari considered selling his daughter to a brothel for money, but the maid begged him not to and said that she would work for the both of them. His father would occasionally send messengers to check on the two of them.

Akinari continued to beg his father for money and lived a life of idleness instead of looking for work. His father gave him the money, thinking it enough to support his wife and daughter. He forbade the family and servants from talking about them, as it was too shameful. After his father died, his half-brother Kiyohisa inherited his title and refused to give him any more money, though the butler Tomono secretly gave him a little bit of money. It was not enough to live on, and life became difficult. Akinari would ask Tomono about the red quartz in the lantern, but didn't believe it when Tomono told him many times that there was none left. However, Kiyohisa continued the practice of sending messengers to check on the wife and daughter.

Eventually, his wife worked herself to death. The messenger, a former colleague of hers, found her daughter kneeling by the bedside of her deceased mother. Akinari was not home at that time as he was usually out drinking. The messenger took the daughter back to the Tabata estate. Akinari's father ordered Tomono to hold the funeral as soon as possible. Akinari didn't return to his house until five days after the funeral. He assumed that both his wife and daughter had died.

Twenty years later, he visited the estate once again to ask for money from his brother and shouted for him to give "it" back. The viscount refused. Akinari suddenly ran out of the tatami room and into the garden to the stone lantern. He hit his head on it and died. A doctor and the police were called to the estate and the family explained that he had died accidentally. He was cremated, and his bones were stored in the family tomb. After his death, he appeared at the estate as a ghost and reenacted his death every evening. The estate became abandoned after the death of Kiyohisa and the exodus of the servants, and was put up for sale by his son Kiyomitsu.

## Appearance

At death, Akinari was an elderly, tired-looking man. He was nearly completely bald. The bones in his nape were clearly visible. He wore a discolored black crested haori and soiled hakama.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Volume 2, *The Twilight Visitor*