Chizuko Mifune
Encyclopedia
Clairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
during the late Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Early years
Born in the Kumamoto PrefectureKumamoto Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyushu Island. The capital is the city of Kumamoto.- History :Historically the area was called Higo Province; and the province was renamed Kumamoto during the Meiji Restoration. The creation of prefectures was part of the abolition of the feudal system...
, Mifune was married from 1908-1910. It has been stated that she was deeply religious and, at times, was hypnotized
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
by her brother-in-law. At the age of 23, accounts tell of Mifune awakening her powers in foresight when, in her meditative
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
posture, she saw a number of worms within a nearby tree in the garden, covered by bark and invisible to the naked eye. News spread quickly from the Kumamoto Prefecture to other parts of Japan.
Abilities
Stories of Mifune's abilities soon reached the ears of Dr. Tomokichi Fukurai, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of TokyoUniversity of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
. Fukurai, who was deeply interested in the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
, set out to validate the phenomenon of extra-sensory perception
Extra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
(E.S.P.) to fellow researchers and skeptics alike (one of the latter being Dr. Kenjiro Yamakawa
Yamakawa Kenjiro
was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who went on to become a noted physicist, university president, and author of several histories of the Boshin War...
).
Fukurai conducted one of Mifune's most famous public demonstrations on 15 September 1910. She appeared to read messages written inside hidden envelopes, to the astonishment of the crowd. However, she was widely seen as a charlatan, and her reputation was forever marred.
Death
At the age of 24, Mifune committed suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by ingesting poison; there are conflicting theories as to her exact reasons.
Influences
Chizuko Mifune has recently grabbed the attention of Japanese horrorJ-Horror
Japanese horror, or J-Horror, is Japanese horror fiction in popular culture, noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatments...
filmmakers and has in some way been acknowledged in such films as Yogen
Yogen
is a 2004 Japanese horror film directed by Tsuruta Norio. Yogen is based on the manga Kyoufu Shinbun by Jiro Tsunoda, published in "Shonen Champion" in 1973.- Plot :...
and Ringu
Ring (film)
is a 1998 Japanese horror film by Hideo Nakata, adapted from the novel Ring by Kōji Suzuki, which in turn draws on the Japanese folk tale Banchō Sarayashiki. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rikiya Ōtaka as members of a divorced family...
.