Chizuko Mifune (御船千鶴子, ''Mifune Chizuko'', 17 July 1886 – 19 January 1911) was a self-proclaimed

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

during the late

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Early years

Born in

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

, Mifune was married in 1908. It has been stated that she was deeply religious and, at times, was

hypnotized Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

by her brother-in-law. She allegedly developed her powers at the age of 24 by breathing and meditation exercises.

Fukurai

Tomokichi Fukurai, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, was deeply interested in the

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

and desired to validate

extra-sensory perception Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universit ...

. Fukarai's supernatural interests were heavily criticized by his colleagues, but he was convinced Mifune's powers were genuine when he privately tested her in April 1910. A second, public test was conducted by Tokyo University president Baron

Yamakawa Kenjirō was a Japanese samurai, politician, physicist, academic administrator, and author of several histories of the Boshin War. He served as president of Tokyo Imperial University, Kyushu Imperial University, and Kyoto Imperial University. He also s ...

on 15 September 1910. She appeared to read messages written inside hidden envelopes, however, when these messages turned out to be not from Yamakawa but from Fukurai, she was widely seen as a charlatan and heavily criticized by the press. A modern researcher, Rodger Anderson has noted that the experiments were not properly controlled as Mifune "was often left alone with the test envelope, or insisted on turning her back to witnesses when attempting to psychically probe its contents."Anderson, Rodger. (2006). ''Psychics, Sensitives and Somnambules: A Biographical Dictionary with Bibliographies''. McFarland & Company. p. 65.

Death

Four months later, on 19 January 1911, Mifune committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

at the age of 24 by ingesting poison.

Influences

Japanese horror Japanese horror is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends ...

filmmakers of ''

Yogen is a 2004 Japanese horror film directed by Tsuruta Norio. ''Yogen'' is based on the manga ''Kyoufu Shinbun'' ("Newspaper of Terror") by Jirō Tsunoda, serialized in '' Shōnen Champion'' in 1973. The film is about a man who discovers a newspap ...

'' and '' Ringu'' reportedly used Mifune as the inspiration behind the character Shizuko Yamamura, the mother of ''Ringu'' antagonist

Sadako Yamamura , also known as Park Eun-suh () and Samara Morgan, is the main antagonist of Koji Suzuki's ''Ring'' novel series and the film franchise of the same name. Sadako's fictional history alternates between continuities, but all depict her as the ven ...

References

External links

Factual Basis Behind ''The Ring''Ringworld.com
''accessed'' February 23, 2006

Factual Basis Behind ''The Ring''
Curse of the Ring
accessed June 26, 2012

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mifune, Chizuko 1886 births 1911 suicides Clairvoyants Japanese psychics Psychokineticists People from Kumamoto Prefecture Suicides by poison in Japan 1911 deaths