Hidden in the Pottery
鉢の中
Hachi no naka

After attending the funeral of her neighbor, the elder Mrs. Tonegawa, the young woman begins to hear odd things about Mrs. Tonegawa's daughter-in-law. She hears that the daughter-in-law (Young Mrs. Tonegawa) was very cruel to the recently deceased Mrs. Tonegawa. That she refused to cook for her, after Young Mrs. Tonegawa's husband died in a car accident that injured her mother-in-law, Young Mrs. Tonegawa refused to care for her and hired a private nurse rather than attend to her needs on her own.

After the funeral, Young Mrs. Tonegawa asks the young woman next door to care for her plants while she's away. The young woman is somewhat apprehensive, but agrees to help while Young Mrs. Tonegawa is away. While caring for the plants, one of them happens to fall and break its pot. Picking up the pieces the young woman notices that there is a triangular white object in the pot, which she immediately recognizes as a bone. She also hears an odd story from one of her neighbors about Old Mrs. Tonegawa apologizing and crying while Young Mrs. Tonegawa violently dragged her back into their shared apartment.

Could Young Mrs. Tonegawa have abused her mother-in-law to death and kept her bones in the potted plant? The young woman begins to worry, and decides to confront Young Mrs. Tonegawa about the bone she has found... which doesn't seem to please her quiet, mysterious and troubled neighbor.

Chapter Details

	Published In: Big Comic Original 1988 Vol. 5.20 The Tragedy of P
	Publication Date: May 5, 1988
	Pages: 32 (black and white)
	Anime Adaptation: Episode 4: Hidden in the Pottery
Notes: Rumiko Takahashi states in an interview in The Tragedy of O, The Comedy of O that this story did not fit the mold of her later "old man" stories that she often does in Big Comic Original and that she central theme was a fear of your neighbors. The young female protagonist is never named in the manga. In the anime adaptation she is given the name "Asakawa". Virtually all the deceased are cremated in Japan. It has the highest cremation rate in the world, at 99.9%. Unlike western cremation, the temperature is done at a lower heat to ensure that fragments of bone (okotsu) remain for burial. After death, 24 hours must pass before cremation can take place. For more on Japanese funerary practices you can watch our video on the subject here.