According to Japanese belief, an inkstone which has been used to copy the same manuscript over and over again for many generations begins to take on aspects of the story itself. It can create phantom sounds and illusory characters from the story, which well up out of the ink and wreak havoc on the area around the writing desk.

One of the most bloody tales of old Japan deals with the civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans, known as the Genpei War. In the final naval battle of the war, the entire Taira clan was brutally wiped out, and many of the slaughtered Taira soldiers transformed into onryō. The grudge-curse of these ghosts infects the inkstones which have been used to copy their story many times. These inkstones begin to echo the brutal slaughter from when the clan was wiped out in the final battle of the war. When used, they produce sounds like the echo of the sea, the din of battle, and the screams of warriors. The ink inside begins to ripple and billow like the sea’s waves, and tiny boats and soldiers begin to materialize out of the ink.