Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things

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Part of the series on Japanese Mythology & Folklore

Mythic Texts and Folktales: Kojiki | Nihon Shoki | Kujiki Otogizōshi | Oiwa | Okiku | Urashima Tarō Konjaku Monogatari

Divinities Izanami | Izanagi | Amaterasu Susanoo | Ame-no-Uzume | Inari Kami | Seven Lucky Gods | List of divinities

Legendary Creatures & Spirits Oni | Kappa | Tengu | Fox | Yōkai Dragon | Yūrei | List of creatures

Legendary Figures Abe no Seimei | Benkei | Kintarō Momotarō | Tamamo-no-Mae | Sōjōbō

Mythical & Sacred Locations Mt. Hiei | Mt. Fuji | Izumo | Ryūgū-jō | Takamagahara | Yomi | Jigoku

Sacred Objects Amenonuhoko | Kusanagi | Tonbogiri Three Sacred Treasures

Shintō & Buddhism Bon Festival | Setsubun | Ema | Torii Shinto shrines | Buddhist temples

Folklorists Kunio Yanagita, Keigo Seki, Lafcadio Hearn, Shigeru Mizuki, Inoue Enryo

Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (often abbreviated to Kwaidan) is a book by Lafcadio Hearn that features several Japanese ghost stories and a brief study on insects. It was later used as the basis for a movie called Kwaidan by Masaki Kobayashi in 1965.

Kwaidan (怪談, Kwaidan^?), or kaidan in more modern romanizations, is Japanese for "ghost story".

[edit] Stories

Hearn declares in his introduction to the first edition of the book, which he wrote on January 20, 1904, shortly before his death, that most of the these stories were translated from old Japanese texts (probably with the help of his wife, Setsu Koizumi). He also states that one of the stories — Yuki-Onna — was told to him by a farmer in Musashi Province, and his was, to the best of his knowledge, the first record of it. Riki-Baka is based on a personal experience of Hearn's. While he does not declare it in his introduction, Hi-Mawari — among the final narratives in the volume — seems to be a recollection of an experience in his childhood (it is, setting itself apart from almost all the others, written in the first person and set in rural Wales).

• The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi
• Oshidori
• Ubazakura
• Diplomacy
• Of a Mirror and a Bell
• Jikininki
• Mujina
• Rokuro-Kubi
• A Dead Secret
• Yuki-Onna
• The Story of Aoyagi
• Jiu-Roku-Zakura
• The Dream of Akinosuke
• Riki-Baka
• Hi-Mawari
• Horai

[edit] Insect studies

In the last half of the book, Hearn presents collected Chinese/Japanese superstitions and his own personal thoughts on various members of the insect world.

• Butterflies: Personification of the human soul.
• Mosquitoes: Karmic reincarnation of jealous or greedy people in the form of Jiki-ketsu-gaki or "blood-drinking pretas."
• Ants: Mankind's superior in terms of chastity, ethics, social structure, longevity, and evolution.

[edit] External links

• Sacred-Texts.com's digitized edition of the book.
• Kwaidan, available at Project Gutenberg.