Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: Terrifying Japanese Tales of Yokai, Ghosts, and Demons

by Lafcadio Hearn, Michael Dylan Foster (Foreword by)

Overview

"Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of wind; then she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the roof beams. Never again was she seen."

Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan (which means "ghost story" in Japanese) is the first and most famous collection of Japanese yokai stories ever published. This unforgettable collection of 17 eerie tales and 3 original cultural studies by Hearn are based on traditional oral tales passed down for generations. They are fresh reminders of the dark and mysterious corners of the Japanese psyche, from popular representations in anime, manga and video games to Masaki Kobayashi's Oscar-nominated horror film Kwaidan.

This new edition includes over 20 full-color woodblock prints that showcase the rich visual tradition of Japanese Yokai. A new foreword by Michael Dylan Foster, the leading Western expert on Yokai literature, places the stories in context and explains the lasting importance of Hearn's pioneering look at Japan's bewitching spirit world.

The stories in this volume include:

• "Yuki-onna" — A ghostly woman saves a man during a fierce snowstorm then gives him a deadly warning…
• "The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi" — A musician is unwittingly called upon by a Samurai to perform for the dead, with bloody consequences.
• "Diplomacy" — A Samurai warrior avoids the ghostly revenge of a man he intends to kill by outsmarting him before striking he strikes the death blow.

Hearn is the best-known early Western interpreter of Japanese culture and was particularly interested in tales of the supernatural. He eagerly gathered "delicate, transparent, ghostly sketches" in his adopted land and translated them with gusto. His English versions were translated back into Japanese and are considered classics of Japanese literature to this day—eagerly devoured by Japanese school children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9784805316801
Publisher:	Tuttle Publishing
Publication date:	07/05/2022
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904) was one of the earliest English writers to publish stories and essays about supernatural Japan. He arrived in Japan in 1890 and fell in love with the country and its people. He married a samurai's daughter, became a Japanese citizen and a Buddhist, and changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo. He taught English literature at various schools and began publishing books about Japan in 1894, soon becoming known as the great interpreter of all things Japanese to the West. His fourteen books on Japan include Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Kokoro, and A Japanese Miscellany.

Michael Dylan Foster is professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (2015), Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai (2009) and numerous articles on Japanese folklore, literature, and media.

Read an Excerpt

A long time ago, in the town of Niigata, in the province of Echizen, there lived a man called Nagao Chosei. Nagao was the son of a physician, and was educated for his father's profession. At an early age he had been betrothed to a girl called O-Tei, the daughter of one of his father's friends; and both families had agreed that the wedding should take place as soon as Nagao had finished his studies. But the health of O-Tei proved to be weak; and in her fifteenth year she was attacked by a fatal consumption. When she became aware that she must die, she sent for Nagao to bid him farewell. As he knelt at her bedside, she said to him:

"Nagao-Sama, my betrothed, we were promised to each other from the time of our childhood; and we were to have been married at the end of this year. But now I am going to die; the gods know what is best for us. If I were able to live for some years longer, I could only continue to be a cause of trouble and grief to others. With this frail body, I could not be a good wife; and therefore even to wish to live, for your sake, would be a very selfish wish. I am quite resigned to die; and I want you to promise that you will not grieve. … Besides, I want to tell you that I think we shall meet again…"

"Indeed we shall meet again," Nagao answered earnestly. "And in that Pure Land there will be no pain of separation."

"Nay, nay!" she responded softly, "I meant not the Pure Land. I believe that we are destined to meet again in this world… although I shall be buried tomorrow."

Nagao looked at her wonderingly, and saw her smile at his wonder. She continued, in her gentle, dreamy voice,—

"Yes, I mean in this world… in your own present life, Nagao-Sama… Providing, indeed, that you wish it. Only, for this thing to happen, I must again be born a girl, and grow up to womanhood. So you would have to wait. Fifteen—sixteen years: that is a long time… But, my promised husband, you are now only nineteen years old…"

Eager to soothe her dying moments, he answered tenderly:

"To wait for you, my betrothed, were no less a joy than a duty. We are pledged to each other for the time of seven existences."

"But you doubt?" she questioned, watching his face.

"My dear one," he answered, "I doubt whether I should be able to know you in another body, under another name—; unless you can tell me of a sign or token."

"That I cannot do," she said. "Only the Gods and the Buddhas know how and where we shall meet. But I am sure—very, very sure—;that, if you be not unwilling to receive me, I shall be able to come back to you…Remember these words of mine…"

She ceased to speak; and her eyes closed. She was dead. Nagao had been sincerely attached to O-Tei; and his grief was deep. He had a mortuary tablet made, inscribed with her zokumyo; and he placed the tablet in his butsudan and every day set offerings before it. He thought a great deal about the strange things that O-Tei had said to him just before her death; and, in the hope of pleasing her spirit, he wrote a solemn promise to wed her if she could ever return to him in another body. This written promise he sealed with his seal, and placed in the butsudan beside the mortuary tablet of O-Tei.

Nevertheless, as Nagao was an only son, it was necessary that he should marry. He soon found himself obliged to yield to the wishes of his family, and to accept a wife of his father's choosing. After his marriage he continued to set offerings before the table of O-Tei; and he never failed to remember her with affection. But by degrees her image became dim in his memory—like a dream that is hard to recall. And the years went by.

During those years many misfortunes came upon him. He lost his parents by death—then his wife and his only child. So that he found himself alone in the world. He abandoned his desolate home, and set out upon a long journey in the hope of forgetting his sorrows.