Background: Overview Mythology Yōkai & Bakemono Folklore in Art Content: Mukashibanashi Densetsu Kaidan Kotowaza   Further Reading Resources

Kaidan: in the ghostly realm An archaic term not widely used in modern Japan, kaidan 怪談 ("strange talk") refers to stories of ghosts, monsters, and other strange, wondrous and mysterious occurances (fushigi 不思議). Japan has a rich tradition of kaidan dating back centuries into history. The most popular of these strange stories are drawn from nō and kabuki plays of the Edo Period; other well-known tales come from classic literature such as Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu monogatari ("Tales of Moonlight and Rain"), and date as far back as an episode in Murasaki Shikibu's Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji), a work commonly acknowledged as the world's first novel. The tradition continues well into the modern day, with the modern manga of Mizuki Shigeru and his antecedents; in fact, the yōkai boom initiated by Mizuki's works is very much alive. Unlike Western ghost stories which tend to be told in the autumn, the kaidan of Japan were stories of summer. The reason for this is quite practical: the stifling heat of the summer weather made it difficult to keep cool, and the chilling sensation provided by the telling of kaidan was seen as useful in these months. And indeed the ghosts and monsters are not beings of cold as in the West. Many yōkai and obake can be found drinking the oil from andon, the floor lamps that were common in traditional Japanese houses; and many others are reported to be engulfed in flame as they fly through the sky, or can be accompanied by tiny wisps of fire (hitodama 人魂 or hinotama 火の玉, "human souls" and "fireballs", respectively -- though these fires can also be known by many other names). During the Edo Period (1603-1867), a game became popular called Hyaku monogatari, or "One Hundred Tales". During this game, a large group of people would gather together, each with their own andon lamp, and each one would tell a scary story. As each finished his story, he would extinguish his andon lamp, and as the game went on, the room grew very dark. When the last story was told and the last lamp extinguished, it was said that a ghost would then appear in the room.   Ge ge ge ge ge ge... Of Yōkai and Bakemono Hyakki Yakō, The Night Parade of One Hundred Monsters Strange Sounds and Strange Fireballs Foxes and Badgers Yuki-onna, the Snow Woman Mimi Nashi Hoichi The Ghost of Okiku The Ghost of Oiwa The Violet Well The Bell of Dōjōji Botan Dorō, the Peony Lantern Of the Biwa Called Genjo This section is under construction. More kaidan are to be added in the future. Check by for updates often!