Kwaidan

Twenty unusual tales from Japan collected by one of the greatest writers on the country.

A miscellany of ghost stories, odd tales, and curious observations by a master storyteller who penetrated Japan more deeply than any other Westerner. Lafcadio Hearn's fascinating life would bring him from Greece, to Ireland, to the United States, and finally to Japan, where he would marry and eventually die. In Japan, Hearn authored many of his most famous writings and translations. Kwaidan ("ghost story") captures the folk spirit and quaint “exoticism” of a land thought at the time to be both mysterious and sinister.

Hearn's writing would not only impact the West's perception of Japan but become celebrated in the country as well. Director Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri, 1962) adapted Kwaidan into an award-winning horror film of the same name in 1964.