Kaidan

:"Kwaidan" redirects here. For the book by Lafcadio Hearn, see . For Masaki Kobayashi's film of the same name, see Kwaidan (film)."

"Kaidan" (怪談) (sometimes transliterated "kwaidan") is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (kai) meaning "“strange, mysterious, rare or bewitching apparition" and 談 (dan) meaning "“talk”" or "“recited narrative.”" In its broadest sense, kaidan refers to any ghost or horror story, but it has an old-fashioned ring to it that carries the connotation of Edo period Japanese folktales.

The term is no longer as widely used in Japanese as it once was: J-Horror books and films such as "Ju-on" and "Ring" would more likely be labelled by the katakana

Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai and Kaidanshu

Kaidan entered the vernacular during the Edo period, when a game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular. This game lead to a demand for ghost stories and folktales to be gathered from all parts of Japan and China.

The popularity of the game, as well as the acquisition of a printing press, lead to the creation of a literary genre called "Kaidanshu."

"Kaidanshu" were originally based on older Buddhist stories of a didactic nature, although the moral lessons soon gave way to the demand for strange and gruesome stories.

ignificant Kaidanshu

*"Tonoigusa", called "Otogi Monogatari" ("Nursery Tales") by Ogita Ansei (1660)
*"Otogi Boko" ("Handpuppets") by Asai Ryoi (1666)
*"Ugetsu Monogatari" ("Tales of Moonlight and Rain") by Ueda Akinari (1776)

ignificant Kaidan

*"Bancho Sarayashiki" ("The Story of Okiku") by Okamoto Kido
*"Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan" ("Ghost Story of Tōkaidō Yotsuya") by Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1755–1829)
*"Botan Dorou" ("The Peony Lantern") by Asai Ryoi
*"Miminashi Hoichi" ("Hoichi the Earless")

Lafcadio Hearn and "Kwaidan"

The word was popularised in English by Lafcadio Hearn in his book '. The spelling "kwaidan" is a romanization based on an archaic spelling of the word in kana - Hearn used it since the stories in the book were equally archaic. The revised Hepburn romanization system is spelled kaidan"'.

When film director Masaki Kobayashi filmed several of Hearn's translated tales for his film "Kwaidan," the old spelling was retained in the English title.

Plot elements

Originally based on didactic Buddhist tales, kaidan often involve elements of karma, and especially ghostly vengeance for misdeeds. Japanese vengeful ghosts are far more powerful after death than they were in life, and are often people who were particularly powerless in life, such as women and servants.

This vengeance is usually specifically targeted against the tormentor, but can sometimes be a general hatred toward all living humans. This untargeted wrath can be seen in "Furisode", a story in Hearn's book "In Ghostly Japan" about a cursed kimono that kills everyone who wears it. This motif is repeated in the film "Ring" with a videotape that kills all who watch it, and the film "Ju-on" with a house that kills all who enter it.

Kaidan also frequently involve water as a ghostly element. In Japanese religion, water is a pathway to the underworld as can be seen in the festival of Obon.

ee also

*Japanese mythology
*J-Horror
*Lafcadio Hearn
*Obake
*Yokai
*Yurei
*Glen Grant
*Shigeru Mizuki
*Gakkō no Kaidan (disambiguation page) - school kaidan

External links

* [http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1279/Ghoul+Power Ghoul Power - Onryou in the Movies] "Japanzine" By Jon Wilks
* [http://www.seekjapan.jp/article-1/766/Tales+of+Ghostly+Japan Tales of Ghostly Japan] "Japanzine" By Zack Davisson
* [http://www.mangajin.com/mangajin/samplemj/ghosts/ghosts.htm/ Japanese Ghosts] "Mangajin #40" by Tim Screech
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kwaidan/index.htm Hearn's "Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things".]
* [http://www.harapan.co.jp/english/kwaidan/kwaidan_index.htm A site with several kaidan.]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3342/is_200012/ai_n8057928 Asian Folklore Studies: The Appeal of Kaidan Tales of the Strange.]
* [http://www.kitsuneensemble.org Information on "The Kaidan Suite," a musical interpretation of kaidan by the Kitsune Ensemble.]