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Japanese Ghost Stories
In this collection of classic ghost stories from Japan, beautiful princesses turn out to be frogs, paintings come alive, deadly spectral brides haunt the living, and a samurai delivers the baby of a Shinto goddess with mystical help. Here are all the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore: 'rokuro-kubi', whose heads separate from their bodies at night; 'jikininki', or flesh-eating goblins; and terrifying faceless 'mujina' who haunt lonely neighbourhoods. Lafcadio Hearn, a master storyteller, drew on traditional Japanese folklore, infused with memories of his own haunted childhood in Ireland, to create these chilling tales. They are today regarded in Japan as classics in their own right.
272 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2019
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About the author
Lafcadio Hearn
1,503 books460 followersGreek-born American writer Lafcadio Hearn spent 15 years in Japan; people note his collections of stories and essays, including
Kokoro
(1896), under pen name Koizumi Yakumo.
Rosa Cassimati (Ρόζα Αντωνίου Κασιμάτη in Greek), a Greek woman, bore Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χερν in Greek or 小泉八雲 in Japanese), a son, to Charles Hearn, an army doctor from Ireland. After making remarkable works in America as a journalist, he went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine. He arrived in Yokohama, but because of a dissatisfaction with the contract, he quickly quit the job. He afterward moved to Matsué as an English teacher of Shimané prefectural middle school. In Matsué, he got acquainted with Nishida Sentarô, a colleague teacher and his lifelong friend, and married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter of a samurai.
In 1891, he moved to Kumamoto and taught at the fifth high school for three years. Kanô Jigorô, the president of the school of that time, spread judo to the world.
Hearn worked as a journalist in Kôbé and afterward in 1896 got Japanese citizenship and a new name, Koizumi Yakumo. He took this name from "Kojiki," a Japanese ancient myth, which roughly translates as "the place where the clouds are born". On that year, he moved to Tôkyô and began to teach at the Imperial University of Tôkyô. He got respect of students, many of whom made a remarkable literary career. In addition, he wrote much reports of Japan and published in America. So many people read his works as an introduction of Japan. He quit the Imperial University in 1903 and began to teach at Waseda University on the year next. Nevertheless, after only a half year, he died of angina pectoris.
Rosa Cassimati (Ρόζα Αντωνίου Κασιμάτη in Greek), a Greek woman, bore Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χερν in Greek or 小泉八雲 in Japanese), a son, to Charles Hearn, an army doctor from Ireland. After making remarkable works in America as a journalist, he went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine. He arrived in Yokohama, but because of a dissatisfaction with the contract, he quickly quit the job. He afterward moved to Matsué as an English teacher of Shimané prefectural middle school. In Matsué, he got acquainted with Nishida Sentarô, a colleague teacher and his lifelong friend, and married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter of a samurai.
In 1891, he moved to Kumamoto and taught at the fifth high school for three years. Kanô Jigorô, the president of the school of that time, spread judo to the world.
Hearn worked as a journalist in Kôbé and afterward in 1896 got Japanese citizenship and a new name, Koizumi Yakumo. He took this name from "Kojiki," a Japanese ancient myth, which roughly translates as "the place where the clouds are born". On that year, he moved to Tôkyô and began to teach at the Imperial University of Tôkyô. He got respect of students, many of whom made a remarkable literary career. In addition, he wrote much reports of Japan and published in America. So many people read his works as an introduction of Japan. He quit the Imperial University in 1903 and began to teach at Waseda University on the year next. Nevertheless, after only a half year, he died of angina pectoris.
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November 12, 2019
“Whoever pretends not to believe in ghosts of any sort, lies to his own heart. Every man is haunted by ghosts … though most of us (poets excepted) are unwilling to confess the acquaintance.” Lafcadio Hearn, “The Eternal Haunter” – from the Introduction to Japanese Ghost Stories.
If you are a fan of Japanese literature, this collection is must-purchase. Further, it is Penguin Classics at its best. From the detailed chronology of Lafcadio Hearn’s life (1850-1904), to the fabulous introduction (I would have paid extra for the Introduction, if I’d been required to), to the extensive footnotes, to the stories themselves, Japanese Ghost Stories is the complete package. Former Irish diplomat, Paul Murray, deputy head of mission in the Irish Embassy in Japan between 1978 – 1980 and later Irish ambassador to South Korea – is the editor and author of that Introduction (which covers 10% of the book, if you read on Kindle). The variety of tales -- selected from 11 of Hearn’s books --and the order in which the stories are presented (in the order in which the books from which they are taken were published) is no doubt the core of the collection’s excellence. Murray chose to include images of yurei, tengu and rokurokubi, originally published between 1814 and 1878, from wood block prints selected from 15 volumes of manga produced by the 19th century artist, Hokusai. Finally, the “further reading” list which extends for several pages makes me swoon each time I look at it.
Hearn’s tales span a variety of genres. What is consistent is that the characters can not trust their own perceptions. Men fall in love, but their beloveds are not what they appear to be. Men might be goblins. Trees might be persons. Blind monks might be performing for an assembly of the living. Or the dead.
Here’s a taste, the beginning of my favorite tale, The Story of Mim-Nashi-Hoichi:
More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of Shimono-seki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the Heike, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heike perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor likewise – now remembered as Antoku Tenno. And that sea and shore have been haunted for seven hundred years… Elsewhere I told you about the strange crabs found there, called Heike crabs, which have human faces on their backs, and are said to be the spirits of the Heike warriors. But there are many strange things to be seen and heard along the coast. On dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about the beach, or flit above the waves, - pale lights which the fishermen call Oni-bi, or demon fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of great shouting comes from that sea, like a clamor of battle....”
Japanese Ghost Stories is one of my top 10 reads this year.
About Lafcadio Hearn (1850 – 1904)
In 1889, at age thirty-nine, Hearn traveled on a magazine assignment to Japan, and never came back. He spent his initial year as a secondary-school teacher in Matsue, a traditional community located on Japan’s west coast. Here he was introduced to Koizumi Setsu, whose family was of the samurai class, and whom he later married. From Setsu, Hearn learned of traditional Japanese tales, legends and myths. He wrote fourteen books on all manner of Japanese subjects but was especially infatuated with the customs and culture preserved in Japanese folktales—particularly the ghost-story genre known as kaidan. He became known as Koizumi Yakumo, moved to Tokyo in 1896 to lecture on literature at the University of Tokyo, and died in 1904, the same year that Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things is first published. Hearn’s tales were written in English and intended largely for a Western audience, but his stories were unique for the time in being grounded in folklore. By the time his tales were translated into Japanese - in the 1920s – Japan’s forced economic transformation under Emperior Meiji (1868 -1912) was so complete that Hearn was viewed by the Japanese as a guardian of tradition; his kaidan collections are still part of the curriculum in many Japanese schools.
Related reading:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
https://www.nippon.com/en/views/b0720...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/...
Stories - listed
Of Ghosts and Goblins
The Dream of a Summer Day
In Cholera-Time
Ningyono-Haka
The Eternal Haunter
Fragment
A Passional Karma
Ingwa-Banashi
Story of a Tengu
The Reconciliation
A Legend of Fugen-Bosatsu
The Corpse-Rider
The Sympathy of Benten
The Gratitude of the Samebito
Of a Promise Kept
Of a Promise Broken
Before the Supreme Court
The Story of Kwashin Koji
The Story of Umetsu Chubei
The Legend of Yurei-Daki
In a Cup of Tea
Ikiryo
The Story of O-Kame
The Story of Chugoro
The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi
Jikininki
Mujina
Rokuro-Kubi
Yuki-Onna
The Story of Aoyagi
The Dream of Akinosuke
Riki-Baka
The Mirror Maiden
The Story of Ito Norisuke
Nightmare-Touch
If you are a fan of Japanese literature, this collection is must-purchase. Further, it is Penguin Classics at its best. From the detailed chronology of Lafcadio Hearn’s life (1850-1904), to the fabulous introduction (I would have paid extra for the Introduction, if I’d been required to), to the extensive footnotes, to the stories themselves, Japanese Ghost Stories is the complete package. Former Irish diplomat, Paul Murray, deputy head of mission in the Irish Embassy in Japan between 1978 – 1980 and later Irish ambassador to South Korea – is the editor and author of that Introduction (which covers 10% of the book, if you read on Kindle). The variety of tales -- selected from 11 of Hearn’s books --and the order in which the stories are presented (in the order in which the books from which they are taken were published) is no doubt the core of the collection’s excellence. Murray chose to include images of yurei, tengu and rokurokubi, originally published between 1814 and 1878, from wood block prints selected from 15 volumes of manga produced by the 19th century artist, Hokusai. Finally, the “further reading” list which extends for several pages makes me swoon each time I look at it.
Hearn’s tales span a variety of genres. What is consistent is that the characters can not trust their own perceptions. Men fall in love, but their beloveds are not what they appear to be. Men might be goblins. Trees might be persons. Blind monks might be performing for an assembly of the living. Or the dead.
Here’s a taste, the beginning of my favorite tale, The Story of Mim-Nashi-Hoichi:
More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of Shimono-seki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the Heike, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heike perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor likewise – now remembered as Antoku Tenno. And that sea and shore have been haunted for seven hundred years… Elsewhere I told you about the strange crabs found there, called Heike crabs, which have human faces on their backs, and are said to be the spirits of the Heike warriors. But there are many strange things to be seen and heard along the coast. On dark nights thousands of ghostly fires hover about the beach, or flit above the waves, - pale lights which the fishermen call Oni-bi, or demon fires; and, whenever the winds are up, a sound of great shouting comes from that sea, like a clamor of battle....”
Japanese Ghost Stories is one of my top 10 reads this year.
About Lafcadio Hearn (1850 – 1904)
In 1889, at age thirty-nine, Hearn traveled on a magazine assignment to Japan, and never came back. He spent his initial year as a secondary-school teacher in Matsue, a traditional community located on Japan’s west coast. Here he was introduced to Koizumi Setsu, whose family was of the samurai class, and whom he later married. From Setsu, Hearn learned of traditional Japanese tales, legends and myths. He wrote fourteen books on all manner of Japanese subjects but was especially infatuated with the customs and culture preserved in Japanese folktales—particularly the ghost-story genre known as kaidan. He became known as Koizumi Yakumo, moved to Tokyo in 1896 to lecture on literature at the University of Tokyo, and died in 1904, the same year that Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things is first published. Hearn’s tales were written in English and intended largely for a Western audience, but his stories were unique for the time in being grounded in folklore. By the time his tales were translated into Japanese - in the 1920s – Japan’s forced economic transformation under Emperior Meiji (1868 -1912) was so complete that Hearn was viewed by the Japanese as a guardian of tradition; his kaidan collections are still part of the curriculum in many Japanese schools.
Related reading:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
https://www.nippon.com/en/views/b0720...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/...
Stories - listed
Of Ghosts and Goblins
The Dream of a Summer Day
In Cholera-Time
Ningyono-Haka
The Eternal Haunter
Fragment
A Passional Karma
Ingwa-Banashi
Story of a Tengu
The Reconciliation
A Legend of Fugen-Bosatsu
The Corpse-Rider
The Sympathy of Benten
The Gratitude of the Samebito
Of a Promise Kept
Of a Promise Broken
Before the Supreme Court
The Story of Kwashin Koji
The Story of Umetsu Chubei
The Legend of Yurei-Daki
In a Cup of Tea
Ikiryo
The Story of O-Kame
The Story of Chugoro
The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi
Jikininki
Mujina
Rokuro-Kubi
Yuki-Onna
The Story of Aoyagi
The Dream of Akinosuke
Riki-Baka
The Mirror Maiden
The Story of Ito Norisuke
Nightmare-Touch
October 12, 2019
It’s rather interesting to think that one of the most influential writers of Japanese ghost stories was a man born in Greece and raised in Ireland. Lafcadio Hearn (also known as Koizumi Yakumo) spent most of the last decade or so of his life composing English language versions of many Japanese ghost stories and folktales. When it came time for Masaki Kobayashi to direct the absolutely beautiful film Kwaidan, he based it on Hearne’s take on the tales. Let that sink in. The Japanese film used HIS retellings as the basis for the movie.
These tales are all told in a rather informal style, it’s easy to imagine these tales told around a campfire, or in dimly lit parlor with shadows creating sinister shapes across a screen door. It creates a genuine folklore feel to it, as if he’s just telling the tale to you personally. I really enjoyed the style throughout, and it has a rather timeless feel to it.
The stories, as with most short story collections, varies in quality, but none of the tales were ones I regret reading. If I had a complaint about the collection as a whole, it’s the rather false advertising on Penguin’s part. This is a collection of various tales Hearn wrote from several of his books. The title chosen for this collection is “Japanese Ghost Stories,” and indeed there are ghost stories… but there are several which do not involve ghosts. Were the stories good? Yes, but they were folklore, not what the title promised. Am I knocking off a star for that? Absolutely not.
Fortunately, for those who feel like I did, after the first couple of ghostless (or mostly ghostless) stories, almost everything that follows is a horror story. Some of them are absolutely stunning, and a few genuinely unnerving. A special note on this goes to "Mujina," which is a tale I saw played out in an anime once when I was a kid and it scared the hell out of me then. When I started reading the story and realized what it was, the hair on my arm stood up and I got goosebumps. While the ending of the story has honestly been done to the point of parody, it still had the power to creep me out.
Do I recommend this collection? Absolutely, all fans of ghost stories and folklore (Japanese or otherwise) would do well to pick this up. Penguin has delivered a wonderful collection (despite the misleading title). A well deserved 4/5 stars and a full recommendation.
Also, penguin's cover? Awesome. I love the guy in the background waving his arms like "Where the hell did I put my head?"
February 20, 2026
"Whoever pretends not to believe in ghosts of any sort, lies to his own heart. Every man is haunted by ghosts—though most of us (poets excepted) are unwilling to confess the acquaintance."
This new edition of Hearn's retellings of Japanese folk stories took me longer to get through than I anticipated. I usually review short story collections by breaking them down and rating each story on its own, but I found that I was unable to do it in this case—there are thirty-four of them, and save for a few exceptions, they were just a little too bite-sized, and felt more like sketches or vignettes than fleshed out stories to me.
The book starts with a short biography of Hearn (1850-1904), which was fascinating, and quite eye-opening in order to understand what drew him to these dark tales. He was born in Greece, raised in Ireland, abandoned by every parental figure he ever had, and then moved quite literally all over the world—Cincinnati, New Orleans, the French Indies, and finally Japan, where he eventually married a native, became a naturalized citizen, and started collecting the country's myths and legends, putting them into English and offering the Western world a glimpse of Japanese culture for the first time.
The low rating is not due to Hearn's writing, which was good—a bit reminiscent of Poe, I thought, or maybe the subject matter is what brought him to mind. No, it was the stories themselves that didn't do it for me, as most followed the same formulas (but you can't fault Hearn for it, since he just collected existing legends): Young samurais fall in love with fair maidens which then turn out to be goblins, vampire frogs (yes, really), some other mythical creature, or just deceased; samurais and fair maidens die of heartsickness because that's what infatuation apparently used to do to people; dead wives come back to haunt or kill the women who took their place after their passing because they don't wish their widower to ever feel happiness again; monks are often involved and must stand against evil spirits. You get the gist. They were okay, but they all kind of blend together, and none really stood out (except a rather memorable one about a concubine who ends up with a corpse's severed and groping hands permanently attached to her breasts).
The stories collected are in order of their original publication, and Hearn's presence as a narrator is very obvious in the early ones, to the point that it really confused me when I started reading, until I realized that he was framing the tales with how he came to hear them, and from whom. I wasn't a fan of this, and think they should've been annotations instead, if included at all, but he obviously broke this habit later in life, and as such the collection improves towards the end. The stories also come with many footnotes explaining the meaning of Japanese words used, or giving other cultural context information needed in order to better understand the story as a complete outsider. These are undoubtedly much of the reason why Hearn's writings are still rather popular in academia, but unfortunately the ARC I received was weirdly formatted, with the links to the footnotes broken, so the text just showed up some pages later, interrupting a different sentence. As such, they weren't very useful in my case, and I found myself wishing I were reading a physical copy more than once.
This wasn't a complete waste of time, I appreciated the collection for the historical context and cultural glimpse more than anything else (they are today regarded as classics in their own right in Japan), but I find myself largely unimpressed by the content itself—the Japanese are generally known for their seriously twisted horror stories, and I just expected to be more revolted and creeped out than I was.
—————
Note: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 31, 2025
Just absolutely incredible and stunning. And so inspiring for the film I'm working on. Japanese ghosts are the scariest ghosts! What's scarier: some rattling in the night, a few raps on a ouija board, unexplained moaning; or a female ghost who marries you and has your child, but then it turns out that all along she was a GHOST?? You see her as young and beautiful, but your neighbor peeks through the window and sees a grotesque rotting skeleton. CREEPY!!
February 26, 2024
Cuentos de hadas japoneses es precisamente eso: una compilación de cinco relatos folclóricos nipones que su autor, Lafcadio Hearn, reversó para el público occidental a principios del siglo XX.
Lo que más valoro de esta antología es cuán representativa es del intercambio cultural como ejercicio. Hearn no solo reescribe estas narraciones tradicionales, convirtiéndolas desde su japonés original al inglés de sus nuevos lectores, sino que también traduce la mitología: en sus relatos aparecen hadas y duendes, criaturas de la cultura europea, que se presentan como equivalentes a sus contrapartes japonesas - algún yokai de características o funciones similares.
Ese gesto, tan epocal que hoy en día sería problemático, está presente en todos los relatos salvo en uno, "La anciana que perdió sus dumplings". En este cuento, en cambio, las criaturas se presentan con sus nombres japoneses, que son explicados con notas al pie de página. Me pareció una decisión inconsistente frente a la compilación.
Lo que más valoro de esta antología es cuán representativa es del intercambio cultural como ejercicio. Hearn no solo reescribe estas narraciones tradicionales, convirtiéndolas desde su japonés original al inglés de sus nuevos lectores, sino que también traduce la mitología: en sus relatos aparecen hadas y duendes, criaturas de la cultura europea, que se presentan como equivalentes a sus contrapartes japonesas - algún yokai de características o funciones similares.
Ese gesto, tan epocal que hoy en día sería problemático, está presente en todos los relatos salvo en uno, "La anciana que perdió sus dumplings". En este cuento, en cambio, las criaturas se presentan con sus nombres japoneses, que son explicados con notas al pie de página. Me pareció una decisión inconsistente frente a la compilación.
October 31, 2023
Liczyłam na wielki zachwyt, a niestety miałam zbyt duże oczekiwania.
July 12, 2023
A delicious array of brilliantly told ghost stories here; everything from corpse eating ‘jinkininkis’ to ‘tree spirits’, wronged ‘crab-goblins’ to ‘decapitated, conspiring heads’.
The underlying moral of each story however seems to be thus: if a divinely beautiful woman in an utterly random spot in the countryside offers you ANYTHING of worth, be it eternal love, youth or riches, politely decline, run like fuck and don’t tell a damn soul about it; else you’ll be cursed to high heaven.
Hearn provides fantastic afterwords on most every short story with his thoughts and feelings too. Making for some brilliant contextualisation.
The underlying moral of each story however seems to be thus: if a divinely beautiful woman in an utterly random spot in the countryside offers you ANYTHING of worth, be it eternal love, youth or riches, politely decline, run like fuck and don’t tell a damn soul about it; else you’ll be cursed to high heaven.
Hearn provides fantastic afterwords on most every short story with his thoughts and feelings too. Making for some brilliant contextualisation.
January 21, 2020
From "Of Ghosts and Goblins": "'O Kinjuro,' I said, as we took our way home, 'I have heard and I have read many Japanese stories of the returning dead. Likewise, you yourself have told me it is still believed the dead return, and why. But according both to that which I have read and that which you have told me, the coming back of the dead is never a thing to be desired. They return because of hate, or because of envy, or because they cannot rest for sorrow. But of any who return for that which is not evil--where is that written? Surely the common history of them is like that which we have this night seen: much that is horrible and much that is wicked and nothing of that which is beautiful or true'.
Now this I said that I might tempt him. And he made even the answer I desired by uttering the story which is hereafter set down" (5).
From "The Dream of a Summer Day": "And I thought at once of death; for the beautiful is sometimes a sorrow of anticipation." (10)
From "In Cholera Time" "Sometimes a child vanishes; but the survivors continue their play. And this is wisdom" (24).
"It costs only forty-four sen to burn a child. The son of one of my neighbors was burned a few days ago. The little stones with which he used to play lie there in the sun just as he left them... Curious this child-love of stones! Stones are the toys not only of the children of the poor, but of all children at one period of existence: no mater how well supplied with other playthings, every Japanese child wants to play with stones. To the child-mind a stone is a marvelous thing, and ought to be, since even to the understanding of the mathematician there can be nothing more wonderful than a common stone. The tiny urchin suspects the stone to be much more than it seems, which is an excellent suspicion; and if stupid grown-up folk did not untruthfully tell him that his plaything is not worth thinking about, he would never tire of it, and would always be finding something new and extraordinary in it. Only a very great mind could answer all a child's questions about stones." (24-25).
From "The Mirror Maiden": "Matsumura imagined, however, that the mirror might yield some explanation of the mystery; for every such mirror is a weird thing, having a soul of its own--and the soul of a mirror is feminine" (191).
From "Nightmare-Touch": "Nowhere do I remember reading a plain statement of the reason why ghosts are feared" (207).
"It may be doubted whether the phantasms of any particular nightmare have a history older than the brain in which they move. But the shock of the touch would seem to indicate *some point of dream-contact with the total race-experience of shadowy seizure*. It may be that profundities of Self--abysses never reached by any ray from the life of sun--are strangely stirred in slumber, and that out of their blackness immediately responds a shuddering of memory, measureless even by millions of years" (213).
Now this I said that I might tempt him. And he made even the answer I desired by uttering the story which is hereafter set down" (5).
From "The Dream of a Summer Day": "And I thought at once of death; for the beautiful is sometimes a sorrow of anticipation." (10)
From "In Cholera Time" "Sometimes a child vanishes; but the survivors continue their play. And this is wisdom" (24).
"It costs only forty-four sen to burn a child. The son of one of my neighbors was burned a few days ago. The little stones with which he used to play lie there in the sun just as he left them... Curious this child-love of stones! Stones are the toys not only of the children of the poor, but of all children at one period of existence: no mater how well supplied with other playthings, every Japanese child wants to play with stones. To the child-mind a stone is a marvelous thing, and ought to be, since even to the understanding of the mathematician there can be nothing more wonderful than a common stone. The tiny urchin suspects the stone to be much more than it seems, which is an excellent suspicion; and if stupid grown-up folk did not untruthfully tell him that his plaything is not worth thinking about, he would never tire of it, and would always be finding something new and extraordinary in it. Only a very great mind could answer all a child's questions about stones." (24-25).
From "The Mirror Maiden": "Matsumura imagined, however, that the mirror might yield some explanation of the mystery; for every such mirror is a weird thing, having a soul of its own--and the soul of a mirror is feminine" (191).
From "Nightmare-Touch": "Nowhere do I remember reading a plain statement of the reason why ghosts are feared" (207).
"It may be doubted whether the phantasms of any particular nightmare have a history older than the brain in which they move. But the shock of the touch would seem to indicate *some point of dream-contact with the total race-experience of shadowy seizure*. It may be that profundities of Self--abysses never reached by any ray from the life of sun--are strangely stirred in slumber, and that out of their blackness immediately responds a shuddering of memory, measureless even by millions of years" (213).
September 3, 2022
I thought I'd read this more for historical and cultural reasons, but I ended enjoying it much more than that. The whole concept of Hearn collecting the stories is charming, the narration too, the cultural elements of course. The editing of the book with biography and footnotes by Penguin is excellent as well.
April 24, 2023
Spooooooooooooooooooooooooooooky!
September 2, 2019
A better collection of Kwaidan
Lot of Hearn's scattered Japanese Ghost Stories have been collected from several of his books, and were put together in one book. This is a good way for readers to get acquainted with his stories without having to hunt for more of his books. Thus appreciate the telling of these tales with "delicious chill" as Algernon Blackwood called it. (Blackwood was a fan of Hearn). These are comparable to the works of Pu Songling, which you also should read. Strongly recommended.
Addition: There are at least three or four more ghost stories left out of the Penguin edition. But that can be forgiven.
Lot of Hearn's scattered Japanese Ghost Stories have been collected from several of his books, and were put together in one book. This is a good way for readers to get acquainted with his stories without having to hunt for more of his books. Thus appreciate the telling of these tales with "delicious chill" as Algernon Blackwood called it. (Blackwood was a fan of Hearn). These are comparable to the works of Pu Songling, which you also should read. Strongly recommended.
Addition: There are at least three or four more ghost stories left out of the Penguin edition. But that can be forgiven.
February 17, 2020
The most interesting parts of this book are the introduction and appendix about the life of Lafcadio Hearn. The short stories, however, are quite formulaic, repetitive and written in a very simplistic style. It is culturally interesting to see what a Japanese ghost story consists of, but in general, they are neither scary, nor particularly good. Most of the stories consist of an attractive ghost woman and a man who doesn't realise that she is a ghost until they do for some reason or other. There is a lot about reincarnation as well, which means any ghost/death is automatically a lot less scary and impactful. I was expecting more yokai, more variety, but most stories blend into each other.
I was listening to this on audiobook and I actually had to hear some stories several times, because they were so short, vague and unmemorable that I wasn't sure I had missed something along the way and/or couldn't remember them 2 days later.
I can't fault the publisher for publishing this book, it is of historical interest, but none of these stories stand on their own, unfortunately.
I was listening to this on audiobook and I actually had to hear some stories several times, because they were so short, vague and unmemorable that I wasn't sure I had missed something along the way and/or couldn't remember them 2 days later.
I can't fault the publisher for publishing this book, it is of historical interest, but none of these stories stand on their own, unfortunately.
February 3, 2020
”You did not suppose that ghost-story was true, did you?”
I can’t resist folktales, myths and legends, and ghost stories. Whether true vs real in belief vs fanciful vs purposeful etc etc, the stories we tell say a lot about ourselves and how we relate to the world we live in. Like a touchstone, I’m drawn to such stories that speak not only of other worlds and cultures - how familiar its existence is in the first place, and how they connect to or compare with my own. Often rooted in belief, these stories along with the fears they evoke are passed down and shared amongst. It’s interesting to think of how they fit in today’s world, especially with these stories in particular, set in eras gone by where samurai and daimyo were de rigueur. Fascinating insight into how communities lived back then too - for instance, hadn’t heard of the practice of burying the dead sitting up in a wooden bucket/barrel coffin (hayaoke) until reading this!
I had only the barest inkling of who Lafcadio Hearn was prior to reading this. I can’t say I know a whole lot more now but I was interested in looking him up, to see why he was interested in translating and sharing these stories. As per Wikipedia, he was born in Greece before being moved to Ireland, where he was abandoned by his parents. He found his way to the US and then Japan, where he married and had children with a local woman. He became a Japanese citizen later in life and was also known as Koizumi Yakumo. As per the intro, his voice bled into the stories in the first half and in the later stories, he told/translated them as they were - for the Western audience in each case.
The stories in these aren’t necessarily scary scary, though some are definitely more spine-chilling than others, and not uncommonly contain supernatural elements. Karma and regeneration, love and revenge commonly feature.
I can’t resist folktales, myths and legends, and ghost stories. Whether true vs real in belief vs fanciful vs purposeful etc etc, the stories we tell say a lot about ourselves and how we relate to the world we live in. Like a touchstone, I’m drawn to such stories that speak not only of other worlds and cultures - how familiar its existence is in the first place, and how they connect to or compare with my own. Often rooted in belief, these stories along with the fears they evoke are passed down and shared amongst. It’s interesting to think of how they fit in today’s world, especially with these stories in particular, set in eras gone by where samurai and daimyo were de rigueur. Fascinating insight into how communities lived back then too - for instance, hadn’t heard of the practice of burying the dead sitting up in a wooden bucket/barrel coffin (hayaoke) until reading this!
I had only the barest inkling of who Lafcadio Hearn was prior to reading this. I can’t say I know a whole lot more now but I was interested in looking him up, to see why he was interested in translating and sharing these stories. As per Wikipedia, he was born in Greece before being moved to Ireland, where he was abandoned by his parents. He found his way to the US and then Japan, where he married and had children with a local woman. He became a Japanese citizen later in life and was also known as Koizumi Yakumo. As per the intro, his voice bled into the stories in the first half and in the later stories, he told/translated them as they were - for the Western audience in each case.
The stories in these aren’t necessarily scary scary, though some are definitely more spine-chilling than others, and not uncommonly contain supernatural elements. Karma and regeneration, love and revenge commonly feature.
September 3, 2024
This is a thorough entertainer.
Some of the stories are fun to read; some of the stories are truly spooky; some of the stories end up like moral stories; some of the stories are very ordinary but the Japanese situation makes them interesting.
Some of the stories are fun to read; some of the stories are truly spooky; some of the stories end up like moral stories; some of the stories are very ordinary but the Japanese situation makes them interesting.
September 21, 2020
Overall a bit disappointing but then this is a collection of folk tales, which means they aren't necessarily written with the intent to impress readers' tastes, but tend more to reflect fears of people and values of society, and perhaps portray some kind of moral lessons. A lot of the stories are rather forgettable, and there is a lot repetition of the same kinds of ideas. Lots of samurai's (or others) pine away, frequently unto death, because of losing a love, something that has some kind of romantic factor, but usually just strikes me as overly dramatic and silly. Lots of deception, usually by women (yes it is quite sexist), who turn out to be ghosts, goblins, or other mythical creatures.
one of the recurring ideas was a person experiencing some kind of supernatural event, and then being forbidden to speak of it to anyone. There's this pervasive emphasis on holding to a vow, even when it was made without consent, and having a severe punishment for failing to keep a secret, which makes me think there was something deep in the Japanese culture that valued that kind of secrecy even when it did great harm. Certainly there are plenty of examples of the same kinds of loyalty behavior in other cultures as well, but the expression here seemed distinctly Asian.
Hearn is best when he is just relaying the stories, and when he delves in psychology, he pretty much goes off the rails into unsubstantiated speculation. The opening quote is quite annoying as it reveals his inability to understand that not everyone thinks like he does. Some of us truly do not believe in ghosts, and it is not because we are lying to ourselves. When I was a kid, I believed in all sorts of things, including ghosts, but as I learned more about how our brains works, and learned about things like hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, the fear was replaced with understanding, and the beliefs evaporated. Hearn had a bit of unexamined arrogance in his own viewpoints.
I did like the stories where heads got ripped off by the "ghosts" and the Japanese style of ghouls, or goblins, who necks can elongate, or whose heads can detach and float off to feed is pretty cool. So there were enough bits to keep me satisfied.
one of the recurring ideas was a person experiencing some kind of supernatural event, and then being forbidden to speak of it to anyone. There's this pervasive emphasis on holding to a vow, even when it was made without consent, and having a severe punishment for failing to keep a secret, which makes me think there was something deep in the Japanese culture that valued that kind of secrecy even when it did great harm. Certainly there are plenty of examples of the same kinds of loyalty behavior in other cultures as well, but the expression here seemed distinctly Asian.
Hearn is best when he is just relaying the stories, and when he delves in psychology, he pretty much goes off the rails into unsubstantiated speculation. The opening quote is quite annoying as it reveals his inability to understand that not everyone thinks like he does. Some of us truly do not believe in ghosts, and it is not because we are lying to ourselves. When I was a kid, I believed in all sorts of things, including ghosts, but as I learned more about how our brains works, and learned about things like hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, the fear was replaced with understanding, and the beliefs evaporated. Hearn had a bit of unexamined arrogance in his own viewpoints.
I did like the stories where heads got ripped off by the "ghosts" and the Japanese style of ghouls, or goblins, who necks can elongate, or whose heads can detach and float off to feed is pretty cool. So there were enough bits to keep me satisfied.
November 11, 2019
In all its haunting glory this is just a bit more than an anthology of Japanese ghost stories, as it also reveals, sometimes very sharp, the period in which it was written, before 1904, before the World War, and before the first Russo-Japanese war when an Asian nation for the first beat a European one on the battlefield. It was written during a period whan Japan was modernising at a surprising speed but still also stood with one foot in a feodal world where samourai still swore fealty to their daimyo, and the countryside did not yet know electricity.
What did already happen was the Chino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 when Japan started its first attempts to find a place for its growing population by conquering parts of neighbouring countries. In one story, 'In Cholera-time.", where the disease is described as China's chief ally, and being deaf and blind about treaties or of peace. As it followed the victorious armies as they returned it killed about 30.000 people during the first hot season, and Lafcadio speaks about the smoke and the odor of the funeral pyres, and of the price for the family, 80 sen for an adult, and 44 for a child. In another scene children sing songs about the war and cutting off the heads of Chinese.
And so there are two ways of reading this book: as a collection of ghost stories, or as a time document. In both cases it is worth reading.
What did already happen was the Chino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 when Japan started its first attempts to find a place for its growing population by conquering parts of neighbouring countries. In one story, 'In Cholera-time.", where the disease is described as China's chief ally, and being deaf and blind about treaties or of peace. As it followed the victorious armies as they returned it killed about 30.000 people during the first hot season, and Lafcadio speaks about the smoke and the odor of the funeral pyres, and of the price for the family, 80 sen for an adult, and 44 for a child. In another scene children sing songs about the war and cutting off the heads of Chinese.
And so there are two ways of reading this book: as a collection of ghost stories, or as a time document. In both cases it is worth reading.
September 6, 2019
My last read:
Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn
This is a collection of short stories. I love Japanese ghost stories because they are downright macabre and surreal.
This is a collection of short stories. To give you an idea, there are stories about paintings coming alive, flesh-eating goblins (or jikininki), dead brides haunting the living and others.
As in any collection of short stories, the stories range from average to good to excellent. And what I really like is that they are *really* short stories and not like some compilation where some of the stories are like a novella and should be published as such. I pick up a book of short stories like a box of assorted chocolates (some good, some not so but all bite-sized) and not a whole black forest cake (which I don’t like).
I’d recommend the book.
In case you’re wondering about the author, yep, he’s not Japanese. He’s Greek. He was born in 1850 in Lefkas, Greece. He went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine, married a Japanese and had four children. He became a Japanese citizen in 1896 and was given the Japanese name, Koizumi Yakumo, ( 小泉八雲). He died in 1904 in Tokyo aged 54.
Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn
This is a collection of short stories. I love Japanese ghost stories because they are downright macabre and surreal.
This is a collection of short stories. To give you an idea, there are stories about paintings coming alive, flesh-eating goblins (or jikininki), dead brides haunting the living and others.
As in any collection of short stories, the stories range from average to good to excellent. And what I really like is that they are *really* short stories and not like some compilation where some of the stories are like a novella and should be published as such. I pick up a book of short stories like a box of assorted chocolates (some good, some not so but all bite-sized) and not a whole black forest cake (which I don’t like).
I’d recommend the book.
In case you’re wondering about the author, yep, he’s not Japanese. He’s Greek. He was born in 1850 in Lefkas, Greece. He went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine, married a Japanese and had four children. He became a Japanese citizen in 1896 and was given the Japanese name, Koizumi Yakumo, ( 小泉八雲). He died in 1904 in Tokyo aged 54.
April 6, 2024
3.25 - I was really excited to give this a read, and while I still enjoyed it, I don’t think it lived up to my expectations. There were definitely stories in here that has weird twists and creepy ghosts, but I think that the way in which the stories are told kind of takes away from the atmosphere. I understand that this is just an account of these stories and isn’t really intended to be scary, but some of the events in here are horrific and I think would’ve been better executed if the narration wasn’t so bland. That being said, I did like the mix of “friendly” and vengeful spirits (as well as a few goblins thrown in there) which provided a nice overall vision of ghost stories in Japan. The illustrations also really added to the stories that they were paired with, so much so that I wish they were more common. My favorites were “Ingwa-Banashi,” “The Corpse-Rider,” “The Story of Chūgorō,” “Mujina,” and “Rokuro-Kubi” since they captured the bizarreness that I was expecting very well.
September 23, 2019
Few do spooky, disturbing ghost stories as well as the Japanese. And few Westerners have truly got under the skin and understood Japan as Lafcadio Hearn. This is an excellent collection, perfect to dip into now and again to leisure in the ghostly goings-on. Great stuff, and a must-have on the bookshelf of any fan of Japanese literature.
June 13, 2021
I really enjoy translations of old Japanese stories. These are pretty weird, and sometimes seem pointless or silly. I think most people would not be into it, but it's right up my alley.
January 12, 2026
Son cuentos muy cortitos pero bien entretenidos sobre las hadas y seres mitológicos de Japón. Me encantó.
March 9, 2022
3,5 stars.
Some really creepy stories, and some very forgettable ones.
Some really creepy stories, and some very forgettable ones.
December 11, 2019
3.5
The stories are mostly very short, and the progression is lightning fast - people get married, have kids and die on the same page - like with many old stories and sagas. What I like the most is just getting into the myths and legends and stories of different cultures. And even if this is written by a non-Japanese person, he lived in Japan for quite some time (until his death) and it has even come to that his writings of the legends has become very famous and well-read in Japan (I have myself noticed that sometimes outsiders are the best to make local stores and legends more interesting - see Neil Gaiman and his versions of the Norse mythologies).
The first stories aren't really ghost-like at all, and some of the stories are a bit silly or have really abrupt and odd endings. This probably is sometimes the nature of stories like these, and it didn't bother me too much, just made me chuckle.
Easy read, some pretty scary stories, good for a look into another culture, and you get lots of historical and mythological info about Japan!
The stories are mostly very short, and the progression is lightning fast - people get married, have kids and die on the same page - like with many old stories and sagas. What I like the most is just getting into the myths and legends and stories of different cultures. And even if this is written by a non-Japanese person, he lived in Japan for quite some time (until his death) and it has even come to that his writings of the legends has become very famous and well-read in Japan (I have myself noticed that sometimes outsiders are the best to make local stores and legends more interesting - see Neil Gaiman and his versions of the Norse mythologies).
The first stories aren't really ghost-like at all, and some of the stories are a bit silly or have really abrupt and odd endings. This probably is sometimes the nature of stories like these, and it didn't bother me too much, just made me chuckle.
Easy read, some pretty scary stories, good for a look into another culture, and you get lots of historical and mythological info about Japan!
February 5, 2019
This book has a few different Japanese Ghost Stories, 15 different stories. Every story is different and really fun to read it. My favourite story was called "The Bouncing heads". The story is kind of creepy, the title itself is really creepy. When I was in Japanese school I used to read this kind of story a lot. It's really fun and sometimes it's weird and creepy, but that's the part that you can really enjoy. One thing I thought it's a good part of this book is that it's not like a long book or story itself is really short like it only a few pages. I like reading many short stories rather than reading one big long story.
November 1, 2019
WoW! I really enjoyed this book. The forward talks about the life of Lafcadio Hearn and what I loved is how he made is name in Cincinnati, Ohio which is near me and how he went on to Japan and wrote this book sharing the stories told to him by his wife and how they created their own. This is a short story collection of many different tales about ghosts and I just loved it. Some stories, of course, are better than others but as a whole the collection is brilliant. I highly recommend this book especially during the Autumn/Halloween season.
January 3, 2022
Fun read but the stories were sometimes a little repetitive. I did not like that author butts in now and then. It made it a little confusing in the beginning. I would have preferred if it was just the collection of stories instead of the author's anecdotes.
Also, heads up for anyone that wants to read this, read it on your kindle because SO MANY FOOTNOTES. It would've been very annoying to read all these notes in the print version.
Also, heads up for anyone that wants to read this, read it on your kindle because SO MANY FOOTNOTES. It would've been very annoying to read all these notes in the print version.
November 6, 2019
Meer informatief en boeiend, dan spannend. Zeker de Japanse cultuur rond geesten, goblins, meerdere levens en rivier monsters wordt mooi uitgelegd. Alhoewel ik alle Japanse namen door elkaar haal en dus geen enkele onthouden heb, is dit voor geïnteresseerden in de cultuur een leuk extra. REVIEW COMING UP SOON ON THE BLOG ploppers. 💕
March 14, 2020
A mixed bag; a few standout stories but largely so-so. Other takeaways were the far-out backstory of the author and the perfectly insane cover art.
January 15, 2020
There were only a handful of decent stories in this entire book. Not quite sure why I read the whole thing.
December 31, 2024
A Lot of these stories are half baked, bite sized can't really say bad. But there are you good ones that make it worth the read.
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