Kaidan

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

Kaidan (怪談) 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.

No longer in common usage in modern Japanese, J-Horror books and films such as Ju-on and Ring (as well as the book on which the latter was based), would more properly be labled by the katakana houra ("horror") or the standard Japanese kowai banashi ("scary story"). Kaidan is only used if the author/director wishes to specifically bring an old fashioned air into the story.

Contents

1 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai and Kaidanshu

1.1 Significant Kaidanshu
1.2 Significant Kaidan

2 Lafcadio Hearn and \"Kwaidan\"
3 Plot elements
4 See also
5 External links

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 aquisition of a printing press from Korea in 1593, 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.

Significant 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

Significant Kaidan

Bancho Sarayashiki (The Story of Okiku) by Okamoto Kido
Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (Ghost Story of Tokaido 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 based on an old form of Japanese spelling that was still in use when Hearn came to Japan.

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

Plot elements

Originally based on didatic 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 tormenter, but can sometimes be a general hatred torwards all living humans. This untargeted wrath can be seen in Furisode, a story in Hearn's 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.

External links

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