Kwaidan
Lafcadio Hearn, 1904
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Kwaidan collects Japanese ghost stories retold by Lafcadio Hearn, followed by short essays on insects. A blind biwa player is called each night to sing for the dead of a drowned clan, and his body is painted with scripture to protect him, except for his ears. A woodcutter meets a snow woman who spares him on one condition. A hunter kills a mandarin duck and is shown what he has done. A man dreams a whole life under a tree. Each tale is told in plain, level prose, and notes follow some of the stories. The last pages cover butterflies, mosquitoes and ants.
Where it happens
- Lefkada Greek island where Hearn was born on 27 June 1850.2
- Dublin Where Hearn grew up after his parents left him.2
- Cincinnati Where Hearn first worked as a newspaper reporter in the United States.2
- New Orleans Where he lived for about a decade and wrote about the city.2
- Martinique French West Indies, where he stayed for two years as a correspondent.2
Through time
Who is in it, and behind it
Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) author
Greek and Irish writer who moved to Japan in 1890 and took Japanese citizenship.2
Setsuko Koizumi subject
Hearn's Japanese wife, with whom he had four children.2
Masaki Kobayashi subject
Director of the 1964 film Kwaidan based on the book.1
Hoichi character
The blind musician of the story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi, later called Hoichi-the-Earless.1
Minokichi character
The young woodcutter in Yuki-Onna who is spared by the snow woman on a condition.1
Rosa Cassimati subject
Hearn's Greek mother, whom he loved throughout his life.2
What it is about
Ghost stories from old texts
Hearn said most of the tales came from old Japanese sources, though some he heard or lived.1
A harmful snow woman
His Yuki-Onna is original: legends existed, but the harmful version was his.1
Insects and the soul
The final essays tie butterflies to the human soul, mosquitoes to karmic rebirth, and ants to an ideal society.1
Personal memory
Riki-Baka comes from experience, and Hi-Mawari reads as a childhood memory set in Wales.1
In its own words
More than seven hundred years ago, at Dan-no-ura, in the Straits of Shimonoséki, was fought the last battle of the long contest between the Heiké, or Taira clan, and the Genji, or Minamoto clan. There the Heiké perished utterly, with their women and children, and their infant emperor likewise—now remembered as Antoku Tennō.
But from the time of his adventure, he was known only by the appellation of Mimi-nashi-Hōïchi: “Hōïchi-the-Earless.”
There was a falconer and hunter, named Sonjō, who lived in the district called Tamura-no-Gō, of the province of Mutsu. One day he went out hunting, and could not find any game.
On the Akasaka Road, in Tōkyō, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka,—which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not know why it is called the Slope of the Province of Kii.
In a village of Musashi Province (1), there lived two woodcutters: Mosaku and Minokichi. At the time of which I am speaking, Mosaku was an old man; and Minokichi, his apprentice, was a lad of eighteen years.
I intended to treat you like the other man. But I cannot help feeling some pity for you,—because you are so young... You are a pretty boy, Minokichi; and I will not hurt you now. But, if you ever tell anybody—even your own mother—about what you have seen this night, I shall know it; and then I will kill you... Remember what I say!”
The shape of the book
48 chapters, 36,608 words. Point at a bar.
How it came to be here
Hearn published the book in 1904 and wrote its introduction on 20 January of that year, eight months before his death. He said most of the stories were translated from old Japanese texts. The Yuki-Onna tale, however, came from a farmer in Musashi Province, and Hearn's version of a harmful snow woman is original. Hearn was born on Lefkada, grew up in Dublin, worked as a journalist in Cincinnati and New Orleans, and moved to Japan in 1890. He became a Japanese citizen as Koizumi Yakumo. Masaki Kobayashi adapted the book as a film in 1964.
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Sources
Text: PG 1210. US public domain (Project Gutenberg licence).