is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

word consisting of two

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative".

Overall meaning and usage

In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refers to any

ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...

horror story Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A ...

, but it has an old-fashioned ring to it that carries the connotation of

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese folktales. The term is no longer as widely used in Japanese as it once was:

Japanese horror Japanese horror is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends ...

books and films such as '' Ju-on'' and '' Ring'' would more likely be labeled by the ''

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ...

'' . ''Kaidan'' is only used if the author/director wishes to specifically bring an old-fashioned air into the story.

Examples of ''kaidan''

*''

Banchō Sarayashiki is a Japanese ghost story (kaidan) of broken trust and broken promises, leading to a dismal fate. Alternatively referred to as the tradition, all versions of the tale revolve around a servant, who dies unjustly and returns to haunt the living ...

'' (''The Story of Okiku'') by

Okamoto Kido was a Japanese author. His real name was . His best known work is the Shin Kabuki play Bancho Sarayashiki. Kido was born in the district of Shiba Takanawa, a neighbourhood in Minato Ward, Tōkyō Family Kido’s father, Okamoto Keinosuke (� ...

*'' Yotsuya Kaidan'' (''Ghost Story of Tōkaidō Yotsuya'') by Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1755–1829) *''

Botan Dōrō is a Japanese ghost story () and one of the most famous in Japan. The plot involves sex with the dead and the consequences of loving a ghost. It is sometimes known as , based on the kabuki version of the story; this title is commonly used ...

'' (''The Peony Lantern'') by Asai Ryoi *'' Mimi-nashi Hōichi'' (''Hōichi the Earless'')

''Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai'' and ''kaidanshu''

''Kaidan'' entered the

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

during the

, when a

parlour game A parlour or parlor game is a group game played indoors using speech (from French Parler). They were often played in a parlour. These games were extremely popular among the upper and middle classes in the United Kingdom and in the United States d ...

called '' Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai'' became popular. This game led to a demand for

ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

and folktales to be gathered from all parts of

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

.The popularity of the game, as well as the acquisition of a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

, led to the creation of a literary genre called ''kaidanshu''. ''Kaidanshu'' were originally based on older

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

stories of a

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need t ...

nature, although the moral lessons soon gave way to the demand for strange and gruesome stories.

Examples of ''kaidanshu''

*''Tonoigusa'', called ''Otogi Monogatari'' (''Nursery Tales'') by Ogita Ansei (1660) *''Otogi Boko'' (''Handpuppets'') by Asai Ryoi (1666) *''

Ugetsu Monogatari is a collection of nine supernatural tales first published in 1776. It is the best known work of Japanese author Ueda Akinari. Largely adapted from traditional Japanese and Chinese ghost stories, the collection is among the most important work ...

'' (''Tales of Moonlight and Rain'') by

Ueda Akinari Ueda Akinari or Ueda Shūsei (, July 25, 1734 in Osaka – August 8, 1809 in Kyoto) was a Japanese author, scholar and '' waka'' poet, and a prominent literary figure in 18th-century Japan. He was an early writer in the '' yomihon'' genre an ...

(1776)

Background of the romanized translation

The word was popularised in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish- Greek- Japanese writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture a ...

in his

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

'' Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things''. The spelling ''kwaidan'' is a

romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...

based on an archaic spelling of the word in

kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters ( kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most ...

- 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 was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sens ...

made his

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

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". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refe ...

'' (1964) from Hearn's translated tales, the old spelling was used in the English title.

Plot elements

Originally based on didactic Buddhist tales, kaidan often involve elements of

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively ...

, and especially ghostly vengeance for misdeeds. Japanese

vengeful ghost In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

s (''

Onryō In Japanese traditional beliefs and literature, are a type of ghost () believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact vengeance to "redress" the wron ...

'') 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 The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The 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 franchise '' 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 The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...

as can be seen in the festival of

Obon or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist– Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people ret ...

External links

Ghoul Power - Onryou in the Movies
''Japanzine'' By Jon Wilks
Tales of Ghostly Japan
''Japanzine'' By Zack Davisson

'Mangajin #40'' by Tim Screech
Asian Folklore Studies: The Appeal of Kaidan Tales of the Strange.Information on ''The Kaidan Suite,'' a musical interpretation of kaidan by the Kitsune Ensemble.Hyakumonogatari.com
A website of translated kaidan
TheJapaneseHorror.com
Website with several translated Kaidan {{Authority control Buddhist folklore Japanese folklore * Japanese words and phrases