Kaidan Botan Dōrō
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(Peony lantern kaidan) is a story inspired by the Chinese influenced
kaidan is a Japanese language, 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 ...
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 i ...
. Published as a
stenography Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''s ...
narrated and created by the
rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal comedy, traditionally performed in '' yose'' theatres. (Bibliographyvolume 38(1)article
T ...
artist San'yūtei Enchō and written with the aid of both Sakai Shōzō (酒井昇造) and Wakabayashi Kanzō (若林玵蔵). Published in 1886, it is considered a famous kaidan in Japan.


Content and style

''Kaidan Botan Dōrō'' is inspired by the Chinese influenced Botan dōrō, a story in which a young man falls in love with the spirit of a beautiful young woman. Nevertheless, San'yūtei's telling of the popular myth also tells the novel story of a young shoeman, Kōsuke, and his quest to avenge his deceased master. This adds a new story to the Botan dōrō myth and develops the relationships with the main characters. The book contains twenty-one chapters and a final chapter. Written in a vernacular Japanese, Kaidan Botan Dōrō is one of the first books written in the unified language or Ichitai genbun, a free speech style resembling the spoken language of the time (
Meiji Meiji, the romanization of the Japanese characters 明治, may refer to: Japanese history * Emperor Meiji, Emperor of Japan between 1867 and 1912 ** Meiji era, the name given to that period in Japanese history *** Meiji Restoration, the revolution ...
era).


Publication and influence

The book was first serialised in a newspaper and published every Sunday. It has also contributed to the success of publishing stenographies during the Meiji era. Kaidan Botan Dōrō has had a notable influence on consequent versions, which are usually loosely based in San'yūtei's version of the story, including most theatre and cinematographic productions of the myth.


The stories

*The book can be divided into three main parts: the Tale of Kōsuke and his master Iijima, Shinzaburō and his ghost lover O-Tsuyu, and Kōsuke's revenge. The two first parts take place during the sixteen first chapters. Chapters seventeen through twenty-one tell the story of Kōsuke's revenge. The sixteen first chapters are divided between two groups: odd chapters (Kōsuke and Iijima) and even chapters (Shinzaburō and O-Tsuyu). *Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 explain how Iijima Heizaemon, a notable
hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...
, killed a drunken samurai and how eighteen years later, the latter's son, Kōsuke, became Iijima's servant. Iijima is fooled by his wife, O-Kuni, who cheats on him with Iijima's nephew Genjirō and the adulterers plan to kill the master. However, the hatamoto is killed in an accident and Kōsuke swears revenge. O-Kuni and her lover eventually flee the house of Iijima. *Chapters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 explain how Shinzaburō, a charming young man, meets Iijima's only daughter O-Tsuyu. They fall in love with each other but social class prevents them from being together. O-Tsuyu dies longing for the young man and returns during the Festival of spirits (
O-Bon or just is a fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ance ...
), to visit her lover. Shinzaburō's neighbours and servants, Tomozō and his wife O-Mine, learn of the young man's misfortune but in the end help the spirit consume Shinzaburō's soul in exchange for money. Tomozō and his wife then flee the neighbourhood. All chapters after 17 explain how in a twist of events, Tomozō meets O-Kuni and both start a love affair resulting in the murder of Tomozō's wife. O-Kuni is finally faced with Kōsuke and Tomozō is arrested for his wife's murder. In the final chapters Kōsuke meets his mother who left him alone as a child.


References


Noriko Reider, "The Emergence of Kaidan-shu: The Collection of Tales of the Strange and Mysterious in the Edo Period." ''Asian Folklore Studies'' 60 (2001): p.79-99.
*Reider, Noriko T. 2002. ''Tales of the Supernatural in Early Modern Japan: Kaidan, Akinari, Ugetsu Monogatari''.
Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press, sometimes stylised as Mellen Press, is an academic publisher. It was founded in 1972 by theology professor Herbert Richardson (publisher), Herbert W. Richardson. It has been involved in a number of notable legal and acad ...
. *Shirane, Haruo, ed. “Early Yomihon: History, Romance, and the Supernatural.” In ''Early Modern Japanese Literature''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. *Okuno, Shintarō, "Commentary to Kaidan Botan Dōrō (in Japanese-解説)." In ''Kaidan Botan Dōrō 怪談牡丹燈籠'', Iwanami bunko, 2003, p. 295-308. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaidan botan doro 1886 books Chinese folklore Japanese folklore