Japanese Tales Of Lafcadio Hearn

A collection of twenty-eight brilliant and strange stories, inspired by Japanese folk tales and written by renowned Western expatriate Lafcadio Hearn Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) was one of the nineteenth century’s best-known writers, his name celebrated alongside those of Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson. Born in Greece and raised in Ireland, Hearn was a true prodigy and world traveler. He worked as a reporter in Cincinnati, New Orleans, and the West Indies before heading to Japan in 1890 on a commission from Harper’s. There, he married a Japanese woman from a samurai family, changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo, and became a Japanese subject. An avid collector of traditional Japanese tales, legends, and myths, Hearn taught literature and wrote his own tales for both Japanese and Western audiences. Japanese Tales of Lafcadio Hearn brings together twenty-eight of Hearn’s strangest and most entertaining stories in one elegant volume. Hearn’s tales span a variety of genres. Many are fantastical ghost stories, such as “The Corpse-Rider,” in which a man foils the attempts of his former wife’s ghost to haunt him. Some are love stories in which the beloved is not what she appears to be: in “The Story of Aoyagi,” a young samurai narrowly escapes the wrath of his lord for marrying without permission, only to discover that his wife is the spirit of a willow tree. Throughout this collection, Hearn’s reverence for Japan shines through, and his stories provide insights into the country’s artistic and cultural heritage. With an introduction by Andrei Codrescu discussing Hearn’s life and work, as well as a foreword by Jack Zipes, Japanese Tales of Lafcadio Hearn provides a unique window into one writer’s multicultural literary journey.

The dead wreak revenge on the living, paintings come alive, spectral brides possess mortal men and a priest devours human flesh in these chilling Japanese ghost stories retold by a master of the supernatural. Lafcadio Hearn drew on the phantoms and ghouls of traditional Japanese folklore - including the headless 'rokuro-kubi', the monstrous goblins 'jikininki' or the faceless 'mujina' who stalk lonely neighbourhoods - and infused them with his own memories of his haunted childhood in nineteenth-century Ireland to create these terrifying tales of striking and eerie power. Today they are regarded in Japan as classics in their own right. Edited with an introduction by Paul Murray

This collection of writings from Lafcaido Hern paints a rare and fascinating picture of pre-modern Japan Over a century after his death, author, translator, and educator Lafcaido Hearn remains one of the best-known Westerners ever to make Japan his home. Almost more Japanese than the Japanese--"to think with their thoughts" was his aim--his prolific writings on things Japanese were instrumental in introducing Japanese culture to the West. In this masterful anthology, Donald Richie shows that Hearn was first and foremost a reliable and enthusiastic observer, who faithfully recorded a detailed account of the people, customs, and culture of late nineteen-century Japan. Opening and closing with excerpts from Hearn's final books, Richie's astute selection from among "over 4,000 printed pages" not including correspondence and other writing, also reveals Hearn's later, more sober and reflective attitudes to the things that he observed and wrote about. Part One, "The Land," chronicles Hearn's early years when he wrote primarily about the appearance of his adopted home. Part Two, "The People," records the author's later years when he came to terms with the Japanese themselves. In this anthology, Richie, more gifted in capturing the essence of a person on the page than any other foreign writer living in Japan, has picked out the best of Hearn's evocations. Select writings include: The Chief City of the Province of the Gods Three Popular Ballads In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts Bits of Life and Death A Street Singer Kimiko On A Bridge

"Even as she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of wind; then she melted into a bright white mist that spired to the roof beams. Never again was she seen." Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan (which means "ghost story" in Japanese) is the first and most famous collection of Japanese yokai stories ever published. This unforgettable collection of 17 eerie tales and 3 original cultural studies by Hearn are based on traditional oral tales passed down for generations. They are fresh reminders of the dark and mysterious corners of the Japanese psyche, from popular representations in anime, manga and video games to Masaki Kobayashi's Oscar-nominated horror film Kwaidan. This new edition includes over 20 full-color woodblock prints that showcase the rich visual tradition of Japanese Yokai. A new foreword by Michael Dylan Foster, the leading Western expert on Yokai literature, places the stories in context and explains the lasting importance of Hearn's pioneering look at Japan's bewitching spirit world. The stories in this volume include: "Yuki-onna" -- A ghostly woman saves a man during a fierce snowstorm then gives him a deadly warning… "The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi" -- A musician is unwittingly called upon by a Samurai to perform for the dead, with bloody consequences. "Diplomacy" -- A Samurai warrior avoids the ghostly revenge of a man he intends to kill by outsmarting him before striking he strikes the death blow. Hearn is the best-known early Western interpreter of Japanese culture and was particularly interested in tales of the supernatural. He eagerly gathered "delicate, transparent, ghostly sketches" in his adopted land and translated them with gusto. His English versions were translated back into Japanese and are considered classics of Japanese literature to this day--eagerly devoured by Japanese school children.

Over one hundred years ago, the writer and Japanophile Lafcadio Hearn gathered together a selection of kaidan, traditional Japanese ghost, myth, and mystery stories, and published them in English in over a dozen books. The kaidan feature vengeful ghosts and bewitching spirits that mete out karmic justice in eerie and sometimes horrifying ways. Some of the tales were Japanese versions of older Chinese tales of divination; others were influenced by Shinto and Buddhism, including a Buddhist-influenced mystery storytelling game popular in the Edo era (1603–1868). In contemporary culture, these stories have found new expression mostly in movies and manga. In this graphic novel, acclaimed manga creator Sean Michael Wilson and illustrator Michiru Morikawa present six of these classic, supernatural stories.

In Ghostly Japanis a collection of supernatural and ghost stories, short pieces and folktales from Japan. Through these spooky stories, the author also analyses parts of the Japanese culture, dealing with philosophical and spiritual musing on the supernatural stories of Japan. Table of Contents: Furisodé Incense A Story of Divination Silkworms A Passional Karma Footprints of the Buddha Ululation Bits of Poetry Japanese Buddhist Proverbs Suggestion Ingwa-banashi Story of a Tengu At Yaidzu

This thrilling collection of seven Japanese ghost stories will captivate lovers of yokai stories! These classic Japanese ghost stories are based on those written by famed author Lafcadio Hearn between 1890 and 1904. Here, they are retold by award-winning comic book writer Sean Michael Wilson, who has garnered a worldwide fan base for his manga adaptations of works of Japanese literature, including such classics as The Book of Five Rings and The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts. Manga Yokai Stories includes: Nuke-kubi: A masterless samurai is trapped in a house haunted by headless goblins The Screen Maiden: A young man develops an obsession with a woman in a painting that almost kills him Corpse Rider: A woman's unburied corpse cannot rest until she has taken her revenge on the man who divorced her A Dead Secret: A young mother terrifies her family when she returns as a ghost, unable to find peace until she puts to rest a shocking secret she has left behind Wilson's skillful adaptation of Hearn's ghostly tales--along with superb manga illustrations from UK-based Japanese artist Inko Ai Takita--make these fascinating stories come to life. This book is in traditional Japanese reading order--from back to front--so that fans and manga lovers can enjoy an authentic reading experience.