In Ghostly Japan, Lafcadio Hearn
In Ghostly Japan, Lafcadio Hearn
List: $15.99 | Sale: $11.20
Club: $7.99

In Ghostly Japan
Japanese Legends of Ghosts, Yokai, Yurei and Other Oddities

Author: Lafcadio Hearn, Michael Dylan Foster

Narrator: Kaipo Schwab

Unabridged: 3 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/29/2021


Synopsis

The Japanese have two kinds of ghosts in their folklore—the spirits of the dead, and the spirits of the living. This classic of Japanese literature invites you to take your choice if you dare.

In Ghostly Japan collects twelve ghostly stories from Lafcadio Hearn, deathless images of ghosts and goblins, touches of folklore and superstition, salted with traditions of the nation. While some of these stories contain nightmare imagery worthy of a midnight creature feature, others are not ghostly or ghastly at all. "Bits of Poetry" offers an engaging study on verse, and "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" explains the meaning of several aphorisms based on Japanese cultural references.

Whether you're looking to spot the demons that walk among us, or simply to enjoy the prose of a legendary craftsman, In Ghostly Japan affords countless delights. Stories include:

● "Fragment" about a young pilgrim who encounters a mountain of skulls

● "Ingwa-banashi" about a dying wife who bequeaths a rival a sinister legacy

● "A Passional Karma" about a spectral beauty who returns for her handsome samurai lover

About Lafcadio Hearn

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was the son of an Anglo-Irish father and a Greek mother. He was one of the earliest writers to relay stories of supernatural Japan to the West. He arrived in Japan in 1890 and fell in love with the country and its people. He married a samurai's daughter, became a Japanese citizen and a Buddhist, and changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo. In 1896, he began teaching English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, and then at Waseda University, becoming the great interpreter of things Japanese to the West. His books on Japan include Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Kokoro, A Japanese Miscellany, and Kwaidan.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Suki on March 05, 2016

Based on the title of this book, and the cover art (my copy depicts the Bodhisattva and a pilgrim climbing an enormous mountain made of human skulls), I was expecting a collection of ghost stories and weird fiction. Instead, this is primarily a collection of essays, parables, and fables of Buddhist......more

Goodreads review by Coos on July 06, 2022

Lafcadio Hearn fue uno de mis primeros contactos con la literatura japonesa de terror, y siempre le voy a agradecer por eso. Sus relatos son fascinantes, pero acá no solo vemos eso: mucha leyenda, mucha cultura, conocimiento y tradición salidos de su Japón fantasmal. Al principio se vuelca en el ter......more

Goodreads review by Jackie on April 02, 2019

A fantastic book from the chief exporter of Japanese culture to the occidental world. A sketchbook of sorts, in the same vein of The Sketchbook by Washington Irving, full of short stories and well informed observations of a rural Japan that has now, unfortunately, mostly slipped into the clutches of......more

Goodreads review by Malice on December 06, 2023

Ya había leído algunos de los relatos que se incluyen aquí. Es un compendio de tradiciones, leyendas y cuentos alrededor de la muerte. Me ha gustado que se trata no solo de historias, sino de poemas y filosofía, así como algunas reflexiones del propio autor. Lo recomendaría solo para quien le gusta......more

Goodreads review by hotsake on March 18, 2024

Musings of a pondering mind.......more