View source for Kaidan

{{Short description|Japanese word for "ghost story"}}
{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:Japanese words and phrases]]}}
{{for multi|the 2007 film|Kaidan (2007 film)|other uses|Kaidan (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Kwaidan|the 1965 film|Kwaidan (film)|the book upon which the film is based|Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things}}
{{Nihongo|'''''Kaidan'''''|怪談||sometimes [[transliterated]] ''kwaidan''}} 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, ''kaidan'' refers to any [[ghost story]] or [[horror fiction|horror story]], but it has an old-fashioned ring to it that carries the connotation of [[Edo period]] [[Japan]]ese folktales. The term is no longer as widely used in Japanese as it once was: [[Japanese horror]] books and films such as ''[[Ju-on]]'' and ''[[Ring (film)|Ring]]'' would more likely be labeled by the ''[[katakana]]'' {{nihongo|''horā''|ホラー||"horror"}}. ''Kaidan'' is only used if the author/director wishes to specifically bring an old-fashioned air into the story.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}}

===Examples of ''kaidan''===
*''[[Banchō Sarayashiki]]'' (''The Story of [[Okiku]]'') by [[Okamoto Kido]]
*''[[Yotsuya Kaidan]]'' (''Ghost Story of Tōkaidō Yotsuya'') by [[Tsuruya Nanboku IV]] (1755–1829)
*''[[Botan Dōrō]]'' (''The Peony Lantern'') by Asai Ryoi
*''[[Hōichi the Earless|Mimi-nashi Hōichi]]'' (''Hōichi the Earless'')

==''Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai'' and ''kaidanshu''==
''Kaidan'' entered the [[vernacular]] during the [[Edo period]], when a [[parlour game]] called ''[[Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai]]'' became popular. This game led to a demand for [[Ghost story|ghost stories]] and [[Folklore|folktales]] to be gathered from all parts of [[Japan]] and [[China]].The popularity of the game, as well as the acquisition of a [[printing press]], led to the creation of a literary genre called ''kaidanshu''. ''Kaidanshu'' were originally based on older [[Buddhist]] stories of a [[didactic]] 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]]'' (''Tales of Moonlight and Rain'') by [[Ueda Akinari]] (1776)

==Background of the romanized translation==
The word was popularised in [[English language|English]] by [[Lafcadio Hearn]] in his [[book]] ''[[Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things]]''. The spelling '''''kwaidan''''' is a [[romanization of Japanese|romanization]] based on an [[Historical kana orthography|archaic spelling]] of the word in [[kana]] - 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]] made his [[anthology film]] ''[[Kwaidan (film)|Kwaidan]]'' (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]], and especially ghostly vengeance for misdeeds.  Japanese [[vengeful ghost]]s (''[[Onryō]]'') 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]] that kills everyone who wears it.  This motif is repeated in the film ''[[Ring (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 [[yomi|underworld]] as can be seen in the festival of [[Obon]].

==See also==
* [[Aesop's Fables]]
* [[Glen Grant (historian)|Glen Grant]]
* [[Japanese horror]]
* [[Japanese mythology]]
* ''[[Obake]]''
* [[Kazuo Umezu]]
* [[Shigeru Mizuki]]
* ''[[The Unbelievable]]''
* ''[[Yōkai]]''
* ''[[Yose]]''
* ''[[Yūrei]]''

==External links==
*[http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1279/Ghoul+Power Ghoul Power - Onryou in the Movies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013062634/http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1279/Ghoul+Power |date=2007-10-13 }} ''Japanzine'' By [[Jon Wilks]]
*[https://archive.today/20130111183637/http://www.japanzine.jp/article/jz/2965/tales-of-ghostly-japan Tales of Ghostly Japan] ''Japanzine'' By Zack Davisson
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061105093306/http://www.mangajin.com/mangajin/samplemj/ghosts/ghosts.htm Japanese Ghosts]''Mangajin #40'' by Tim Screech
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kwaidan/index.htm Hearn's ''Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things''.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051130232317/http://www.harapan.co.jp/english/kwaidan/kwaidan_index.htm A site with several kaidan.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071023175728/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3342/is_200012/ai_n8057928 Asian Folklore Studies: The Appeal of Kaidan Tales of the Strange.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070214000126/http://www.kitsuneensemble.org/ Information on ''The Kaidan Suite,'' a musical interpretation of kaidan by the Kitsune Ensemble.]
*[http://www.hyakumonogatari.com Hyakumonogatari.com] A website of translated kaidan
*[http://www.thejapanesehorror.com TheJapaneseHorror.com] Website with several translated Kaidan

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[[Category:Buddhist folklore]]
[[Category:Japanese folklore]]
[[Category:Japanese horror fiction|*]]
[[Category:Japanese words and phrases]]