Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya kaidan, ed. with an Introduction by Takashi Saitō

Perhaps the most famous and oft told tales of horror in Japan, the Yotsuya kaidan tells of a young woman named Iwa and the curse she carried out after her death against those who had wronged her in life. For nearly three hundred years in the repertoire of itinerant storytellers, in dramatic performances on stage, and in modern adaptations for anime and film, Iwa’s story has lost none of its intoxicating power over the imagination. Just over a hundred years on from its original publication, the English translation has been radically revised for overall readability in the hope of securing its place among the classics of world literature.

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Saitō Takashi is a Senior Research Fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan. He specializes in the history of the ghost story in Japanese literature, theater, and dramatic performances, with a special focus on their interface with religious beliefs and practices.