The Appeal of Kaidan Tales of the Strange.

Abstract

Kaidan are tales of the strange and mysterious, often considered by contemporary Japanese to be frightening ghost stories. During the Edo period (1600-1867), kaidan enjoyed great popularity. Gatherings called hyakumonogatari kaidankai (Gatherings for One Hundred Kaidan Tales), in which people told one hundred stories to induce a supernatural phenomenon, were common among all classes of people. The popularity of oral-derived literature, which reflected the popularity of kaidan, reached a peak in the middle of the eighteenth century. Kaidan told orally and in print were a ...

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