Reviews

In Strange Tales from Japan, American translator William Scott Wilson combines two collections of Japanese folklore compiled in the 1970s by folklorist Nishimoto Keisuke, traditional stories (densetsu) and strange tales (kaidan). Beginning with a slightly questionable introduction by Wilson discussing how such tales serve as a way to see the “real Japan” and what is meant by the terms kaidan and densetsu in Japanese folklore, Nishimoto’s collection includes a wide variety of tales, from the grim and disturbing to the comic, often both in the same story. As a whole, these tales are a little rawer than the more picturesque tales often retold in English collections of Japanese legends.

Whether devious kitsune and mujina, self-defeating kappa, or how one can use profanity to save your baby from being devoured by a floating head, the 99 stories chosen by Nishimoto depict the uncertain but lively experiences of common people. Aside from the stories, the collection includes woodcut prints from artists like Yoshitoshi expressing various themes included in them, though aside from a few footnotes and the specific source for each story, there is little context provided.

I discuss other works recently published in English on Japanese folklore at Harris’ Tome Corner- Narrating the Strange: Kaidan of Yokai and Yurei in Japanese Folklore.

bookishraccoon's review

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adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Wouldn’t necessarily call these tales ‘strange’, but still thoroughly enjoyed a great portion of these! I really enjoyed the artwork, & the drawings accompanied with some of the stories. Definitely an interesting read that I’d recommend to anybody that’s a huge fan of short stories, folklore, or horror!

Some of my favorite sections:
* Rivers & Lakes
*Unfortunate People
*Shape Shifting Cats
*Ghost’s Requests (but honestly I enjoyed all of the ghost segments- there’s several)

Favorite Tales:

Traditional Tales-
* The Talking Futon - campy, but eerie & nostalgic to ghost stories growing up.
* Ghost Cart- Thoroughly enjoyed this one, wasn’t sure where it was going at 1st- eerie!
*Earless Hoichi- The title kinda gives this one away, but was a great read!

Rivers & Lakes-
*Otawa Pond - enjoyed most of these from this section actually! Found these really interesting
*Lake Otane
*The Catfish at Uso Ga Fuchi
*Gonzaburo the Flute Player - Neat little short ghost story!
*Joren Falls - Interesting tale of a nushi silk spider!

Miraculous Strength-
*The Reincarnation of Sakata - Interesting tale of a man that sought out Buddha.

Unfortunate People-
*The Mirror of Matsuyama - Tale of how Mirror Pond came to be.
*The Motoshichi-kuroschichi Bird - Eerie tale that leaves you wondering!
*Anju and Chushiou - Tale of a family’s journey with being sold into slavery.
*Chujo-hime - Tale of a Minister & his daughter, & the lovely evil stepmother.
*The Stone That Cried at Night - Tale of a Haunted Stone.

People who were Cursed-
*O-iwa’s Curse- One of the headling ghost stories from this book! Really enjoyed
*Long Black Hair- Loved this Short eerie ghost tale!

Ghost’s Requests-
(Enjoyed this section overall, so not listing any in particular)

Shape Shifting Cats-
All of these tales were so fun! Enjoyed all of them

Friendly Ghosts-
*The Clog Ghost - Stood out to me the most from this section! Such a fun campy ghost story!
But would recommend checking out all of these!

Overall was relatively pleased with the stories from the book! Was expecting more supernatural, but the folklore aspects took over majority of the book! Still was a really interesting read!

jordanem1995's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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