Japanese Supernatural Tales

Michael Dylan Foster is the author of The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore and Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai. A professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis, he has been the 'Yokai Navigator' since 2022 for the NHK World documentary television series Yokai: Exploring Hidden Japanese Folklore.

• Introduction by Michael Dylan FosterSuggestions for Further Reading Acknowledgments A Note About Japanese Names and Words JAPANESE SUPERNATURAL TALESI. THE AGE OF THE GODSKojiki (Record of Ancient Matters)II. COURT AND COUNTRYSIDEThe Tale of Genji by Murasaki ShikibuTales of Times Now PastTwo Tales of Tengu III. EDO PERIOD AND THE KAIDAN BOOMSelections from Hand Puppets (Otogibōko) by Asai RyōiSelections from One Hundred Tales from the Various Provinces(Shokoku hyaku-monogatari)“A Ghost Asks Jūsaku a Favor” from Taihei hyaku-monogatari“The Smallpox Demon” from Nanreishi by Tada Yoshitoshi“Will-o’- the- Wisps” from Isetsu-machimachi by Wada Ukō“Death and the Mermaid” from Exemplary Tales of the Way of the Warrior by Ihara SaikakuTwo Spider Tales“Shuten Dōji”“The House Amid the Thickets” from Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Ugetsu monogatari) by Ueda AkinariSelections from Mimi-bukuro by Negishi YasumoriSelections from Toen shōsetsu by Kyokutei BakinIV. THE MEIJI TRANSITIONNews of the TimesTwo Tales by Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo)“Sea Dæmons” by Izumi KyōkaV. STORIES OF A MODERN NATIONA Selection of LegendsTwo Stories by Okamoto Kidō“The Man Traveling with the Brocade Portrait” by Edogawa Ranpo“The Sea Monk” by Tanaka Kōtarō“Happiness” by Nakajima Atsushi“The Mermaid and the Samurai” by Dazai Osamu“Love in Two Lives: The Remnant” by Enchi Fumiko“The Woman with the Flying Head” by Kurahashi Yumiko“The Mirror” by Murakami HarukiNotes and Credits