Enter the haunted world of Ancient Japan in this spine-tingling collection of ghostly tales told and retold across the centuries. From Goblin infested caves and haunted Tombs, to vengeful spirits and strange, sinister happenings, Ancient Japan was a country and culture that lived with between realms: the world of everyday and the world of supernatural. It was a time and place where men could be brought down by karmic forces or lured into deadly danger by ghostly apparitions, and where the land held sorrowful secrets or stories that long-awaited an opportunity to reveal them and seek reparation. The Snow Ghost and Other Tales brings together some of the best and scariest tales that endured across centuries of folk lore in one new beautiful hardback collection. Finally commited to writing during the turn of the twenieth cenutry by a unique set of folklorists, the ghost stories presented in this new anthology will transport readers to a time of magic and mystery, and let them relish in the spine-tingling traditions of Japanese culture largely lost now to modernity.

"Think not that dreams appear to the dreamer only at night, the dream of this world of pain appears to us even by day." In this book, famed author Lafcadio Hearn presents 14 fascinating stories--including deathless ghosts and yokai, local folklore and haunted places, as well as Buddhist traditions. This edition includes a new foreword by Michael Dylan Foster which explains the book's importance as a Japanese cultural and literary classic. The Japanese have two kinds of ghosts in their folklore--the spirits of the dead and the spirits of the living. In Ghostly Japan examines both and, in the process, offers a fascinating window into Japan's supernatural and spiritual world. The 14 stories include: "Fragment"--A young pilgrim encounters a mountain of skulls and is shown a terrible truth "Ingwa-banashi"--On her deathbed, a dying wife bequeaths to her young rival a sinister and horrific gift "A Passional Karma"--A spectral beauty transcends death to return for her handsome samurai lover "Story of a Tengu"--A priest saves the life of a Yokai monk and is granted a wish, but the outcome is not as expected While some stories contain spine-tingling imagery, others offer looks into Japan's rich culture and folklore. "Bits of Poetry" offers an engaging study on the nation's fascination with verse, "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" explains the meaning of several traditional Zen Buddhist sayings and "Incense" examines its use in rituals to summon and banish spirits. Whether you're interested in classic ghost stories, or simply want to enjoy the prose of a legendary writer, In Ghostly Japan affords countless delights.

"The Japanese people are more mysterious than I imagined through Hearn's books." --Albert Einstein Lafcadio Hearn is the most significant early interpreter of Japan and Japanese culture for the West--a man who traveled to Japan when he was thirty-nine, and never left. Lafcadio Hearn's Japan presents Hearn's most famous stories and essays about his adopted land--recounting his love for its striking natural beauty and the rich character and customs of its people. The 18 fascinating essays in this book include: "In a Japanese Garden" Hearn's classic description of the meditative calm and serenity he experienced when visiting a traditional Zen garden just outside his back door "Strangeness and Charm" Expressing his deep love for the richness and beauty of traditional Japanese culture "In the Cave of the Children's Ghosts" An account of a journey to an isolated sea cave where the souls of dead children are said to congregate Lafcadio Hearn's Japan provides an unforgettable look at traditional Japan through the eyes of a sensitive and eloquent foreigner. This new edition features a foreword by Steve Kemme, a leading expert on Hearn and president of the Lafcadio Hearn Society (USA). It also includes 21 color photos showcasing the people and places which Hearn so lovingly describes.

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil. In this haunting collection, the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore stalk the page. Lafcadio Hearn, a master storyteller, drew on traditional Japanese folklore, infused with memories of his own haunted childhood in Ireland, to create these chilling tales. They are today regarded in Japan as classics in their own right. 'The stories occupy the reverie world our mind projects onto the backs of our eyelids, where the ordinary mingles with the supernatural' - Wall Street Journal

"The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). [This] word signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; sentiment; affection; and inner meaning, just as we say in English, "the heart of things." --Lafcadio Hearn As an interpreter of Japan for the West, Lafcadio Hearn has no peer. His books are still read with fascination by foreigners and Japanese alike--a tribute to his keen powers of observation and the vividness of his prose. Kokoro is Hearn's love letter to Japan--his exploration of the genius of Japanese civilization and the wonder he felt at encountering these islands and their inhabitants. The 15 extraordinary stories in this book include: "Kimiko"-- A beautiful geisha hatches a desperate plan to save her mother from poverty but then must make a heartbreaking choice. "A Conservative"-- A samurai's son embraces the West and travels to Europe but finds his new home to be a shallow and faithless land. "A Street Singer"-- A woman captivates crowds with the beauty of her voice, but her life story goes much deeper than her musical talents. "By Force of Karma"-- The peculiar tale of a Buddhist priest who receives a letter from a mysterious woman and ultimately takes his own life. Published six years after Hearn arrived in Japan, these stories focus on the inner spiritual life of the Japanese. Sometimes touching and always compelling, they are drawn from Hearn's own experiences, telling stories of the people and customs that still make Japan so unique. Kokoro includes an informative foreword by Patricia Welch which highlights how, 125 years later, our understanding of Japan can still be deepened by Hearn's heartfelt prose.

Spirits surround us in the latest Illuminated Edition: a tome of all the Japanese ghost stories and strange tales collected and translated by author Lafcadio Hearn and depicted by the majestic brushwork of artist Kent Williams.  Brimming with over sixty illustrations, and featuring essays from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, scholar Kyoko Yoshida and Hearn's great-grandson and director of the Lafcadio Hearn Museum Bon Koizumi, this oversized slipcase volume enraptures the imagination as it chills the blood. Drawn from Hearn's two most celebrated books, KWAIDAN and SHADOWINGS, this new title constitutes a complete compendium of the otherworldly and macabre folk tales that Hearn collected and translated during his travels through Japan in the late 19th century.  Kent Williams is an accomplished and multiple award-wining painter, comics artist, and draftsman, known for his richly textured and expressionist paintings. His illustrations sweep worlds of spirits across the page in an unsettling vibrant tumble. Corpse brides; flesh-eating jikininki goblins; the faceless mujina who haunt forgotten places; the rokuro-kubi, who remove their heads at night: all brought to life as never before under Williams' visionary brush. A stunning and startling new entry in Beehive Books celebrated, award-winning Illuminated Editions series. The edition is housed in a shimmering die-cut sculpturally embossed slipcase, printed on uncoated acid-free paper, and published in an oversized 9x12" trim format.

This book, first published in 1903, is an account of Lafcadio Hearn's insights and experiences of Japan. Hearn, known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was an international writer who was best known for his books about Japan and Japanese culture. This book will be of interest to students of history and Asian Studies.

This book, first published in 1903, is an account of Lafcadio Hearn's insights and experiences of Japan. Hearn, known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was an international writer who was best known for his books about Japan and Japanese culture. This book will be of interest to students of history and Asian Studies.

Featuring elegant designs, In a Japanese Garden Coloring Book is the perfect stress-reliever for fans of classical Japanese art and literature. For centuries, Japanese artists have honored simple beauty in prints, paintings and books. This adult coloring book recreates 23 artworks for you to color--images of flowers and trees, garden residents such as the bird and the butterfly, and in-the-moment scenes of people taking in the pleasures of these peaceful corners of the world. A copy of the original print sits opposite your coloring "canvas" as a reference. Reflections from Lafcadio Hearn's In a Japanese Garden as well some works of the great haiku masters will inspire you as you apply pencils or fine markers to your page. When your masterpiece is complete, tear it out at the perforation to frame and display.

Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan is a complete, two-volume set of one of the most outstanding books on 19th century Japanese history and culture. Though Lafcadio Hearn went on to write a dozen more books on Japan, this collection of first impressions remains his most popular. Among the reasons is that here, more than anywhere else, the author most vividly captured a place that so affected him that he stayed for the rest of his life. The modern reader can still, through these pages, experience that "first charm of Japan, intangible and volatile as a perfume." Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan combines two volumes of a work that first appeared in 1894. In the pages of this book are the customs, the superstitions, the charming scenery, the revelations of Japanese character, and all the other elements that Lafcadio Hearn found so bewitching. Here, for example, are essays on such subjects as the Japanese garden, the household shrine, the festivals, and the bewildering Japanese smile--all aspects of Japanese life that have endured in spite of the changes that have taken place during the modernization of Japan. The Japanese character and the Japanese tradition are still fundamentally the same as Hearn found them to be, and for this reason, his writing is still extremely revealing to modern readers. This edition also contains a new foreword by noted writer and examiner of Japanese culture Donnie Richie that puts Lafcadio Hearn and his classic works into perspective for readers just discovering Hearn's writing for the first time.

This is an unusual exotic novel of coastal Louisiana, unique in the local color movement for its impressionistic use of the southern landscape. Introduction by Arlin Turner. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

A collection of twenty-eight brilliant and strange stories, inspired by Japanese folk tales and written by renowned Western expatriate Lafcadio Hearn Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was one of the nineteenth century's best-known writers, his name celebrated alongside those of Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson. Born in Greece and raised in Ireland, Hearn was a true prodigy and world traveler. He worked as a reporter in Cincinnati, New Orleans, and the West Indies before heading to Japan in 1890 on a commission from Harper's. There, he married a Japanese woman from a samurai family, changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo, and became a Japanese subject. An avid collector of traditional Japanese tales, legends, and myths, Hearn taught literature and wrote his own tales for both Japanese and Western audiences. Japanese Tales of Lafcadio Hearn brings together twenty-eight of Hearn's strangest and most entertaining stories in one elegant volume. Hearn's tales span a variety of genres. Many are fantastical ghost stories, such as "The Corpse-Rider," in which a man foils the attempts of his former wife's ghost to haunt him. Some are love stories in which the beloved is not what she appears to be: in "The Story of Aoyagi," a young samurai narrowly escapes the wrath of his lord for marrying without permission, only to discover that his wife is the spirit of a willow tree. Throughout this collection, Hearn's reverence for Japan shines through, and his stories provide insights into the country's artistic and cultural heritage. With an introduction by Andrei Codrescu discussing Hearn's life and work, as well as a foreword by Jack Zipes, Japanese Tales of Lafcadio Hearn provides a unique window into one writer's multicultural literary journey.

These astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when they were first published.

The dead wreak revenge on the living, paintings come alive, spectral brides possess mortal men and a priest devours human flesh in these chilling Japanese ghost stories retold by a master of the supernatural. Lafcadio Hearn drew on the phantoms and ghouls of traditional Japanese folklore - including the headless 'rokuro-kubi', the monstrous goblins 'jikininki' or the faceless 'mujina' who stalk lonely neighbourhoods - and infused them with his own memories of his haunted childhood in nineteenth-century Ireland to create these terrifying tales of striking and eerie power. Today they are regarded in Japan as classics in their own right. Edited with an introduction by Paul Murray