[Kaidan (Japanese Ghost Stories)]

One of the most popular summer traditions in Japan is the "kaidan." Why do people shiver and feel cold when they are scared? When something frightening comes, a self-protective body reaction occurs. To protect the heart, the sympathetic nervous system is stimulated to increase the blood pressure in the body, which causes peripheral blood to constrict and the body temperature of the hands and feet to drop and become cold.

Obon, an annual summer event in Japan, is an important annual event along with New Year's Day, and is believed to mark the return of the spirits of the dead from the afterlife. It was believed that not only the spirits of ancestors, but also those of unrelated deceased people who had no one to offer them to, and souls that could not be resurrected, would return. Therefore, a folk performing art called "Bon Kyogen" has been performed for the repose of souls, in which the suffering of such spirits of the dead and their process of attainment of Buddhahood are enacted. Influenced by this, kabuki and rakugo (traditional Japanese comic storytelling), called "Suzumi-shibai," incorporated ghost story plays such as "Yotsuya Kaidan" and "Sarayashiki."

Summer seasonal words include "hyakumonogatari," "yurei," and "kimodameshi." Hyakumonogatari is one of the traditional Japanese styles of ghost storytelling, which is said to have originated as a test of courage among samurai families. It was believed that after 100 ghost stories were told, a real "mononoke" (monster) would appear. Starting in the Muromachi period (1333-1573), books of ghost stories, also known as ghost story literature, were published in large numbers and became a kind of boom in the Edo period (1603-1868).

Have you ever heard of "Kwaidan (Ghost Stories)" written by Yakumo Koizumi (Patrick Lafcadio Hearn), published in 1904? Miminashi Hoichi, Mujina, Rokurokubi, Yuki-onna (Snow Woman), etc. are well-known ghost stories. Many of you may have seen them in the animated TV series "Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi." This book is a collection of legends and ghost stories from all over Japan that Yakumo's wife, Setsuko, told him, retold them, added her own interpretation, and revived them as emotionally rich literary works. Another modern-day summer ghost story is that of comedian Junji Inagawa, who has been active as a ghost story teller since 1986. Ghost stories are not only scary but also funny and kawaii, an ancient Japanese form of entertainment.

Incidentally, a ghost is also called "化生 (kesho)," which means "to turn into a ghost," and is said to be the origin of the word "化粧 (make-up)."

References
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/怪談
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/怪談_(小泉八雲)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/百物語
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/sbs/133846?display=1
https://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/article/11192
https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=RvnvEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA285&lpg=PA285&dq=盆狂言