Rakugo Ghost Stories
Kaidan-banashi are rakugo ghost stories. Instead of going for laughs, they tell of ghosts, curses that pass down through families, and the dark side of human nature.
Many of the best known were written by Sanyutei Encho I. Shinkei Kasane-ga-fuchi (1859) is said to be his first original work. Botan Doro (The Peony Lantern), said to date from around 1861–1864, is a summer story: its ghost starts visiting on the thirteenth day of Obon. Shinigami (The God of Death) is said to be Encho's adaptation, in the Meiji 20s (1887–1896), of the Grimm fairy tale Godfather Death or the Italian opera Crispino e la comare.
Botan Doro and Shinkei Kasane-ga-fuchi are long serials, so at a yose (variety theater) or rakugo show a storyteller usually performs just one part.
Kaidan-banashi: true ghost stories
Stories that face ghosts and curses head-on. Many of the best known were written by Sanyutei Encho I.
牡丹灯籠Ghost storiesBotan DoroThe Peony LanternOn the nights of Obon, a young woman comes calling, her wooden clogs going karan-koron, with a lantern decorated with peonies lighting the way. When the man learns what she really is, he seals his house with paper charms. Then a couple who are his tenants are offered a hundred ryo...
真景累ヶ淵Ghost storiesShinkei Kasane-ga-fuchiThe Ghost Story of Kasane PoolA hatamoto, drunk and angry, cuts down the blind acupuncturist who lent him money. Nearly twenty years later, the killing begins to haunt the love affairs of their children, who know nothing of each other's past...
死神Ghost storiesShinigamiThe God of DeathA man becomes a famous doctor using a secret taught to him by Death himself, until a pile of money tempts him to break the rules...A chilling human drama
No ghosts, but a traveler's life is in danger on a snowy mountain night.
Comic stories of the dead, demons and foxes
Skeletons, hell, a bewitching fox, a tengu and a head that has been cut off: spooky material turned into laughs.
野ざらしComicNozarashiBleached BonesA skull he gave a proper memorial came back as a beautiful woman to thank him. Hearing this, Hachigoro grabs a fishing rod and goes bone hunting...
地獄八景亡者戯ComicJigoku Bakkei Moja no TawamureThe Dead at Play: Eight Views of HellKiroku, who died from bad mackerel, runs into an old acquaintance on the road to the land of the dead. So begins a lively tour of the afterlife: the Sanzu River, the theaters and yose of Meido-suji, and the court of King Enma.
七度狐ComicShichido GitsuneThe Fox Who Bewitches Seven TimesOn their pilgrimage to Ise, Kiroku and Seihachi toss away an earthenware mortar bowl, and it hits a fox said to bewitch people seven times. The angry fox plays trick after trick on the pair...
天狗裁きComicTengu SabakiThe Tengu's JudgmentWoken from a nap, Kihachi is asked, “What were you dreaming about?” He says he didn't have a dream, but nobody believes him. His neighbor, the landlord, the magistrate and finally even a tengu want to know what the dream was...
首提灯ComicKubi ChochinThe Head LanternA drunk mouths off to a samurai and doesn't even notice his head has been cut off. Then a fire breaks out...