Eerie traditional Japanese ghost stories retold in a graphic novel format. Over one hundred years ago, the writer Lafcadio Hearn gathered and translated into English a selection of traditional Japanese ghost/mystery stories. They were published as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. In this new graphic novel, acclaimed manga creator Sean Michael Wilson retells six of these stories. All of them are very well known in Japan, where ghosts and demons are often called yokai, meaning "the mysterious and weird." Today these stories find expression mostly in movies and manga, but they remain rooted in the traditional ghost stories of the Edo era known as kaidan, which means "recited narrative of strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparitions." The book includes an afterword by William Scott Wilson, the esteemed translator and editor of Japanese texts and samurai philosophy, who puts the stories into historical context. A 2016 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens Recommendation

A contemporary graphic novel adaptation of a spiritual classic. This graphic-novel version of the Tao Te Ching—the poetic classic that is the philosophical and religious basis of Taoism—brings the teachings into a modern light in a completely fresh and unique way. Each of the 81 poem-passages of the Tao Te Ching is reinterpreted by award-winning graphic novel writer Sean Michael Wilson and brought to life by the artful illustrations of Hong Kong artist Cary Kwok, who sets the text in various contemporary scenes to bring out the modern relevance.

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

Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things features several Japanese ghost stories and a brief non-fiction study on insects. Most of these stories were translated from old Japanese texts. The author also states that one of the stories – Yuki-onna – was told to him by a farmer in Musashi Province, and his was apparently the first record of it. Riki-Baka is based on a personal experience of the author._x000D_ Table of Contetns:_x000D_ The Story of Mimi-nashiHōichi_x000D_ Oshidori_x000D_ The Story of O-Tei_x000D_ Ubazakura_x000D_ Diplomacy_x000D_ Of a Mirror and a Bell_x000D_ Jikininki_x000D_ Mujina_x000D_ Rokurokubi_x000D_ A Dead Secret_x000D_ Yuki-Onna_x000D_ The Story of Aoyagi_x000D_ Jiu-Roku-Zakura_x000D_ The Dream of Akinosuke_x000D_ Riki-Baka_x000D_ Hi-Mawari_x000D_ Hōrai_x000D_ In the last half of the book, Hearn lists collected Chinese/Japanese superstitions and his own personal thoughts on various members of the insect world._x000D_ Butterflies: Personification of the human soul._x000D_ Mosquitoes: Karmic reincarnation of jealous or greedy people in the form of Jiki-ketsu-gaki or "blood-drinking pretas"._x000D_ Ants: Mankind's superior in terms of chastity, ethics, social structure, longevity and evolution.

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), also known as Koizumi Yakumo after gaining Japanese citizenship, was an author, best known for his books about Japan. He is especially well-known for his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Hearn was born in Lefkada, one of the Greek Ionian Islands. He was the son of Surgeon-major Charles Hearn (of King's County, Ireland) and Rosa Antonia Kassimati, who had been born on Kythera, another of the Ionian Islands. In 1890, Hearn went to Japan with a commission as a newspaper correspondent, which was quickly broken off. It was in Japan, however, that he found his home and his greatest inspiration.

Spirits surround us in this new illuminated edition of Japanese ghost stories and strange tales, as collected and translated by the Irish author Lafcadio Hearn and depicted by the majestic brushwork of 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. 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. 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.

A stunning graphic novel biography of the famous samurai warrior who wrote the classic text on Japanese martial arts, The Book of Five Rings Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary samurai, is known throughout the world as a master swordsman, a spiritual seeker, and the author of the classic Book of Five Rings. This graphic novel treatment of his amazing life is both a vivid account of a fascinating period in feudal Japan and a portrait of courageous, iconoclastic samurai who wrestled with philosophical and spiritual ideas that are as relevant today as they were in his time. For Musashi, the way of the martial arts was about mastery of the mind rather than simply technical prowess. Over 350 years after his death, Musashi still intrigues us—and his Book of Five Rings is essential reading for students of all martial arts and those interested in cultivating strategic mind.

A classic collection of spooky stories about spirits and goblins from ancient Japan. In the late 1800s, Lafcadio Hearn collected and retold strange and wonderful ghostly tales from old Japanese legends. In these stories, a blind poet must perform for members of a dead royal family; an old man gives up his life in exchange for blossoms on a wilting cherry tree; a man trying to comfort a strange woman crying in the dark recoils in horror on seeing her face; and a mandarin duck haunts the hunter who shot her companion. These are timeless and hair-raising stories in which humans and ghostly creatures co-exist. This new edition, with an introduction by Ruskin Bond, will leave readers spellbound.

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn Known primarily as an early interpreter of Japanese culture and customs, the famous writer Lafcadio Hearn also wrote ghost stories--"delicate, transparent, ghostly sketches"--about his adopted land. Many of the stories found in Kwaidan, "stories and studies of strange things," are based on Japanese tales of long ago told to him by his wife; others possibly have a Chinese origin. All have been re-colored and reshaped by Hearn's inimitable hand. Some critics attribute Hearn's fascination with eerie tales to his partial blindness. Whatever its roots, he was clearly drawn to the hidden realms of the spirit world and to strange facts and marvels. In this collection of unforgettably haunting stories, Hearn brings together "the meeting of three ways"--the austere dreams of India, the subtle beauty of Japan and the relentless science of the Western world. Japanese ghost and supernatural tales include: A musician called upon to perform for the dead, Man-eating goblins, Insects who uncannily mimic human behavior.

A graphic novel depiction of the most dramatic example of bushido—the samurai code—in Japanese history In the eighteenth century, forty-seven samurai avenged the death of their master in a plot that would take over two years to complete. After succeeding in their mission, the masterless samurai—known as ronin—all committed ritual suicide. The story, which is a national legend, remains the most potent example of Japan’s deeply rooted cultural imperative of honor, persistence, loyalty, and sacrifice. The historical event has inspired many writers and artists over the years and numerous fictionalized versions and adaptations have emerged. In The 47 Ronin, Sean Michael Wilson has created a historically factual portrait, enhanced by evocative and often lyrical drawings by Akiko Shimojima. While there are other depictions of the story in manga form, this version stands out as being the most accurate and most compelling. Wilson and Shimojima have made the characters nuanced and relatable.