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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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First published in 1885, this was the first Creole cookbook ever printedoa rare collection of recipes from leading New Orleans chefs of the day, as well as from Creole housewives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

La Cuisine Creole
Anthony Bourdain often says that you cannot separate a culture from its cuisine.They are bound together, and to talk of a place without speaking about the food that is eaten there is missing a vital element.

This is exactly what Lafcadio Hearn was attempting to capture when he published two books, "La Cuisine Creole" and "Gumbo Zhebes" in 1885.These two books together, he felt, captured a secret street culture of the French Quarter, a place of folktales and hot food.

While Hearn is best known for his books on Japanese folktales and legends, he got his start in New Orleans, scraping by working for a newspaper doing articles and illustrations as he could.I did not realize he also owned a small restaurant, The Hard Times, specializing in nickel dishes of food for the poverty-stricken.His restaurant didn't last long, but he collected recipes with the same fervor that he would later collect folktales.

This lovely hardback, "Lafcadio Hearn's Creole Cookbook", brings together "La Cuisine Creole" and "Gumbo Zhebes", reproducing exactly the traditional recipes and folk sayings that Hearn loved so much.Preserving not only the original typeface and presentation, Hearn's illustrations are also included.

The recipes are as old fashioned as you can imagine, using measurements such as "a gill of oil" and giving cooking instructions based on a wood or coal burning stove.The book is a fantastic snapshot of how people cooked back then.There are recipes not only for delights like "Simple Okra Gumbo" and "Fricassee of Crab", but also on how "To Make Good and Cheap Vinegar" and "Superior Tomato Catsup".You couldn't just run down to the grocery store and pick these things up pre-made!

Because of the old-fashioned directions, the recipes can be a little hard to follow but not impossible.I have made a few now and they have all turned out well, so I am looking forward to trying some of the more complicated ones.One that was delicious and easy was "To Pickle Red Cabage" and I also quite enjoyed "A Delicious Omelet". There are recipes here for frog, turtle, deer, beef tongue and any kind of seafood imagineable.

Anyone interested in food history, or Creole culture, is going to love this book.Cooks looking to do some authentic Creole cooking will find it challenging at first, but invaluable.[...]

For All Who Love New Orleans
Lafcadio Hearn lived in New Orleans from 1877 to 1887. His observations on Creole life were published in the New Orleans Times-Democrat and the New Orleans Item.This edition is a combination of a his cook book La Cuisine Creole along with drawings and writings from those articles.It is a loving look at the city and a disappearing way of life.I lost my first copy of this book in the flood caused by the levee failure in the wake of Katrina which makes having it back all the sweeter.

Lafcadio hearn's Creole Cook Book
As usual, Lafcadio Hearn's meticulous description impressed me.
My wife tried one of Soup recipe, and we enjoyed the result a lot.
Kyo takahashi

A Piece of Creole History
As a true "cajun" who grew up on South Louisiana, I aminterested in the history of cajun and creole culture, which is oftencentered around food.This book is a treasured piece of the history ofcreole cuisine in New Orleans.The text is sometimes hard to read, but therecipes are an authentic snapshot of what might have been the"standard" for New Orleans before the turn of the century.I amproud to have this book in my collection of early and historical Cajun andCreole cookbooks. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A compilation of folk stories from Japan
Lafcadio Hearn published a series of short stories to be printed in a famous periodical in US. These are a few of those stories. His approach is reminiscent of Washington Irving, Tales of Alhambra. That is to say, that the stories are part folk, part his own imagination or views. Just like a Gaugin's painting of Tahitian women, Mr Hearn "recreated" his own Japan. The stories and descriptions are beautiful, very atmospheric, and easthetic. They are a pleasure to read over and over.

A Very Rewarding Piece
The selection of works by Lafcadio Hearn shows the true Japan of ancient times. In his writings, there is a great deal of description and depth which allows the reader to fully understand how completely different it is from the Western world he came from. The first half deals with his surroundings-the garden he would watch for hours, his home where he would watch the townspeople go about their daily routines, the temples with their own unique legends and traditions. The second half of the book, though, is more interesting in that he describes the people in particular. Through his friends and those around him he tells exciting anecdotes that reveal the real Japan.I enjoyed this book very much and am glad I decided to purchase it. For anyone interested in learning about Japan following the beginning of the Meiji era (after 1868) this is definitely a good book to start with. ... Read more

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The 15 essays collected here examine the inner spiritual life of Japan through the people that make Japan the unique place it is. The word "Kokora" itself can be translated as "heart," "spirit" or "inner meaning," and that's exactly what this title teaches us about Japan.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Heart of Things
"Kokoro" is a difficult word to translate from Japanese to English. Heart, Spirit, Way of Being...it is all of these things. Rather than attempt a direct translation, Lafcadio Hearn offers a selection of stories focusing on Japanese inner life, so that by the end you will understand kokoro.

The stories follow Hearn's particular interests of Japanese folklore and the vanishing culture of which he found himself a part in post-Meji Japan. Each story is a slice of life focusing on Japanese character, morals and feelings. This is what the Japanese people care about, what they think is important, what is inside.

The selected tales are non-judgmental and non-orientalist. This is no attempt to explain or highlight the "strange" Japanese, but merely a record and an illumination, in the best sense of the term.

The collected stories:

"At a Railway Station"
"The Genius of Japanese Civilization"
"A Street Singer"
"From a Traveling Diary"
"The Nun of the Temple of Amida"
"After the War"
"Haru"
"A Glimpse of Tendencies"
"By Force of Karma"
"A Conservative"
"In the Twilight of the Gods"
"The Idea of Pre-Exsistance"
"In Cholera Time"
"Some Thoughts about Ancestor Worship"
"Kimiko"
... Read more

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Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) prowled the streets of New Orleans from 1877 to 1888 before moving on to a new life and global fame as a chronicler of Japan. Hearn's influence on our perceptions of New Orleans, however, has unjustly remained unknown.

In ten years of serving as a correspondent and selling his writing in such periodicals as the New Orleans Daily Item, Times-Democrat, Harper's Weekly, and Scribner's Magazine he crystallized the way Americans view New Orleans and its south Louisiana environs. Hearn was prolific, producing colorful and vivid sketches, vignettes, news articles, essays, translations of French and Spanish literature, book reviews, short stories, and woodblock prints.

He haunted the French Quarter to cover such events as the death of Marie Laveau. His descriptions of the seamy side of New Orleans, tainted with voodoo, debauchery, and mystery made a lasting impression on the nation. Denizens of the Crescent City and devotees who flock there for escapades and pleasures will recognize these original tales of corruption, of decay and benign frivolity, and of endless partying. With his writing, Hearn virtually invented the national image of New Orleans as a kind of alternative reality to the United States as a whole.

S. Frederick Starr, a leading authority on New Orleans and Louisiana culture, edits the volume, adding an introduction that places Hearn in a social, historical, and literary context.

Hearn was sensitive to the unique cultural milieu of New Orleans and Louisiana. During the decade that he spent in New Orleans, Hearn collected songs for the well-known New York music critic Henry Edward Krehbiel and extensively studied Creole French, making valuable and lasting contributions to ethnomusicology and linguistics.

Hearn's writings on Japan are famous and have long been available. But Inventing New Orleans: Writings of Lafcadio Hearn brings together a selection of Hearn's nonfiction on New Orleans and Louisiana, creating a previously unavailable sampling. In these pieces Hearn, an Anglo-Greek immigrant who came to America by way of Ireland, is alternately playful, lyrical, and morbid. This gathering also features ten newly discovered sketches. Using his broad stylistic palette, Hearn conjures up a lost New Orleans which later writers such as William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams used to evoke the city as both reality and symbol.

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was a prolific writer, critic, amateur engraver, and journalist. His many books-on a diverse range of subjects-include La Cuisine Creole: A Collection of Culinary Recipes (1885), Gombo Zhebes (1885), Chita (1889), and Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (1894).

S. Frederick Starr is chair of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University. His previous writings on Louisiana culture include New Orleans Unmasqued (1989), Southern Comfort: The Garden District of New Orleans (1998), and Louis Moreau Gottschalk (2000). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Interesting. Great writing.
While preparing for a trip to New Orleans, I came across this book and thought it might give me some interesting background info on the city. The book is a collection of stories and articles written in the late 1800's. Most don't relate to anything that a tourist could currently visit but it does give some interesting insight into the life of the city and Hearn is a fantastic writer.

I am a chef and restaurantuer who originally had a deep fascination with Creole cuisine. The section toward the end of the book with recipes was a bonus.

Anyone with a more than casual interest in New Orleans, Cajun/Creole, or life in the south back in the late 1800's will find this a worthwhile read.

A documentary prose artist
The impressionistic journalism of Lafcadio Hearn provides a more vivid first-hand picture of late nineteenth century America than any book I've read. As a classically-educated European and outsider with a penchant for the ghostly, Hearn's work also offers a nice counterpoint to Twain. The more fantastic passages (picturing a cotton press as a monster) Hearn himself later called too florid, but for the post-modern reader, it's a fitting route into old New Orleans. Few journalists of his day embraced places like Hearn. Having known destitution himself, Hearn writes from the bottom. He describes industry, architecture, manners, crime, clothes, furniture and flora while telling his stories. Those familiar with Hearn's later, more mature work in Japan know that he can both capture a society and retell a good ghost story, sometimes intertwining the two. I recommend this book to anyone seeking highly-visual, narrative vignettes of America's past underworlds.

Hearn on New Orleans
Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) is generally known for his groundbreaking work on the culture and folklore of Japan.

Less well known, despite the fact that it has been just as influential in its way, is the body of Hearn's Louisiana work. "Inventing New Orleans"-edited by S. Frederick Starr and published by University Press of Mississippi - is an admirable collection of Hearn's writings from the decade he spent in New Orleans prior to leaving the U.S. - first for Martinique and then, ultimately, Japan. From 1878 until 1888 Hearn lived in The Crescent City, and through a series of news articles, editorials, reviews, literary sketches (most published in the New Orleans "Daily City Item" and the New Orleans "Times-Democrat") and two studies of Creole culture, fashioned the romantic idea of New Orleans as a city of mystery, magic and wantonness that has endured to the present day. Nothing short of prolific, Hearn also translated books from the French and penned stories, poems, belles letters and a novel while in New Orleans.

"Inventing New Orleans" includes a small (considering Hearn's output) but thoroughly enjoyable selection of this material. The book is comprised of four sections as follows:

I. The Outsider as Insider: Impressions
II. From the Land of Dreams: Sketches
III. Of Vices and Virtues: Editorials
IV. Reports from the Field: Longer Studies

Sections I and II, each very similar in style and subject matter, are my personal favorites. Here, Hearn describes and discourses upon a variety of subjects pertaining to the City Care Forgot in a slice-of-life literary manner. Hearn's first impressions of New Orleans, famous residents of the city (the most well known of which is no doubt Marie Laveau), legends, traditions and myriad topical observations will be found in these pages.

Section III consists of a selection of editorials written for the "Daily City Item" and the "Times-Democrat". It is here that we see Hearn exercising his judgmental pen against political agendas to which he did not subscribe and social ills which he felt to be harming the city. He could not have been popular with the New Orleans police, for instance, judging from the scathing indictments against their alleged corruption to be found in this section.

Section IV includes selections from Hearn's two studies of Creole Culture: "La Cuisine Creole" and "Gombo Zhebes: Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs. . .". I personally found the former, essentially a cookbook, to be rather dry reading. Those interested in culinary arts will no doubt find much of interest here. The latter is a collection of Creole proverbs, as the title implies, and is a joy to read for those interested in language and a glimpse into the social mind of the lost Creole culture.

All of this is preceded by an erudite introduction (written by the editor) which provides an overview and definition of Southern writing as well as an excellent thumbnail biography of Lafcadio Hearn.

If you are an admirer of Lafcadio Hearn or simply one who has known the haunting charms of The Crescent City, "Inventing New Orleans" will provide you with pages and pages of reading delight. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Ghosts & Buddhism
The books title is a little deceptive as ghostly tales make up less than half of the book. The rest of the book covers incense usage, Buddhist idioms, haiku (Japanese short poetry), and other aspects of Japanese culture.

On the whole, this is an enjoyable and quick read for those with an interest in Japan. For those more interested in ghosts, you'll probably be a bit disappointed. ... Read more

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Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) was a master satirist who displayed a fiery wit both as a writer and as an artist. For seven months in 1880, he surprised and amused the readers of New Orleans with his woodblock "cartoons" and accompanying articles, which were variously funny, scathing, surreal, political, whimsical, and moral. This delightful book collects in their entirety, for the first time, all of the extant satirical columns and woodcut illustrations published in the Daily City Item—181 columns in all.Hearn displays immense range, illuminating in words and prints the unique culture of New Orleans, including its Creole history, debauched underworld, corrupt politicians, and voudou practitioners. The columns are expertly annotated by Delia LaBarre, who places them in their unique Crescent City context.

With virtually no training in art of any kind, Hearn began creating his illustrations partly to boost the circulation of a small daily newspaper in a competitive market. He believed in the power of satirical cartoons to communicate big ideas in small spaces—in particular, to reveal the habits, prejudices, and delusions of the current generation. Blind in his left eye (since a boyhood accident) and severely myopic in his right, Hearn nonetheless painstakingly carved out drawings on wood blocks with a penknife to be printed alongside his articles on the newspaper’s letterpress. Hearn developed, from the first of these woodcuts to the last, a unique style that expressed the full range of his wit, from razorsharp condemnation to tender affection.

Hearn had a keen eye for the absurd, along with an extraordinary ability to modulate his criticism and praise in a continuum from cauterizing vitriol to palliative balm, from the heaviest sarcasm to the lightest wit. In the pieces collected here, there can be found a unifying thread: Hearn’s love/hate relationship with the virtues and vices of New Orleans, a city that continually amused and amazed him.

Born in Greece and raised in Ireland, Lafcadio Hearn immigrated to the United States as a teenager and became a newspaper reporter in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he married a black woman, an act that was illegal at the time, the newspaper fired him and Hearn relocated to New Orleans. In the early 1880s his contributions to national publications (like Harper’s Weekly and Scribners Magazine) helped mold the popular image of New Orleans as a colorful place of decadence and hedonism. In 1888, Hearn left New Orleans for Japan, where he took the name Koizumi Yakumo and worked as a teacher, journalist, and writer.

"And it may come to pass that I shall have stranger things to tell you; for this is a land of magical moons and of witches and of warlocks; and were I to tell you all that I have seen and heard in these years in this enchanted City of Dreams you would verily deem me mad rather than morbid." —Lafcadio Hearn, 1880, describing New Orleans in a letter to a friendAUTHOR BIO:Delia LaBarre is Executive Director of the Hearn/Koizumi Center in New Orleans. ... Read more

Product Description
A singular figure in American letters, Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) had a life as complex as his heritage: born on a Greek isle of a Greek mother and an English father, raised in Europe, he made his name as a writer in the United States before settling permanently in Japan. Steeped in a decadent style, deeply interested in folk traditions (notably voodoo), Hearn has a keenly observant eye for the offbeat, the sensual, and the gruesome. In novels such as Chita, about a devastating tropical tidal wave, and Youma, about a slave rebellion in Martinique, as well as in a wealth of journalistic reports, Hearn left unrivaled first-hand portraits of the black and creole cultures of New Orleans, Cincinnati, and the French West Indies. His extraordinary travel book Two Years in the French West Indies is presented here with its original illustrations. Some Chinese Ghosts, a stylized retelling of ancient legends, foreshadows his later fascination with Asian themes. The volume is rounded out with a revealing selection of impassioned letters, eight of which are published unexpurgated here for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Nice Collection from Hearn's American Years
Lafcadio Hearn is an odd choice for the Library of America to be raising to the Mt. Olympus of American literature. Born on a Greek isle, raised and educated in Ireland, now in Cincinnati of all places, off to New Orleans, now to the West Indies, then off to Japan, Hearn truly earned the title of a recent biography on him "Wandering Ghost." The LOA edition of Hearn contains his writing from his time in the US and in the West Indies. This collection shows how diverse Hearn was as a writer as all of the following are included: translations of traditional Japanese tales; accounts of the river workers on the Ohio, reflections on snow, the account of a murderer being hung, notes on African-American dances, looks at odd societies in small Louisiana villages, accounts of Martinique, a conversation with a woman and her experiences with spirits from beyond, novels about tropical storms and slave rebellions in the isles, letters to his friends, and many other topics and materials. Most writers could not pull this off. Hearn masterfully writes about all of these subjects with grace, humor and style. While the works he wrote in Japan are not included, this book gives the reader an excellent introduction to Hearn's versatility and ability as a writer and the reader enjoys some great entertainment to boot. Highly recommended.

valuable
Hearn's "American" writings are little known compared to his later Japanese studies, but they are invaluable for an understanding of the man - and fascinating in their own right. The only reservation about this volume concerns the apparent abridgements, which are not clearly indicated nor explained. ... Read more

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"Most of the following Kwaidan, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old Japanese books...Some of the stories may have had a Chinese origin ... But the Japanese story-teller, in every case, has so recolored and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Japan's most famous collection of ghost and monster tales
"Kwaidan" is Hearn's most famous book, and justifiably so.It is the least academic of his works, collecting together some of Japan's core ghost and monster stories into one slim volume. Much like the Brothers Grimm, Hearn did not actually create these stories but rather compiled them and put them into written form for the first time, learning them from folk tales and storytellers.

Along with famous, "Kwaidan" is Hearn's most influential book."The Story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi" is as well-known in Japan as "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is in the United States.The "Yuki Onna" has made it into a few films, including Kurosawa's "Dreams" and the filmed version of this book, "Kwaidan."

The stories themselves are of excellent quality, ranging from spooky ghost tales to humorous tales of wandering monks encountering monsters. Each story ranges from 5-15 pages long.

Along with the stories are three insect studies,the likes of which can be found in all Hearn books.These are excellent academic studies of insects in traditional Japanese folk lore, including children's songs and haiku poetry involving insects.

Included are:

The story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi
Oshidori
The story of O-Tei
Ubazakura
Diplomacy
Of a mirror and a bell
Jikininki
Mujina
Rokuro-kubi
A dead secret
Yuki-Onna
The story of Aoyagi
Jiu-Roku-Zakura
The dream of Akinosuke
Riki-Baba
Hi-Mawari
Horai

Insect Studies -
Butterfiles
Mosquitos
Ants

things that go bump in the night
This is a deliciously creepy collection of Japanese folk stories from Lafcadio Hearn (aka Koizumi Yagumo). Hearn was born in Greece, raised in Ireland, and then spent later years in the U.S. (esp. Cincinatti and New Orleans), where he worked as a reporter. In 1890, during the early Meiji Era, he settled in Japan. Hearn taught English in several places (Yokohama, Shimane-ken, Kyushu, and Tokyo-shi), married into a samurai family (gaining the name Koizumi Yagumo and Japanese citizenship), and wrote several books about Japanese culture and folklore. Kwaidan is a fun, spooky book, and I highly recommend it. (Also, if you or your children have read the Harry Potter books, you'll see that some of the "Dark Creatures" therein are actually of Japanese origin).

Spooky Old Tales
This collection of 17 old stories from Japan was collected and translated by a well-known ethnographer, and first published in English in 1904. The tales are old folk stories (urban legends if you will) mostly dealing with ghosts and the spirit world. Many feature the theme of a spirit who takes a human form to disguise their true nature. Another common theme concerns the uneasy spirit who must be appeased in some form. They are fairly charming old-fashioned stories, which vary considerably in length. The final three sections ("Butterflies," "Mosquitoes," "Ants") are more like meditations on the three subjects and don't really fit into the ghost story theme of the rest of the book. Four of the tales were made into an excellent Japanese movie in 1964.

Ghost stories by a Western more Japanese than Japanese
Lafcadio Hearn is well-known in his Japanese name, Koizumi Yagumo. Actually, I never doubted that Koizumi Yagumo was a born-Japanese. His famous Kwaidan, or Japanese ghost stories are so "Japanese" and it really scared me. When my brother told me that Koizumi Yagumo is actually a Western people, I didn't believe it at first... He was born in 1850 in Greek, his mother's country. Educated in his father's country, Ireland, he went to USA when he was 19 years old. He worked as a journalist in New Orlens, then came to Japan and became an English teacher in Matsue, Shimane prefecture in 1890. He married with Yae Koizumi and got Japanese citizenship. Kwaidan includes ghost stories lik Earless Ho Ichi, a Biwa (Japanese PiPa) player and story teller of famous Heike legends, who was possesed by Heike (the warrior family once governed Japan then defeated) warriors' ghosts because of his talent, and Mujina, bewitched racoon dogs which scare people to death. Koizumi Yagumo is more Japanese than Japanese... Koizumi Yagumo is still popular in Japan (and I believe a lot of people still believe that he is a born-Japanese...). When I searched Koizumi Yagumo in Japanese Goo, it hit 422! ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

nice slice of paradise...
A great writer and a fascinating man, better known for his books about Japan... This book is one long Caribbean moment preserved in amber.


... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

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'and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or mouth - and he screamed.'
Lafcadio Hearn's fascinating and unsettling ghost stories are a reinterpretation of oriental legends, and folktales. They are a potent blend of weird beauty and horror.
Hearn, who referred to his narratives as 'stories and studies of strange things', believed that the spectral world was part of the oriental landscape. Lakes, mountains, ruined castles and terraced fields were the natural locale of ghostly spirits, and their intervention in human affairs was part of the natural order of things. Hearn's apparitions are not a violent intrusion upon everyday reality; they are already a part of that reality, co-existing with the living.
This collection contains the best of the work of this neglected master of the supernatural tale. Prepare to be charmed and chilled in equal measure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Spirits, Gods, and a Mountain of Skulls
When it comes to strange tales of Japan and China, all roads eventually lead to Lafcadio Hearn.As a reporter living in Japan during the late 1890's, he was the gateway between the two cultures.Asia at the time was a strange and mysterious place, where few Westerners had ever been.Hearn wrote about the culture and clothing, the songs and folktales, the religion and government.He also wrote about ghosts.

"Oriental Ghost Stories" is a compilation from three of Hearn's book, In Ghostly Japan, Kwaidan: Stories And Studies Of Strange Things and Some Chinese Ghosts.The term "ghost" is used loosely here.Perhaps the best term would be the one favored by pulp fiction authors such as HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.These are Weird Tales, of gods and monsters, of karma and consequences.

Never having a really solid grasp of Japanese, Hearn was more of an interpreter and an enthusiast than an translator.These stories, while traditional, are seen through Hearn's eye and writing style.Many of them appeared in his English writing before they ever appeared in Japanese.People knew of his fondness for strange stories and legends, and would tell Hearn local folklore which he would dutifully record.

Some of them are spine-tingling, but fear isn't really the intent for most of the yarns.Buddhism plays a role in many of the stories, such as in the piece "Fragment", which has a man climbing a mountain of skulls only to realize that all of the skulls are his from past lives.Many of the stories have a cultural base, such as Hearn's mussing on silkworms, and what a silkworm's version of heaven would be like. There are tales of monsters, like "Rokuro-kubi" which was later adapted by Mike Mignola as the Hellboy story Heads, and true tales of ghosts like "Mimi-nashi Hoichi" which was adapted for the film Kwaidan, or "A Passional Karrma", which has been adapted for film more time than one could count.

This is a fantastic starting point for people interested in Oriental folktales."Oriental Ghost Stories" collects just the stories from his three books, leaving out most of the academic and cultural essays.The edition is beautiful as well, with an embossed skull and blood on the front cover, and retaining Hearn's original annotations while supplying some new annotations to help with the cultural and language difficulties.I have read all of Hearn's stories many times, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading them again in this one volume.

Unexpected treasure
This little book is a delight. It isn't good for any chills or nightmares, but certainly provides mystery, anticipation, plot development and lots of supernatural figures. The stories are Hearn's own, based on his interactions with Oriental culture and the folk tales he collected. As for his interactions with the culture, they were extensive -- he settled in Japan at about the age of 40, took a Japanese wife, and spent the rest of his life there. The tales are authentic and properly seeped in the appropriate culture, but written or recorded in the style of the westerner Hearn.

The book is, perhaps, a bit thin. Some of the later tales aren't very ghostly, as though the editors were digging for enough Hearn material to fill the volume. That is my only complaint.

The stories are brief and catchy, sometimes suspenseful and other times with the suspense deliberately downplayed as Hearn offers gentle lessons on the culture that produced the legends. Hearn's occasional direct comments on the culture are worthwhile -- particularly his comments on "A Passionate Karma."

Again, a delight.

A Nice Introduction to Oriental Ghost Tales
Lafcadio Hearn was born on the Greek Ionian Island of Leucadia (pronounced Lefacadia - hence his name) on June 27th, 1850. His father was Irish, his mother Greek. He had an English Catholic education, went to live in New Orleans for a spell, spent time in the West Indies and found himself in Japan, married to a Japanese girl. He became a teacher of English in Tokyo and found himself translating into English, the Japanese culture, including their ghost story tradition.

I think this is a nice little book to read. The stories are short, to the point and at times unsettling, at times magical, at times philosophical. I don't think this is an extraordinary collection of stories but if you're interested in Japanese culture or the Supernatural of the Orient pre-twentieth century, this book is not disappointing. (Also included are Chinese ghost stories but 75% of the book is devoted to the Japanese tales.)

My only gripe is the printing format. Too many blank pages between stories. For instance: the title of the story appears twice, first on an empty page, turn the page, blank, then the title again above the body of the text. It does, however, make for a quick read and because the stories are so short, it's an ideal book to pick up and go with. Leave it by your bedside and read one tale each night. They aren't frightening, to say the least, but they cast a spell and the atmosphere is wonderful to take in. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:HORAI.Blue vision of depth lost in height, — sea and sky interblending through luminous haze. The day is of spring, and the hour morning.Only sky and sea,—one azure enormity. ... In the fore, ripples are catching a silvery light, and threads of foam are swirling. But a little farther off no motion is visible, nor anything save colour: dim warm blue of water widening away to melt into blue of air. Horizon there is none: only distance soaring into space,—infinite concavity hollowing before you, and hugely arching above you,—the colour deepening with the height. But far in the midway-blue there hangs a faint, faint vision of palace towers, with high roofs horned and curved like moons, — some shadowing of splendour strange and old, illumined by a sunshine soft as memory.. . . What I have thus been trying to describe isa kakemono,—that is to say, a Japanese painting on silk, suspended to the wall of my alcove;—and the name of it is Shinkiro, which signifies "Mirage." But the shapes of the mirage are unmistakable. Those are the glimmering portals of Horai the blest; and those are the moony roofs of the Palace of the Dragon- King;—and the fashion of them (though limned by a Japanese brush of to-day) is the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one hundred years ago. . . .Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:—In Horai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The flowers in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a man taste of those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst or hunger. In Horai grow the enchanted plants So-rin-shi, and Riku-go-aoi, and Ban-kon-to, which heal all manner of sickness;—and there grows also the magical grass Yo-shin-shi, that quickens the dead; and the magical grass is water... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Reviews from Brizmus Blogs Books
Kwaidan is a beautiful selection of Japanese ghost stories; some of them are horrifying, some of them are touching, and all of them provide an intricate look into the many subtleties that make up the Japanese culture. I am greatly enjoyed each and every story in this book, and each of them I enjoyed for different reasons. Some of the stories were translations of old Japanese texts wheras, for others, this book was the first place they were ever written. The author heard them while traveling through small-town Japan and enjoyed them so much that he transcribed them. Because of this, it is somewhat difficult to write a real review. The stories are not his; they aren't even retellings, but the author does an amazing job of transcribing/translating them and making them his own. Obviously, some things are lost in translation, but the author did a great job of minimalizing this loss, and I really feel like I got the full effect of what was originally being said.

At the end of this book, there was a brief study of insects in relation to Japanese culture which I found absolutely FASCINATING. I found the sections on ants and butterflies to be especially enjoyable (though I should perhaps note that I am slightly obsessed with ants). The chosen poems and texts along with the author's observations and commentary gave me great insight as to the roles that insects played (and insects are VERY prominent in Japan) in ancient Japan.

I GREATLY enjoyed this book (and learned a lot!), and, for the first time in a very long time, I found myself so enraptured that I couldn't stop myself from staying up into the wee hours of the morning reading. I highly recommend this selection of stories to anyone who is even remotely interested in Japanese culture.

Kwaidan: Stories And Studies of Strange Things
Classic masterpiece by Lafcadio Hearn. This opened the door of mysterious Japanese culture to the West. I also recommend Hearn's "Whimsically Grotesque,Whimsically Grotesque: Selected writings of Lafcadio Hearn in the Cincinnati Enquirer, 1872~1875" news report of the dark side of 19th century Cincinnati.

An Intriguing Look Into The Japanese "Fantastic"
Kwaidan delivers chilling stories as well as eerie insight into the fantasy world of Japan. Lafcadio Hearn, who Tuttle Publishing claimed was "almost as Japanese as Haiku" provides an in depth look at the stories which he heard first hand in Japan; some of the stories have been part of the Japanese cannon for centuries deriving from Chinese tales, while others were created more recently. Hearn is careful to preface the stories with the history available and provides the reader with both an entertaining and educational reading experience.

Highly recommended for those studying Japanese culture, "pop" culture, or history. A great read for any otaku!

Kwaidan review
This book is a very readable series of very short stories
of Japan, followed in the latter part of the book by some
reflections on the part of the author, a Westerner living in
Japan one hundred years ago. It is of interest to read of
such cultural diversity, mythology and relgious views.
The author's book, IN GHOSTLY JAPAN, was a much better collection of Japanese lore, in that the stories were longer
and lent themselves to greater character development and
complexity. Nevertheless, I know of no other author who translates Japanese myths, and both books are worthwhile.

Japan's most famous collection of ghost and monster tales
"Kwaidan" is Hearn's most famous book, and justifiably so. It is the least academic of his works, collecting together some of Japan's core ghost and monster stories into one slim volume. Much like the Brothers Grimm, Hearn did not actually create these stories but rather compiled them and put them into written form for the first time, learning them from folk tales and storytellers.

Along with famous, "Kwaidan" is Hearn's most influential book. "The Story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi" is as well-known in Japan as "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is in the United States. The "Yuki Onna" has made it into a few films, including Kurosawa's "Dreams" and the filmed version of this book, "Kwaidan."

The stories themselves are of excellent quality, ranging from spooky ghost tales to humorous tales of wandering monks encountering monsters. Each story ranges from 5-15 pages long.

Along with the stories are three insect studies, the likes of which can be found in all Hearn books. These are excellent academic studies of insects in traditional Japanese folk lore, including children's songs and haiku poetry involving insects.

Included are:

The story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi
Oshidori
The story of O-Tei
Ubazakura
Diplomacy
Of a mirror and a bell
Jikininki
Mujina
Rokuro-kubi
A dead secret
Yuki-Onna
The story of Aoyagi
Jiu-Roku-Zakura
The dream of Akinosuke
Riki-Baba
Hi-Mawari
Horai

Insect Studies -
Butterfiles
Mosquitos
Ants ... Read more

Product Description
In 1869 a half-blind Greek-Irish teenager named Lafcadio Hearn came to Cincinnati, Ohio, and by the age of twenty-four became the city's most famous newspaper reporter on the strength of his lurid crime stories and bizarre explorations of the city's dark underside.

Fired in 1877 for his brief marriage to a black woman, he wandered from New Orleans to New York to the Caribbean before finally settling in Japan where, in a unique act of self-transformation, he became a Japanese patriot and patriarch.

Full of excerpts from Hearn's writing, Jonathan Cott's insightful portrayal of an extraordinary life recovers for a Western audience a unique figure of the nineteenth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Introduction to Hearn
I'm not exactly sure what to make of "Wandering Ghost" by Jonathan Cott. The book is torn between being a creative biography and an anthology of Hearn's writings. Either way, it serves a good introduction to Hearn. But there are problems. Hearn lived a fascinating life-time in Greece, Ireland, France, England, Cincinnati, New Orleans, the islands, then off to Japan. Sometimes Cott is content to leave the narrative for pages at a time for a quite from Hearn. Parts of Hearn's life pass by the blink of an eye. While Hearn aficionados will enjoy the book, they will also be frustrated, especially scholars on the trail of footnotes and sources. Drawing from letters and essays, this work may be best appreciated as an introduction to Hearn and will inspire new interest and appreciation for this haunting writer who linked East and West and had insights into many worlds. Hearn was also close to a diverse group of people (a former slave was his common life wife for example and he was married to a Japanese woman). While I appreciate the flowing narrative, I would have enjoyed a bit more insight and analysis into Hearn's life and work. Despite these quibbles, this book is a good introduction to one of the most fascinating writers of his times.

Disappointing as a biography, better as a reader
I had expected Wandering Ghost to be a standard biography, but the number of long passages taken from Hearn's writings made me wonder what the author's intent was.At least half (or more) of the book is comprised of these lengthy passages from Hearn's newspaper work and other writings.

At times these quotes serve to move the book forward, but more often than not they bog it down, as in the inclusion of an entire newspaper story about a sensational murder -- some 13 pages that, while they served as a good illustration of Hearn's more florid prose style, served very little purpose biographically.The quoted passages are so numerous and at times so extraneous that it is frustrating to read this book as a biography. It's especially irksome when a five- or six-page lengthy quote is used when a one- or two-paragraph one would have easily sufficed.

Perhaps the problem is that I didn't pay sufficient attention to the publisher's description of Wandering Ghost as containing "generous selections" from Hearn's work, but even that did not prepare me for the amount of quoted material.Given the richness of the subject and wealth of material that Hearn left behind, it seems a shame that a more lucid biographical account of his life was not attempted.

Home is where the heart is
I wasn't prepared for what an excellent book this was.I have long been a fan of Lafcadio Hearn's Japan-themed books, and was interested in learning more about him and about what brought him to the country so long ago. But I figured the rest of his story would hold little interest for me.

Jonathon Cott has proven me wrong."Wandering Ghost: The Odyssey of Lafcadio Hearn" shows a truly fascinating character, one who was eternally searching for somewhere to belong, one who's tastes and fashions were completely out of synch with the time he lived in, one who was chasing a dream so distant that he could only find it in the most remarkable of places, only to hold it for awhile and watch it slowly slip away.

Born of a Greek mother and an Irish father, Hearn was never accepted as a child.A half-breed, he was shunted from relative to relative until finally shipped off to the US to make his own way.There, his unique racial status allowed him access to both the white cities and the black ghettos, and his skills as a writer got him a job translating the forbidden culture for the newspapers.An acclaimed journalist, he accrued some degree of success until his then-illegal marriage to a black woman saw him fired, disgraced, and exiled to New Orleans.His mania for writing, his passion for "exotic" women, and his desire to go to the hidden corners of society to record and experience native folklore and traditions soon made him a pariah, and he was exiled again.After trying several tropical islands, hidden paradises and various adventures, an opportunity opened up for him to journey to the mysterious and unknown Japan.There he found acceptance, family, and his own peace at last.

What is truly remarkable about "Wandering Ghost" is that it is an auto-biography as much as a biography.It is filled with Hearn's writings; newspaper articles, personal letters, sketches on interesting characters and places, thoughts and reflections, a glimpse inside his head.Cott originally began with the idea of publishing some of Hearn's non-Japan related writing, but was overcome by the sheer bulk of it all and decided to sift through them and shape them into Hearn's story.Seeing all of this, I gained much more respect for Hearn as a writer as opposed to a mere chance observer of the fading Japanese culture. ... Read more

Product Description
As well as providing a much needed perspective on Hearn's Japan years, this study offers a much more informed view of Hearn's life, times and writings than seen before. ... Read more

Product Description
In Ghostly Japan collects twelve stories from celebrated author Lafcadio Hearn. Some of these stories are ghostly and ghastly, while others are wonderfully benign. Whether he's telling a ghost story or explaining a Buddhist proverb, Hearn's writings are never less than enthralling.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

In Ghostly Japan
Excellent. The classic masterpiece by Lafcadio Hearn. Hearn also wrote many news reports, before he came to Japan, such as "Whimsically Grotesque," 1872-1875 at The Cincinnati Enquirer.Whimsically Grotesque: Selected writings of Lafcadio Hearn in the Cincinnati Enquirer, 1872~1875

A mix of folktales, Japanese idioms, haiku, etc.
The title is somewhat misleading.One expects to find a collection of Japanese ghost stories.Instead this book is a mix of personal observations of Meji Japan or Buddhism, a few Japanese folk and ghost tales, Japanese idioms, examples of translated haiku, etc.Still, it was enjoyable.Something about reading this book was very peaceful - like sitting in a Japanese garden lazily pondering life's trifles.A good companion to Hearn's "Kwaidan."

Like Meeting a Buddha in Hell
In my snobbier moments I'm somewhat annoyed when people read a book because they saw its movie adaptation. Why not start at the source? It's a sad, sad day indeed when it takes Hollywood to get people to sit down with a good, classic book. Etcetera etcetera. Well, here I am, guilty of much the same, the karmic consequences of my snobbery having come back around to bite me. Years ago I saw the film "Kwaidan" (based on Lafcadio Hearn's retellings of traditional Japanese ghost tales) and loved it, and that's basically what inspired me to read "In Ghostly Japan" here. Which means that I was misled by the title just a bit, for this book is a mixed bag of short pieces, some of which are ghost tales but many of which are not, or not exactly anyway. This was a pleasant surprise, however. Hearn writes of Buddhism in real, down-to-earth Japanese culture (for this, if anything, is the overarching theme of the miscellany, the ghost stories being folkloric examples of Buddhist causality and karma) in an eloquent, personal style redolent of the Romantic flowing rhythms of late 19th-century prose but undergirded by a very solid but understated, unpretentious erudition. The guy knows what he's talking about. His keenly observant and sympathetic eye catches how Buddhism really operates in the Japanese imagination and how it manifests in proverbs and customs and such, but he then goes on to shed much light on these phenomena by analyzing and interpreting them in terms of formal Buddhist scriptures and doctrines--all of which sounds like pretty dry stuff, but it's actually enjoyable and fascinating, even entertaining, due to Hearn's wonderful presentation. Somehow he transcended the tired, misleading "great tradition"/"little tradition" dichotomy (a.k.a. the elite/folk religion dichotomy) before it even started and deftly avoided the twin pitfalls of Anthropology and Buddhist Studies early in the game--all without a bunch of tedious methodological navel-meditating. And what's more, he did so in style! The spooky tales of the karmically unquiet are cool too, of course. Once you start reading, there's not a ghost of a chance you'll be able to put this book down.

A study of Japanese ghostly traditions
"In Ghostly Japan" is a collection of old ghost stories, traditions dealing with ghosts, and personal ruminations on the afterlife by the turn-of-the-century Japanese scholar Lufcadio Hearn.

Much of the collection is short essays on Japanese traditions such as "Incense," and how incense relates to ghosts in terms of the Shinto and Buddhist religion. There is a true story of an accurate fortune teller know to the author, in "A Story of Divination." "Bits of Poetry" and "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" translates and teaches several bits of Japanese lore as they relate to the world of the dead.

Some essays, such as "Silkworms," are pure conjecture, relating the human ideals of paradise to the daily lives of silkworms. "Suggestion" is a conversation between the author and a monk on the nature of gender and re-birth in the Buddhist tradition.

Of true ghost stories, there are few. Many of the ghost stories, such as "Furisode," begin with a short lesson about something Japanese, in this case a long-sleeved Kimono known as a Furisode, and then relates a ghost story dealing with the object. Some, such as "Ingwa-banashi," are pure chilling horror that make you cringe. Other true ghost stories in this collection are "Story of a Tengu," "Ululation," "Fragment" and "A Passional Karma."

One of my favorites, a short story called "At Yaidzu," tells of the author swimming out amongst the Obon lanterns, which are put to see to guide home the spirits of the dead, and the feeling he gets being in the Ocean amongst the returning dead. Truly creepy.

All in all, "In Ghostly Japan" is a bit more scholarly than ghastly. The writing style is like many books from the 1880's, a bit dry and non-thrilling. It is a good resource for learning about the Ghostly traditions of Japan, but those seeking a collection of Japanese ghost stories will be disappointed.

Highly Respected in Japan
Lafcadio Hearn was one of the most respected English writers on Japanese History and Culture. He is highly respected in Japan to this day. This book is a treasure, and the Incense Chapter contains information on incense you can't find anywhere else.

In some cases the Japanese (romaji) is difficult to reference because the style is not the same as the modern spelling. Also, some references are hard to track under the titles given, but it is a great book just the same. ... Read more

Product Description
excerpt from the book..

Travelling south from New Orleans to the Islands, you pass through a
strange land into a strange sea, by various winding waterways.You can
journey to the Gulf by lugger if you please; but the trip may be made
much more rapidly and agreeably on some one of those light, narrow
steamers, built especially for bayou-travel, which usually receive
passengers at a point not far from the foot of old Saint-Louis Street,
hard by the sugar-landing, where there is ever a pushing and flocking
of steam craft--all striving for place to rest their white breasts
against the levee, side by side,--like great weary swans.But the
miniature steamboat on which you engage passage to the Gulf never
lingers long in the Mississippi:she crosses the river, slips into
some canal-mouth, labors along the artificial channel awhile, and then
leaves it with a scream of joy, to puff her free way down many a league
of heavily shadowed bayou.Perhaps thereafter she may bear you through
the immense silence of drenched rice-fields, where the yellow-green
level is broken at long intervals by the black silhouette of some
irrigating machine;--but, whichever of the five different routes be
pursued, you will find yourself more than once floating through sombre
mazes of swamp-forest,--past assemblages of cypresses all hoary with
the parasitic tillandsia, and grotesque as gatherings of fetich-gods.
Ever from river or from lakelet the steamer glides again into canal or
bayou,--from bayou or canal once more into lake or bay; and sometimes
the swamp-forest visibly thins away from these shores into wastes of
reedy morass where, even of breathless nights, the quaggy soil trembles
to a sound like thunder of breakers on a coast:the storm-roar of
billions of reptile voices chanting in cadence,--rhythmically surging
in stupendous crescendo and diminuendo,--a monstrous and appalling
chorus of frogs! ....
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Master stylist
I just finished re-reading this book, which I had read nearly fifty years ago. Although he is seldom mentioned among the great writers of the nineteenth century, stylistically - in my mind - Lafcadio Hearn had no match. It has been said that he would spend up to two weeks writing and rewriting a single sentence, agonizing over the proper way to convey what he had to say.I believe his description of the frenzied revelry of the guests in the grand ballroom, in complete denial of the hurricane raging outside the door, is equal - if not superior - to any passage written by any of his contemporaries. I find the rhythms of his prose almost hypnotic.
Largely because of this perfectionism, as well as his virtually limitless vocabulary and his mastery of several languages, I would recommend you approach his writing with handy access to both dictionary and on-line translator.Nor should you expect a great plot; Chita is rather maudlin by current tastes, and relies a bit too heavily on coincidence. But I heartily recommend the book, with the above reservations; it is an excellent read.
... Read more

Product Description
The book may have numerous typos or missing text. It is not illustrated or indexed. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website. You can also preview the book there.Purchasers are also entitled to a trial membership in the publisher's book club where they can select from more than a million books for free.Original Publisher: Harper Publication date: 1917Subjects: Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Historical; History / World; Literary Collections / Essays; Travel / Essays ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Authors Don't Write Like This Anymore
I have a keen interest in both hurricanes and South Louisiana. After checking Chita out of the library and reading it, I decided I wanted it for my personal library. The writing is very florid and 19th century style...I would call it "romantic". The vocabulary is not dumbed down like so many of todays works of fiction. The story is evocative and touching.

A Novel of the Lousiana Bayous
A young girl, a survivor of a devastating tropical storm that hit the Louisiana coast, is rescued by a Feliu, a Spanish fisherman, and his wife Carmen.Unable to discover who she is or where she comes from, they take her in, calling her Chita (short for Conchita), and raise her as their own child.Chita learns about the sea, learns Spanish and mixes it with her own Creole patois.Her father, whom everyone thought was dead, coincidentally meets her toward the conclusion of the book, but dies before being able to tell her.

There's not much else to the story.Lafcadio Hearn was passionate about languages, and that comes across clearly with this short novel.The descriptions of the islands, the waterways, the plant life are wonderfully detailed.Also, his telling of the storm and the havoc it wreaks are quite vivid and probably the best description of a storm in any book.

Good as the descriptions are, they sometimes drag on and seem unnecessary, especially at the beginning of the story.And, as I said before, there's not much to the story.Events happen and that's that.No real conflict or resolution.

The novel is a great look at the environment of the Louisianabayous is the 1860's,but left me wanting something more. ... Read more

Product Description
Talking tea kettles, a monstrous goblin-spider, miniature warriors, and other fanciful creatures abound in exotic tales brimming with warmth and whimsy. Eleven excellently translated fables include "The Fountain of Youth," "The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings," "The Wooden Bowl," "My Lord Bag-o’-Rice," "The Silly Jelly-Fish, "The Hare of Inaba," and five more. 21 original illus. by Yuko Green.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"My Lord Bag-o'-Rice" and "The Matsuyama Mirror'"and more
"The Boy Who Drew Cats and Other Japanese Fairy Tales" is an excellent, inexpensive introduction to the Fairy world of Japan. Inside this book are Oni Demons, Jizo-sama, magical cats, the Tanuki who turns into a tea kettle, Goblin spiders, little men who clean tatami and a host of other magical creatures.

Many of the tales are translations by Lufcadio Hearn, author of "Kwaidan" and "In Ghostly Japan."Hearn is famous for his study and work of Japanese folklore in the late 1880s.The translations are authentic and unabridged.

This edition is perfect for young readers, with large type and quaint black-and-white illustrations.The stories are very easy to read. The book is very short, only about 60 pages.

I recommend this book to any young reader or parent who wishes to be exposed to the myths and fantasies of Japan.Fairy tales are an excellent introduction to foreign cultures, and can be a stepping stone to a broader world.

A fine introduction to Japanese fairy tales
The Dover Children's Thrift Classics of The Boy Who Drew Catsand Other Japanese Fairy Tales is amazing buy! All children should beexposed to the mythology and folklore of other cultures and the Dover Thrift library makes this possible by offering many other such titles from cultures ranging from Native American, Jewish, Russian, Danish, Chinese, Grimms, Hans Christian Anderson and Oscar Wilde. It is a wonderful way to build a library of knowledge affordably for any child.This particular edition is unabridged and contains the work of many writers.Like all fairy tales, they can be scary, gruesome and are used to ward off bad behavior by children.I will not belabor the problems of fairy tales but will say that if you enjoy fairy tales and take that aspect with a grain of salt, this is a fine introduction to Japanese folklore.It contains 11 stories and each has at least one accompanying simple illustration.Great for reading aloud and even more purposeful, when your children are reading on their own, it is a great way to expose them to other cultures. The writing is simple and easy to grasp but does not contain any stylish flourishes. The illustrations are simplistic and basic ink drawings. The stories included in this volume are:Chin-Chin Kobakama, The Goblin-Spider, The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings, The Boy Who Drew Cats, The Silly Jelly-Fish, The Fountain of Youth, The Hare of Inaba, My Lord Bag o'Rice, The Wooden Bowl, The Tea-Kettle and the Matsuyama Mirror. They are competently written.Again, keep in mind that some details are scary and gruesome as it is with all fairy tales from any culture. A great buy!END ... Read more