Mysterious tales of Japan

the long version

A storyteller waits at midnight for the sound of ghostly footsteps. A fisherman rows out to sea, seemingly never to return. A woodcutter marries a beautiful young woman but must keep a terrible secret. Here is a collection of traditional Japanese tales that are haunting and evocative; ghostly and serene; tender, gentle, and mysterious. These tales also possess a cool and elegant beauty which unfolds in strange situations that head toward inevitable and eerie conclusions - conclusions that mirror the realities of our own lives. Noted children's author and award-winning storyteller Rafe Martin has told many of these stories in Japan, and for the last thirty years has been a student of Japanese culture. Notes acknowledging his principal source and inspiration, Lafcadio Hearn, are included. They show how Martin has expanded, developed, and reinterpreted each tale in light of his own vision and experience.