Kaidan (film, 1964)

Black Hair ( Japanese я 髪 Kuroki )

The first story is based on the story “Reconciliation” from Hearn’s book “Shadow” ( 1900 ). A young samurai from Kyoto leaves his weaver wife to marry a wealthy heiress and get out of poverty. The new marriage is unhappy, and after years spent in long service, he returns to Kyoto to his first wife, who is still beautiful and loves him. A woman forgives and accepts a repentant husband. Waking up in the morning, he discovers that the house has long been abandoned, and only the skeleton, decaying clothes and a shock of black hair remain from his wife.

“Snow Woman” ( Japanese 雪女 Yukionna )

According to a story from the book “Kaidan: History and Essays on Amazing Phenomena” ( 1904 ). Two lumberjacks freeze in the winter forest. The older one dies, and the young one, named Minokichi, meets Yuki-onna , the icy ghost of winter, who says she spared him because she liked him, but demands not to tell anyone about it, otherwise she will return and kill him. Next summer, Minokiti meets a beautiful girl and marries her. They have a happy marriage, and the wife, despite the years and three children born, does not age at all. Once, Minokichi tells his wife about a long history in the forest and suddenly realizes with horror that she is Yuki-onna, and he broke his promise. She spares him, because he must take care of the children, but she herself disappears in a snowstorm.

“The Story of Bezuhom Go” ( 耳 無 し 芳 一 の 話 Miminashi Ho: Iti no Hanashi )

Another adaptation from Kaidan, including elements from The Tale of Tyr's House ( Battle of Dannoura ). It is based on a folk tale of Beckless Walk, a blind biwa musician. Hoyah lives in a monastery and naively associates with the spirits of the Heike samurai, and now he is threatened with death. Upon learning of this, the abbot of the monastery is trying to save him. The whole body of Khodit is painted with the sacred texts of the sutra of the heart , but forgot about the ears. Coming after him, the ghost sees only his ears, tears them off and takes them with him. The fame of the musician Hoych spreads throughout the country, many noble people come to the temple to listen to him.

“In a cup of tea” ( 茶碗 の 中 Tyavan no naka )

The beginning of the 20th century . A writer is reading an old story about a samurai named Kannai, who saw a strange man reflecting in his cup of tea. That same evening, this man comes to the samurai during night watch. Kannai recognizes him and tries to kill, but only his sword touches the stranger, he immediately dissolves in the air. The next day, three servants of the spirit come to the samurai's house. Kannai attacks and kills them, but they disappear and immediately reappear. This ends the story. A publisher arrives at the writer’s house; the hostess is surprised that the writer went somewhere on New Year's Day. The publisher takes from the table and reads the manuscript, in which the writer leaves every reader with the opportunity to finish the old story in his own way. Then the hostess and the publisher, alternately looking into the pot of water, are wildly scared and run away. In the cauldron is the reflection of the writer.

"Black hair"

• Mitiyo Aratama - first wife
• Misako Watanabe - second wife
• Rentaro Mikuni - husband
• Kenjiro Ishiyama - father
• Ranko Akagi - mother

"Snow woman"

• Tatsuya Nakadai - Minokichi
• Keiko Kishi - Yuki-onna
• Yuko Motizuki - Minokichi's mother
• Kin Sugai - a peasant woman
• Noriko Sengoku - a peasant woman

“The Earless Walk”

• Katsuo Nakamura - Walk
• Tetsuro Tamba - warrior
• Takashi Shimura - High Priest

“In a cup of tea”

• Canyon Nakamura - Kannai
• Osamu Takizawa - writer / storyteller
• Haruko Sugimura - mistress
• Ganjiro Nakamura - Publisher
• Noboru Nakai - Shikibu Heinai
• Seiji Miyaguchi - the old man
• Kay Sato - Samurai Ghost

•   - December 29, 1964 the national premiere of the film in Tokyo ^[3] .
•   - since January 6, 1965, the film was screened throughout Japan ^[3] .
•   - July 15, 1965 - premiere on the American continent ^[3] .
•   - The European premiere of the film took place in Paris on July 28, 1965 ^[3] .
•   - The first screening of the film in the USSR was held as part of the Fourth Festival of Japanese Films in 1965 in Moscow , Kiev and Khabarovsk .

Although the tape can be described as a horror film, it does not have excessive bloodshed or excessive violence. Anxiety and fear are achieved through slowly increasing tension and restless expectations. Kobayashi prefers an expressionist visual style, and uses artificial decorations and with colorful backgrounds for many outdoor scenes, thus giving them an almost fabulous look (examples are the scene in the cemetery in “Bezukuhni Go”, or the background, depicting a huge eye in “ To the snowy woman ”).

• Kwaidan on the Internet Movie Database
• 怪 談 (Kaidan) (Japanese) . Japanese Movie Database . Date of treatment July 16, 2007.