Kaidan (怪談）means ghost story or horror in Japanese although it usually refers to Japanese old traditional ghost folktales. Kaidan is a story about death, ghost and monsters and it first appeared in a written form dates back to Heian period (early 12th century). In the 18th century, it became one of the popular topics in Kabuki.

In the early 20th, a Greek born Irish author, Yakumo Koizumi (Lafcadio Hearn) collected old traditional Kaidan stories and folk stories all over Japan and published a book "怪談 (Kwaidan)". One of his stories, "耳なし芳一(Mimi nashi Houichi / Houichi the earless)" is a story all Japanese have read in their childhood.    

Kaidan used to be a typical summer event as well as the fireworks. To chill in the hot and humid summer in Japan, scary stories were perfect.

Nopperabou

Oiwa san

Rokuro kubi