'Ugetsu monogatari', kaidan, Akinari: An examination of the reality of the supernatural in eighteenth-century Japan

In 1776, Ueda Akinari (1734-1809) published Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Rain and Moonlight), a collection of nine short stories of the supernatural that has since been recognized as a masterpiece in the tradition of strange and mysterious tales known as kaidan. My work defines kaidan and its appeal with reference to Mikhail M. Bakhtin's genre theory. It also explores the meanings of Ugetsu mono-gatari in terms of Akinari's personal experience and beliefs. The popular appeal of Ugetsu monogatari lies in the fascination inherent in strange and mysterious stories, and Akinari skillfully created his classic by incorporating into these stories multiple allusions to Chinese and Japanese literary works, and a sophisticated discourse on such topics as National Learning, as well as his personal convictions and beliefs. Ugetsu monogatari was the result of Akinari's concerted effort to create kaidan of literary sophistication, and it is my argument that his creation was driven by his desire for literary recognition as well as his yearning for justice to be done in the literary arena, if not in real life. It follows that the greater the reader's knowledge of literature and of Akinari's beliefs, the greater his or her appreciation of Ugetsu monogatari. By incorporating these multiple elements into his text, Akinari greatly contributed to honing the kaidan genre.The first chapter defines kaidan as a genre and situates it and Ugetsu monogatari in Edo period literature. To my knowledge, my work elucidates Japan's kaidan tradition systematically for the first time in English. Genre is treated as a logical outgrowth of how people perceive the world. From this standpoint, the second chapter delineates the belief of Akinari's contemporaries in supernatural beings, and that of Akinari. In chapter three, the Japanese fascination with kaidan is discussed. Obsession, one important attribute of kaidan, is crucial to Ugetsu monogatari, for it is a recurring motif as well as a personal trait of importance to Akinari. The fourth chapter defines the audience of Ugetsu monogatari. And in chapters five through eight, I examine four stories to substantiate how the full appreciation of the text is geared toward the most informed readers, even though the general motif of the stories appeals to a broad audience. The stories analyzed are "Shiramine" (White Peak), "Kikka no chigiri" (Chrysanthemum Tryst), "Kibitsu no kama" (Cauldron of Kibitsu), and "Aozukin" (Blue Hood).