Opening with a Bodhisattva's vision of a mountain made of skulls, Hearn gathers tales of the Long-sleeved Robe and the Peony-Lantern ghosts, and a fortune-teller who saves a man haunted by his dead lover. Essays follow on incense games, the footprints of the Buddha, Japanese verse and Buddhist proverbs, with a priest who meets a Tengu among the closing stories.
Books mentioned in In Ghostly Japan (21)
Kibun-Daijin: “According to a story-book called Kibun-Daijin, the name of the girl who caused the robe to be made was O-Same; and she was the daughter of Hikoyemon, a wine-merchant of Hyakusho-machi, in the district of Azabu.”
Kun-Shu-Rui-Sho: “Of course the mere compilation of materials for a history of mixed-incenses would entail the study of a host of documents, treatises, and books,--particularly of such strange works as the Kun-Shu-Rui-Sho, or "Incense-Collector's Classifying-Manual"”
I Ching: “His system was the old scholarly one: he used the book known to English readers as the Yi-King,--also a set of ebony blocks which could be so arranged as to form any of the Chinese hexagrams;--and he always began his divination with an earnest prayer to the gods.”
Baikwa-Shin-Eki: “The story is about the famous Chinese fortune-teller whom we call in Japan Shoko Setsu, and it is written in the book Baikwa- Shin-Eki, which is a book of divination.”
Buddhism in Translations by Henry Clarke Warren: “In Mr. Henry Clarke Warren's Buddhism in Translations (the most interesting and valuable single volume of its kind that I have ever seen), there is a Pali version of the legend, which differs considerably from the above.”
Treasure-Raining Sutra: “And here is a holy sutra, called Ubo-Darani- Kyo, or "Treasure-Raining Sutra"(4) you must be careful to recite it every night in your house--without fail.”
Kwan-butsu-sanmai-kyo: “Concerning the virtue of the representation of the footprints of the Buddha, there is sometimes quoted a text from the Kwan-butsu- sanmai-kyo ["Buddha-dhyana-samadhi-sagara-sutra"], thus translated for me:”
Sho-Eko-Ho-Kwan by Hitsumu: “I got some information about them from the Sho-Eko-Ho-Kwan,--a book used by the Jodo sect. This book also contains rough woodcuts of the footprints”
Ho-Kai-Shidai: “Moreover, there is a text in the book called Ho-Kai- Shidai that lends support to this supposition:--"The sole of the foot of the Buddha is flat,--like the base of a toilet-stand.... Upon it are lines forming the appearance of a wheel of a thousand spokes....”
Shin-zoku-butsu-ji-hen: “IV.--The Conch-Shell (Jap. "Hora ") or Trumpet. Emblem of the preaching of the Law. The book Shin-zoku-butsu-ji-hen calls it the symbol of the voice of the Buddha.”
Dai-hi-kyo: “Emblem of the preaching of the Law. The book Shin-zoku-butsu-ji-hen calls it the symbol of the voice of the Buddha. The Dai-hi-kyo calls it the token of the preaching and of the power of the Mahayana doctrine.”
Hyaku-tsu-kiri-kami by Myoden: “In his "Hundred Writings "(Hyaku-tsu-kiri- kami), the Shinshu priest Myoden says, quoting from the Buddhist work Kujikkajo, or "Ninety Articles ":”
Kujikkajo: “In his "Hundred Writings "(Hyaku-tsu-kiri- kami), the Shinshu priest Myoden says, quoting from the Buddhist work Kujikkajo, or "Ninety Articles ":”
Dai-chi-do-ron: “Ichi-mo shu-mo wo hiku. One blind man leads many blind men.* *From the Buddhist work Dai-chi-do-ron.”
Buddhist Suttas by T. W. Rhys Davids: “The reader will find a similar proverb in Rhys-David's "Buddhist Suttas" (Sacred Books of the East), p. 173,--together with a very curious parable, cited in a footnote, which an Indian commentator gives in explanation.”
The Dhammapada: “The meaning of this proverb is identical with that of the Dhammapada verse:--"If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage."”
Lotus Sutra: “Such a device is justified especially by the famous parable of the third chapter of the Saddharma Pundarika.”
Jikkinshō: “This story may be found in the curious old Japanese book called Jikkun-Sho. The same legend has furnished the subject of an interesting No-play, called Dai-E ("The Great Assembly").”
Hyaku-Monogatari: “Both title and narrative may be found in the collection of weird stories entitled Hyaku-Monogatari.”
On the Physical Basis of Life by Thomas Henry Huxley: “I never hear this singular proverb without being re-minded of a sentence in Huxley's famous essay, On the Physical Basis of Life:--"The living protoplasm not only ultimately dies and is resolved into its mineral and lifeless constituents, but is always dying”