A blind biwa-player named Hoichi is summoned each night to recite the fall of the Heike to a court of ghosts, until a priest paints the Heart Sutra over his body and forgets his ears. Snow-women, headless Rokuro-Kubi, a man-eating jikininki and a dream of a kingdom inside an ant-hill give way to Hearn's closing essays on butterflies, mosquitoes and ants.
Books mentioned in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (9)
The Tale of the Heike: “Formerly the professional minstrels who recited the Heike-Monogatari, and other tragical histories, were called biwa-hoshi, or "lute-priests."”
Heart Sutra: “Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hoichi: then, with their writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and face and neck, limbs and hands and feet,--even upon the soles of his feet, and upon all parts of his body,--the text of the holy sutra called Hannya-Shin-Kyo.”
Lotus Sutra: “In the neighboring bamboo-grove I hear the flute-call of the bird that praises the Sutra of the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the south wind.”
Soshinki by Gan Bao: “In the book Soshinki (5) it is written that if one find the body of a Rokuro-Kubi without its head, and remove the body to another place, the head will never be able to join itself again to the neck.”
Nan-ho-i-butsu-shi by Wan Zhen: “In the book Nan-ho-i-butsu-shi it is written that certain red characters can always be found upon the nape of the neck of a real Rokuro-Kubi.”
Mushi-Isame: “The original, of which I have attempted only a free translation, can be found in the curious old book Mushi-Isame ("Insect-Admonitions"); and it assumes the form of a discourse to a butterfly.”
Mosquitoes by Leland Ossian Howard: “With a view to self-protection I have been reading Dr. Howard's book, "Mosquitoes." I am persecuted by mosquitoes.”
Exotics and Retrospectives by Lafcadio Hearn: “For some account of these, see my paper entitled, "The Literature of the Dead," in Exotics and Retrospectives.”
Shadowings by Lafcadio Hearn: “On the subject of Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled Shadowings.”