The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'iwa Inari: Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 1 (of 2)

The most famous ghost story in Japanese history begins with a betrayal. Oiwa, a beautiful woman married to the samurai Iemon, finds herself discarded when a more powerful family covets her husband. What follows is a descent into tragedy that transforms love into something far darker. Betrayed by those closest to her, stripped of her dignity and her child, Oiwa dies, but her rage does not rest. Her spirit rises to exact a horrifying vengeance on those who destroyed her life, pursuing them beyond the grave with a tenacity that has terrified Japan for over three centuries. Set in the claustrophobic world of Edo-period bureaucracy and samurai politics, this tale exposes how easily power can crush the powerless, and what happens when the suppressed refuse to stay silent. The Yotsuya Kwaidan has inspired kabuki plays, woodblock prints by Hokusai himself, and modern horror films including Ringu. It is the origin point of Japanese ghost stories, and nothing since has quite matched its devastating purity of purpose.