Tales of the Ghost Sword

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi

Translator: Ian MacDonald

Thames River Press, September 2013 (ISBN: 978-0-8572-8127-2)

From Japan’s “master of horror,” these historical tales of the supernatural depict the pathos of lower-class samurai (whose lives echo the despair felt by the contemporary Japanese “salaryman”) at a time when swordsmanship was less relevant than practical skills like accountancy. Within this world, a few samurai cling to the old-fashioned ideal of achieving mastery of the sword, symbol of the samurai’s power.