Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. - 1932

Tokyo: Printed for the Members of The Limited Editions Club by the Shimbi Shoin, Ltd., 1932. The Limited Editions Club signed limited edition of this eerie Japanese anthology of horror and folktales. Octavo, original publishers' gold Japanese silk-covered boards, bound with sky blue silk thread, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by Yasumasa Fujita with a double-page colored woodblock frontispiece and 18 full-page collotype plates. One of fifteen hundred copies privately printed for members of the Limited Editions Club and signed by the illustrator on the colophon, this is number 883. In near fine condition with some toning to the spine. Armorial bookplate to the front pastedown. Housed in the original publishers' folding silk case with paper title labels and silk and ivory clasps. Written by the writer, translator, and teacher who introduced Japanese culture to the West, 'Kwaidan,' from the ancient Japanese for 'ghost story,' is a highly praised anthology of Japanese folktales and the inspiration for the 1964 film by the same name. A classic of Japanese horror, this work offers a glimpse into a culture and history that "otherwise might have vanished because no Japanese had bothered to record them" (Martin Fackler, The New York Times).