An Explanation of Superstition

Why does a shadow become a ghost, a traveler blame a fox, or an unlucky date stop an ordinary task? Inoue Enryō’s guide answers through anecdotes, humor, and close attention to causes.

Its fourteen sections examine possession, tengu, curses, prayers, charms, divination, directions, and unusual lights and sounds. The book expands the lessons on superstition in Japan’s elementary-school moral-education textbooks.

Enryō distinguishes fraud, mistaken perception, and explainable phenomena from the true mystery he finds in the universe and the human mind. Notes clarify wordplay, names, religious terminology, and historical scientific claims.