Strange Records of Takashima and Other Stories

A wandering monk knows more than he should. A ruined samurai becomes wealthy overnight. Beside Lake Suwa, acts of kindness, old resentments, and dangerous attachments open the way to things that cannot be explained. Kunieda Shirō turns a seemingly learned conversation into a tale of marvelous gifts and mounting dread.

In Strange Records of Takashima, prosperity brings its own terrors: an uncanny child’s rescue, a devastating fire, a hidden world beneath an ancient tree, and a love that threatens to consume its victim. The Immortal of Goose Lake follows the ambitious Yui Shōsetsu as he tries to obtain a secret book of supernatural arts. His scheme leads to a mansion with impossible defenses, a beautiful young woman, and armored skeletons arriving aboard a ghost ship.

First published in 1924 and 1926, these two complete tales combine swordplay, historical figures, occult learning, and grotesque transformations. This English edition preserves their quoted older narratives, numbered sections, and verse, including the Japanese solution to a ghostly word puzzle. Twenty notes clarify names, traditional measures, historical references, and the stories’ inventive supernatural lore.