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Released
1965 · FILM

Kwaidan

In feudal Japan, a series of desperate individuals—from a penniless samurai to a blind minstrel—must confront vengeful spirits whose indifferent wrath forces them to pay the ultimate price for their choices.

“In the tradition of "RASHOMON" and "GATE OF HELL."”

Directed by
Masaki Kobayashi
Written by
Yoko Mizuki, Lafcadio Hearn
Runtime
183 min
Language
JA
DramaFantasyHorror
Streaming on
  • The Criterion Channel

Synopsis

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. In one, a penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. Another follows a man stranded in a blizzard who is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, though his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts in a third tale. The final story is related by an author who recounts the tale of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.

Credits

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 18

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Hisashi SagaraShot by Yoshio MiyajimaScored by Toru Takemitsu

Also known as

  • Kwaidande
  • Ghost Storiesen
  • Kwaidanes
  • Kwaïdanfr
  • Kwaidanit

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