父の怪談
by Kidō Okamoto
When his turn comes, the narrator retells his father’s ghost story.
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About the book
When it is the narrator's turn to tell a ghost story at a gathering, he recounts a strange episode his father once described: frogs swarming into a daimyo's residence in Azabu, then vanishing overnight, followed by small stones quietly falling from the ceilings with no cause ever found. The storytelling is unhurried and matter-of-fact, building a quiet, creeping unease as one mystery gives way to the next.
Cultural notes (selection)
Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.
A secondary residence maintained by an Edo-period daimyo family in Edo, in contrast to the "shimo-yashiki" where the lord formally resided. These lower residences typically occupied spacious grounds with lush gardens and trees, and were used for retirement or as summer retreats.
"O-heya-sama" referred to a concubine who had won the lord's favor, borne him children, or been granted a private room of her own; her standing was above that of ordinary maidservants. "Tekihatsu" (cutting the hair short) was the mark of a samurai-class woman who, after her husband's or lord's death, had taken vows as a widow to pray for the deceased.
An all-night watch kept in rotating shifts at suspicious places or key security points in the Edo period. Here it refers to the domain's samurai taking turns mounting an all-night guard over the study where the falling stones occurred. Since this was official domain business, the narrator's father, an outsider, could only join through the good offices of an acquaintance.
About the author
Kidō Okamoto (October 15, 1872 – March 1, 1939) was a Japanese author and playwright whose real name was Keiji Okamoto; he was born in the Shiba Takanawa district of Minato Ward, Tokyo. His best known work is the shin kabuki play Bancho Sarayashiki.
How the glosses are made
Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.
FAQ
Is this the original text?
Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.
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This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.
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