Kwaidan (Film 1964 - ENG SUB)

Kwaidan is a 1964 Japanese anthology horror film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. It is based on stories from Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales, mainly Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904), for which it is named. Audio in Japanese with English subtitles (Click on cc for subtitles).

The film consists of four separate and unrelated stories. Kwaidan is an archaic transliteration of the term kaidan, meaning "ghost story". Receiving critical acclaim, the film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. In Japan, Yoko Mizuki won the Kinema Junpo award for Best Screenplay. It also won awards for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction at the Mainichi Film Concours.

- "The Black Hair" (黒髪, Kurokami) is adapted from "The Reconciliation" and "The Corpse Rider", which appeared in Hearn's collection Shadowings (1900).
- "The Woman of the Snow" (雪女, Yukionna) is an adaptation from Hearn's Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903).
- "Hoichi the Earless" (耳無し芳一の話, Miminashi Hōichi no Hanashi) is also adapted from Hearn's Kwaidan (though it incorporates aspects of The Tale of the Heike that are mentioned, but never translated, in Hearn's book).
- "In a Cup of Tea" (茶碗の中, Chawan no Naka) is adapted from Hearn's Kottō: Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs (1902).

Cast & Characters - Kurokami:
Michiyo Aratama as First Wife
Misako Watanabe as Second Wife
Rentarō Mikuni as Husband
Kenjiro Ishiyama as Father
Ranko Akagi as Mother

Cast & Characters - Yuki-Onna:
Tatsuya Nakadai as Minokichi
Keiko Kishi as the Yuki-Onna
Yūko Mochizuki as Minokichi's mother
Kin Sugai as Village woman
Noriko Sengoku as Village woman

Cast & Characters - Miminashi Hōichi no Hanashi:
Katsuo Nakamura as Hoichi
Tetsurō Tamba as Warrior
Takashi Shimura as Head priest
Yoichi Hayashi as Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Kazuo Kitamura as Taira no Tomomori
Yōsuke Kondō as Benkei

Cast & Characters - Chawan no naka:
Haruko Sugimura as Madame
Osamu Takizawa as Author / Narrator
Nakamura Ganjirō II as Publisher
Noboru Nakaya as Shikibu Heinai
Seiji Miyaguchi as Old man
Kei Satō as Ghost samurai