He manages to escape, only to be attacked by his ex-wife's black hair. Rapidly aging, he stumbles through the house, finding that it actually is in ruins and overgrown with weeds. He wakes up the following day only to discover that he had been sleeping next to his ex-wife's rotted corpse. The two happily exchange wonderful stories about the past and the future until the swordsman falls asleep.

She assures him that she understood that he only left her in order to bring income to their home. She mentions that Kyoto has 'changed' and that they only have 'a moment' together, but does not elaborate further. He reconciles with his ex-wife, who refuses to let him punish himself. The swordsman informs his lady-in-waiting to tell his second wife that their marriage is over and she can return to her parents in shame.Īfter a few years, the swordsman returns to find his home, and his wife, largely unchanged. He points out his foolish behavior and poverty as the reasons why he reacted the way he did. When he is told to go into the chambers to reconcile with her, the swordsman refuses, stating his intent to return home and reconcile with his ex-wife. The second wife is furious when she realizes that the swordsman not only married her to obtain her family's wealth, but also still longs for his old life in Kyoto with his ex-wife. The swordsman regrets leaving his more devoted and patient ex-wife. His new wife is shown to be callous and selfish. However, despite his new wealthy status, the swordsman's second marriage proves to be unhappy.

'The Black Hair' ( 黒髪, Kurokami ) was adapted from 'The Reconciliation' and 'The Corpse Rider', which appeared in Hearn's collection Shadowings (1900).Īn impoverished swordsman in Kyoto divorces his wife, a weaver, and leaves her for a woman of a wealthy family to attain greater social status. 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. Kwaidan is an archaic transliteration of the term kaidan, meaning 'ghost story'. The film consists of four separate and unrelated stories. 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.

'Ghost Stories') is a 1964 Japanese anthology horror film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. Kwaidan ( Japanese: 怪談, Hepburn: Kaidan, lit.

Kobaya night moods