Kaidan (怪談, sometimes transliterated kwaidan) is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (kai) meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (dan) meaning "talk" or "recited narrative".
[citation needed] Kaidan entered the vernacular during the Edo period, when a parlour game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular.
The word was popularised in English by Lafcadio Hearn in his book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things.
Originally based on didactic Buddhist tales, kaidan often involve elements of karma, and especially ghostly vengeance for misdeeds.
This untargeted wrath can be seen in Furisode, a story in Hearn's book In Ghostly Japan about a cursed kimono that kills everyone who wears it.