covered by the _yashiki_. Thus matters remained until the
Meiji period swept away feudalism, and substituted for the military town
the modern capital of a living nation. So much for the Edo with which we
have to deal, apart from its strange legends and superstitions, its
malevolent and haunting influences, working ill to the invaders, daring to
encroach upon the palace itself and attack the beloved of the Sho[u]gun
and his heir, only to be quelled by the divine majesty of his look--as
expounded in such tangle of verities as the Honjo[u]-Nana-fushigi (seven
marvels of Honjo[u]), the Azabu Nana-fushigi, the Fukagawa Nana-fushigi,
the Bancho[u] Nana-fushigi, the Okumura Kiroku, the temple scrolls and
traditions, and many kindred volumes.

In reference to the Bancho[u]: the stories outlined in the present
volume date from the period of the puppet shows and strolling reciters,
men who cast these tales into their present lines, thus reducing popular
tradition to the form in which it could be used by the _ko[u]danshi_ or
lecturers on history, or by those diving into the old tales and
scandals connected with the _yashiki_ of Edo town. In the present volume
main reliance for the detail has been placed on the following
_ko[u]dan_:--

"The Bancho[u] Nana-fushigi" of Matsubayashi Hakuen.

"The Bancho[u] Sarayashiki" of Momogawa Jo[u]en.

"The Bancho[u] Sarayashiki" of Byo[u]haku Hakuchi, in the
"Kwaidan-shu[u]" published by the Hakubunkwan.

"The Bancho[u] Sarayashiki" of Ho[u]gyu[u]sha To[u]ko.

"Yui Sho[u]setsu" of Ko[u]ganei Koshu[u].

These references could be extended. The story of the Sarayashiki figures
in most of the collections of wonder tales. The Gidayu of the "Banshu[u]
Sarayashiki" by Tamenaga Taro[u]bei and Asada Itcho[u] finds no
application. It deals with Himeji in Harima. As for the stories from an
esoteric point of view, as illustrations of the period they have a
value--to be continued in those more historical, and which deal with the
lives and deeds of men of greater note and influence in this early
Tokugawa court. The present volume instances the second class of wonder
tales referred to in the preface to the Yotsuya Kwaidan.

O[u]marudani, 14th November, 1916.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface v

Map of Edo _Facing_ xi