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is a Japanese ghost story (kaidan) that is both romantic and horrific; it is one of the most famous kaidan in Japan. The plot involves sex with the dead and the consequences of loving a ghost. It is sometimes known as , based on the kabuki version of the story; this title is commonly used in translation. ==History== ''Botan Dōrō'' entered the Japanese psyche in the 17th century, through a translation of a book of Chinese ghost stories called ''Jiandeng Xinhua'' (''New Tales Under the Lamplight'') by Qu You. The collection was didactic in nature, containing Buddhist moral lessons on karma. In 1666, author Asai Ryoi responded to the Edo period craze for kaidan, spawned largely by the popular game Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, by adapting the more spectacular tales from ''Jian Deng Xin Hua'' into his own book ''Otogi Boko'' (''Hand Puppets''). At the time, Japan was a closed society, and very little was known outside of its own borders, so China was viewed as a mysterious and exotic nation. Asai removed the Buddhist moral lessons and gave the stories a Japanese setting, placing ''Botan Dōrō'' in the Nezu district of Tokyo. ''Otogi Boko'' was immensely popular, spawning multiple imitative works such as ''Zoku Otogi Boko'' (''Hand Puppets Continued'') and ''Shin Otogi Boko'' (''New Hand Puppets''), and is considered the forerunner of the literary kaidan movement that resulted in the classic Ugetsu Monogatari. In 1884, ''Botan Dōrō'' was adapted by famous storyteller Encho Sanyutei into a rakugo, which increased the popularity of the tale. In order to achieve a greater length, the story was fleshed out considerably, adding background information on several characters as well as additional subplots. It was then adapted to the kabuki stage in July 1892, and staged at the Kabukiza under the title ''Kaidan Botan Dōrō''. In 1899, Lafcadio Hearn, with the help of a friend, translated ''Botan Dōrō'' into English for his book ''In Ghostly Japan''. He titled his adaptation ''A Passional Karma'', and based it on the kabuki version of the story. A more modern version of the play was written in 1974 by the playwright Onishi Nobuyuki for the Bungakuza troupe, starring Sugimura Haruko, Kitamura Kazuo and Ninomiya Sayoko. It was so successful that it was staged again a few years later in April 1976 at the Shimbashi Embujo. A new adaptation by Kawatake Shinshichi III was staged for the first time with a full Kabuki casting in June 1989, again at the Shimbashi Embujo. The Kawatake version is still occasionally revived but is less popular than the Onishi one. Much like Yotsuya Kaidan, there remains a superstition that actors who play the ghost roles in ''Kaidan Botan Doro'' will come to harm. This comes from a 1919 performance at the Imperial Theater, when the two actresses playing Otsuyu and her maid became sick and died within a week of each other. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Botan Dōrō」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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