Thread by @cartographer_s

The "One Hundred Ghost Stories" were inspired by the game Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai- "A Gathering of 100 Weird Tales"

Originally a game played among Samurai in the 17th century to test their courage, during the Edo period it became popular among the aristocracy & peasantry alike

Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai would be played by a group of friends who would meet at nighttime at someone's house
The game would require three rooms

In the 3rd room they would light 100 candles
The 1st room would be where they gathered
The 2nd room was an intermediary space, between the comfort & sense of safety one has among others and the candle room where one was alone in the darkness

In the main room guests would take turns telling ghost stories, folktales and rumors they heard from peasants & others of monsters and demons who resided in the forests & mountains, that would emerge from the sea, and who haunt people in their homes

After telling a story, the person would go alone to the 3rd room and blow out a candle
Before returning they would look at themselves briefly in the mirror

As the game went on, more stories were told and more candles were blown out, the 3rd room would grow darker and darker
As the night grew blacker and the room filled with darkness, the horrors of the stories would have come to life

It can be imagined that in a world before horror films and what can be found online today, the ghost stories would have easily scared & horrified many

The game was thought to be a ritual of evocation, where each story told & candle blown out would cultivate demonic spiritual energy

As the room darkened it would become a beacon for otherworldly forces
Often players would stop at the 99th story so the last candle would not be blown out, fearing they might actually summon a demon in the darkness of the 3rd room

Some samurai would be so scared when blowing out the final candle that once the darkness fully set in they would swing their sword at shadows thinking they were evil spirits

According to one legend, once a large spider descended from above as the last candle went out & the samurai in complete fear attacked it as if it were a giant demonic spider summoned by the game

Naturally people would tire from hearing the same stories over and over again, so there was an incentive to seek out new and increasingly scarier stories

The constant need for novelty might be the best element to the Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai
People would want to learn new ghost stories, gladly eating up all sorts of outlandish tales from children, the insane and others

The insane ramblings of a lunatic could become your story at the next Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai
Many people have frightful encounters in forests or city streets at night
Unnerving encounters with animals or odd noises could easily become a tale of ghosts stalking you in the woods

The disfigured and maimed could be inspiration for horrific monsters, likewise for strange hermits living in the mountains beyond your village

The Japanese have always lived next to the sea & relied on fishing and sailing, so only naturally the sea became a setting and inspiration for horror stories as well

Eventually many of these ghost stories were recorded, either written down or drawn/painted
Thanks to these efforts many visual representations of demons and their stories come down to us today

And Japan's creative genius for horror has not relented at all
Arguably no other modern culture today has the creativity to conjure up such creatures & imagine such horrors

For more on the Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai:
hyakumonogatari.com/what-is-hyakum…
Yokai (demons):
yokai.com