Move the Body Before the Head Returns | Rokuro-Kubi, a Japanese Ghost Story

A samurai who has become a wandering priest accepts a woodcutter's offer of a bed for the night, in a lonely hut high in the mountains of Kai. Late that night he finds his hosts asleep around the hearth. Not one of them has a head. Out in the moonlit trees, the heads are discussing how plump he is, and the priest remembers what an old Chinese book says about their bodies. Rokuro-Kubi, "the Flying Heads," retold in English from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan (1904), with art in the style of Japanese woodblock prints. A ghost story that is frightening and, somehow, funny. After the story: the legend behind the tale. Flying heads in old Chinese books, from the Soushen ji to Ma Huan's account of Champa; Toriyama Sekien's picture of 1776, and how the long neck took over; a case from Tsuruga in 1789, written down as fact; and the 1803 book by the comic writer Jippensha Ikku that Hearn drew on (Hearn's own copy still survives). Chapters 0:00 Voices in the trees 0:40 The samurai who became a priest 1:18 A bed in the mountains 3:22 Late at night 4:19 What the old book said 5:05 The heads in the grove 6:37 The fight 7:21 Dawn 8:07 The town of Suwa 8:37 The court 11:04 The robber 11:57 A stone among the cedars 12:41 The legend behind the tale 13:11 Flying heads in old China 14:44 From flying head to long neck 15:34 Recorded as real 16:16 The book Hearn used Sources • Lafcadio Hearn, "Rokuro-Kubi," in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1904); Project Gutenberg #1210 • Jippensha Ikku, Kaibutsu Yoron (1803), vol. 4, Lafcadio Hearn's own copy, University of Toyama Library, Hearn Collection (NIJL Kokusho Database); National Diet Library Search; Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum, Matsue • Lafcadio Hearn, "The Story of Kwairyo," handwritten draft, University of Toyama Library, Hearn Collection (ToRepo) • Gan Bao, Soushen ji (4th century), book 12; Project Gutenberg #7271 • Neamsombut and Thonghaew, Chinese Studies Journal 18, no. 1 (2025) • Ma Huan, Yingya Shenglan (c. 1451), "Champa"; Project Gutenberg #23981 • Duan Chengshi, Youyang zazu (c. 860), book 4, as quoted in Li and Xie (2018), Hong Kong Baptist University e-journal • Toriyama Sekien, Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (1776), 1805 printing, National Diet Library; NDL Image Bank column on Sekien; yokai.jp; Kuramoto Akira (2017), Yamaguchi University repository • Utagawa Toyokuni III, kabuki print (1857), National Diet Library; Kabuki Jōruri Gedai Yomikata Jiten, "Rokurokubi" • Tachibana Nankei, Hokusō sadan (the Tsuruga case of 1789), in Nihon Zuihitsu Taisei, 2nd series, vol. 15, via the Nichibunken Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database • Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge (penanggalan); Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia 14 (krasue) • Kubi no kai (Hakutakusha, 2026), publisher's description; Japanese Wikipedia, "Rokurokubi" (citing Kyōgoku Natsuhiko, 2007, and others) • Reference works (Kotobank): Nihon Daihyakka Zensho and Digital Daijisen Plus, "Rokurokubi"; Britannica Kokusai Daihyakka Jiten, "Ma Huan"; Digital Daijisen, "Jippensha Ikku"; "Yūyō zasso" Images (historical pictures: public domain unless noted) • Lafcadio Hearn, Kwaidan (1904), "Rokuro-Kubi" p. 83 and contents, 1911 printing / Univ. of California, Internet Archive • Lafcadio Hearn in Japanese dress, from The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn (1906) • Toriyama Sekien, "Hitōban (Rokuro-kubi)," Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (1st ed. 1776), 1805 printing / National Diet Library • Utagawa Toyokuni III, kabuki print "Kasane ōgi chiyo no Matsuwaka," 1857 / National Diet Library • Jippensha Ikku, Kaibutsu Yoron (1803), preface and vol. 4, Lafcadio Hearn's own copy / University of Toyama Library, Hearn Collection; source: NIJL Kokusho Database, https://doi.org/10.20730/100093322 / CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), cropped • Maps: made with Natural Earth (public domain) About this video The story follows Lafcadio Hearn's "Rokuro-Kubi" from Kwaidan (1904). The script, illustrations, narration voices and music were made with the help of AI tools. The historical notes are based on the sources listed above. #JapaneseFolklore #Kwaidan #Rokurokubi