巷説百物語

巷説百物語

by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, 京極 夏彦

泉鏡花賞受賞作『嗤う伊右衛門』にも登場する小股潜りの又市が、江戸の世を舞台に悪党を退治する時代小説の第1弾。デビュー作『姑獲鳥の夏』に始まる「憑き物落とし」中禅寺秋彦が活躍する作品群とは、また味わいの異なる妖怪シリーズだ。 寺への帰路で豪雨に見まわれ、やむなく途中のあばら屋に逃げ込んだ1人の僧。小屋には白装束の御行、人形遣いの女、そして初老の商人と若い男が居合せていた。雨宿りの余興に始まる「百物語」。一見無関係な怪談話は、意外な符号を伴って僧の心の内で形を成す。小屋の外では「しょり、しょり」と何者かが小豆を磨く音が。やがて僧は、恐るべき怪異と出会う…。 立ち現れるのは、江戸時代の絵師竹原春泉の『絵本百物語』に描かれる小豆洗い、白蔵主（はくぞうす）、舞首、芝右衛門狸、塩の長司、柳女、帷子辻（かたびらがつじ）の7妖怪。又市をはじめとする小悪党一味、山猫廻しのおぎん、事触れの治平らは巧妙な罠を十重二重（とえはたえ）に張り巡らせ、どうにも立ちゆかない事態を「妖怪」のしわざとして収める。著者自身の言葉を借りれば、本作は、難事件を「妖怪」と名づけて払い落とす中禅寺のシリーズの「裏返し」なのだそうだ。 又市は「悪党だから死んでもいいなンていううざってェ小理屈も俺達にゃァ関係ねェ」とうそぶく。そして「悲しいねぇ」と言葉を継ぐ。登場する妖怪たちは、人間の心の闇や業（ごう）が形を成した末の「悲しい姿」だ。そもそも春泉の『絵本百物語』は人間の醜い心を風刺したものでもある。その業を見据える又市の姿が、たんなる勧善懲悪の時代劇ではない深みを物語に与えている。（中島正敏）

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Japanese Literature

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First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Natsuhiko Kyogoku ( 京極 夏彦 Kyōgoku Natsuhiko, born March 26, 1963) is a Japanese mystery writer, who is a member of Ōsawa Office. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan.

Three of his novels have been turned into feature films; Mōryō no Hako, which won the 1996 Mystery Writers of Japan Award, was also made into an anime TV series, as was Kosetsu Hyaku Monogatari, and his book Loups=Garous was adapted into an anime feature film. Vertical have published his debut novel as The Summer of the Ubume.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Vel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kousetsu Hyakumonogatari is a fairly odd book. It's an anthology of different yokai-centric mysteries set in the Edo period, with each short story being essentially a tale of karmic retribution. The main cast is a bunch of rascals led by Mataichi the mendicant who take on requests for help from various people, said help most often involving avenging/saving a loved one or exposing a criminal in some way.

Mataichi's gang weave together intricate narratives out of lies and half-truths in order to stir the evildoer and their surroundings. The stories told often contain a solid chunk of the case's truth, but it's always obfuscated and embellished in order to give things a mystical flair. Mataichi and his rascals are willing to do pretty much anything to push forward a narrative - they'll pretend to be different people, they'll set up events which might appear as supernatural to anyone who isn't in on the trick, they're willing to even take on the role of supernatural entities themselves if need calls for it. In a sense, they manifest elaborate yokai hauntings with the express purpose of fulfilling the request they've received, which most often leads to them punishing the villain of the story and causing them to either repent or die a death that is convenient for the client. Each story culminates in some sort of poetic justice being delivered, even if the actual narrative is a tragedy at heart.

The mystery here isn't so much a simple "whodunnit" kind of deal, it is much more about seeing through the lies and half-truths the narrative presents the reader with in order to grasp the full picture. The structure and storytelling techniques propping up each story are varied and creative and the prose is absolutely gorgeous. It's such a fun and elaborate concept and somehow the whole "de-facto agents of karmic retribution set up elaborate hauntings in order to make things right" setup never grows old - Kyougoku experiments a lot with the form and narrative tricks of each short story, making each "haunting" feel fresh and cool.

That being said... the truths hiding behind the creative, structurally varied lies and half-truths are more often than not underwhelming. The mysteries themselves are somewhat repetitive and feel shallow in nature - the evildoers who are being punished more often than not either really ARE just evildoers who need to be punished, or have fairly plain and forgettable motives. There are a couple of cases where the culprit isn't who the reader thinks they are, but those are rare and aren't particularly interesting either. The plots largely lack the complexity and emotional depth of Kyougoku's longer works, such as the Hyakki Yakou series. This book honestly made me suspect Kyougoku might really be at his strongest when writing proper long-form novels.

In other words, Kousetsu Hyakumonogatari has a brilliant, constantly fresh form with somewhat underwhelming contents. It's fun in smaller increments, it's told EXTREMELY well, but I kept walking away after each story thinking "really? that's it?" and I think that's a bit of a shame.

That being said, I did really, really enjoy the final story here, 帷子辻 (Katabira-ga-tsuji or "The Burial Shroud Crossing"). It was thematically dense in a very satisfying way and the actual mystery felt a bit different from the book's usual fare. It's a great way to cap off the book and did make me feel like I had just read a highly condensed version of a more long-form Kyougoku story.

From what I know, the next book in the series, Zoku Kousetsu Hyakumonogatari, builds directly upon this one and tells an interconnected larger narrative throughout all of its separate short stories. That sounds much more up my alley and while I don't think I'll be reading it super soon, I'm fairly excited to see how it'll play out.

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you couldn't find the novel of Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari (Requiem from the Darkness or One Hundred Tales From the Streets), then you can try watching the anime based on it. The anime is faithful enough to the text, however in the anime the three main characters are more like spirits/supernatural beings whilst in the novels, it's stated rather clearly that they are mortals.

Information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wic...



PS: there are a few sequels/prequel from the same series which are equally good.

[Yoko N · Rating 4 out of 5]

京極夏彦と言えば、「憑きもの落とし」を軸に置いての妖怪伝承類を”日々の中によくある出来事”を書くのが巧い作家だが、この「巷説百物語・シリーズ」は数々の妖怪伝承に擬えた短編集の第一集。

妖怪と聞くと水木しげるの名前を浮かべるのがポピュラーだと思うが、京極があまり表に出てくる事が無かったのは、単に後発だったからではなく、特有の難解な言い回しと、現代では耳にすることのない用語・単語での構成だったからだろう。

もし、過去に京極作品に触れたことの無い諸氏が興味を持って手にするなら、覚悟して読み始めた方がいい。
どのエピソードも前半が辛い。そこを越えてようやく京極ワールドの面白さに嵌って、一気に読了してしまえる。

京極の長編シリーズから入った私には、少し物足りないところもあるのだけれども、入門にはいいかもしれない。
ちなみにテレビアニメ化されている（そちらの方が面白かった・苦笑）

[Jessica.M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem is, nothing is really interesting in this book. I loved many Japanese mystery novels from the 90s，but this is not one of them. I don’t hate it either, it’s just a little boring…2 stars = boring but not full resentful.

[Jack Hwang · Rating 4 out of 5]

利用對妖魔鬼怪的迷信與恐懼，在刻意營造的怪談氣氛下，用騙術和幻術替人復仇的秘密團體，跟《必殺仕事人》的刺客團體差相類似啊！

[F Gato · Rating 3 out of 5]

都这么短的故事还免不了啰嗦一会。

[Toka Western · Rating 3 out of 5]

虽然有些情节十分牵强，但是故事和文笔还挺引人入胜。