Japanese Literature discussion

Are you remembering an old story and don't recall the title or author? But given what you recall, you know it was J-Lit. Then ask here, and see if someone else remembers the title and author for you!

I'll start the thread with this. I know I've read a more modern version of this story, and now I find an older version in Tales of the Spring Rain by Ueda Akinari. But I've forgotten the name and title of the modern version:

A bell was ringing underground, which when dug up was found to be a priest ringing the bell. The priest had been deliberately buried alive hundreds of years before. When revived, he'd forgotten everything about his previous life and behaved like an ordinary man, including eating meat and getting married. The people in the village were greatly disillusioned.

Bill wrote: "Are you remembering an old story and don't recall the title or author? But given what you recall, you know it was J-Lit. Then ask here, and see if someone else remembers the title and author for yo..."

I love a good treasure hunt! Just to check though, he has two books that are similar in title, but appear to be different works:

Tales of Moonlight and Rain
and
Tales of the Spring Rain

I like that above passage and I'm also always on the lookout for a good collection of ghost stories!

--Edit--
oh wait! Sorry, I don't think I was clear in my understanding, are you looking for the same story, but by either a different author, or a separate collection of works?

Dear Bill,
is the modern version Enchi Fumiko(円地文子)’s short novel "a bond for two lifetimes - gleaning"(nise no en - shui 二世の縁 拾遺), published in 1957?

Excellent work, Jo! Yes, that's the one. It's in the Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories. It even references Tales of the Spring Rain, with Enchi's story being a discussion between a professor and an editor about the original.


Matthew,
I saw Ugetsu the movie long ago, and read the collection Ugetsu (Tales of Moonlight and Rain) not long after. I hadn't found anything else by Ueda since, but just got a copy of Harusame (Tales of the Spring Rain) through Interlibrary Loan. Ugetsu is by far the better of the two, and the movie shouldn't be missed, either!