Abstract

This article discusses kanashibari, the Japanese version of an experiential phenomenon better known in North America as the "Old Hag." A native of Japan, the author provides cultural background on kanashibari and investigates kanashibari personal experience narratives so as to demonstrate how Japanese individuals self-diagnose their experiences by referring to culturally prescribed explanations (both scientific and supernatural) for the phenomenon.

Folk beliefs, nightmares (supernatural beings), personal experience narratives, ethnography
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Copyright 2015 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
2015
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