Open Talk: From Karma to Kabuki: Kasane and the Making of an Early Modern Ghost
The Yanai Initiative welcomes Rachele Mansi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA and a Yanai Initiative Research Fellow at Waseda University, who will explore how Kasane, a disfigured countrywoman, became so popular in early modern Japan.
Early modern Japan (1603-1868) was haunted by all sorts of supernatural creatures, but only few can boast the same popularity and pervasiveness as the angry spirit of a disfigured countrywoman named Kasane.
Fictional and theatrical reworkings of her story were produced nearly every year between the 1730s and the dawn of the Meiji period (1868-1912). Kasane’s name haunted even poetry, and several famous contemporary writers remarked how virtually everyone in the world was familiar with her.
This lecture traces the development of Kasane from an unassuming protagonist of a Buddhist tale about karma into a cultural icon, focusing on kabuki as the main engine behind her rise to fame/immortality. Then, by discussing this character alongside other female ghosts, it will clarify her position and extensive impact on Japan’s popular imagination.
- Date & Time: July 2nd, 2026 (Thursday), 14:00-15:00
- Venue: The Waseda International House of Literature, B1F
- Language: English with Presentation Materials in Japanese. Q&A: English and Japanese
- Participation: Free
- Admission: Open to Students, Faculty and Public
- Presented by the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities, with support from the Waseda International House of Literature
Lecturer
Rachele MANSI
Rachele Mansi is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA and a Yanai Initiative Research Fellow at Waseda University. Her research explores the intersection of liminal geographies, spaces and figures in early modern Japanese literature and theater.
Facilitator
Yanai Initiative Committee Member: MABUCHI Kanako
Contact
Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities: [email protected]
