Chương Chương 11 · A Dead Secret

(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central

area of Kyōto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture.

[1] The Hour of the Rat (_Né-no-Koku_), according to the old Japanese

method of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the

time between our midnight and two o’clock in the morning; for the

ancient Japanese hours were each equal to two modern hours.

[2] _Kaimyō_, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given

to the dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the word is sila-name.

(See my paper entitled, “The Literature of the Dead” in _Exotics and

Retrospectives_.)

YUKI-ONNA

(1) An ancient province whose boundaries took in most of present-day

Tōkyō, and parts of Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures.

[1] That is to say, with a floor-surface of about six feet square.

[2] This name, signifying “Snow,” is not uncommon. On the subject of

Japanese female names, see my paper in the volume entitled

_Shadowings_.

(2) Also spelled Edo, the former name of Tōkyō.