wasan

Updated: May 15, 2025

'Now there is a wasan of Jizo, says Akira, taking from a shelf in the temple alcove some much-worn, blue-covered Japanese book. 'A wasan is what you would call a hymn or psalm. This book is two hundred years old: it is called Saino-Kawara-kuchi-zu-sami-no-den, which is, literally, "The Legend of the Humming of the Sai-no-Kawara."

Lafcadio Hearn - Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan : First Series

And this is the wasan'; and he reads me the hymn of Jizo the legend of the murmur of the little ghosts, the legend of the humming of the Sai-no-Kawara- rhythmically, like a song: 'Not of this world is the story of sorrow. The story of the Sai-no-Kawara, At the roots of the Mountain of Shide; Not of this world is the tale; yet 'tis most pitiful to hear.

Lafcadio Hearn - Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan : First Series