Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
First Wife (segment "The Black Hair")
Michiyo Aratama
Husband (segment "The Black Hair")
Rentaro Mikuni
Second Wife (segment "The Black Hair")
Misako Watanabe
Father (segment "The Black Hair")
Kenjirō Ishiyama
Mother (segment "The Black Hair")
Ranko Akagi
(segment "The Black Hair")
Fumie Kitahara
(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)
Kappei Matsumoto
(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)
Yoshiko Ieda
(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)
Otome Tsukimiya
(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)
Kenzō Tanaka
(segment "The Black Hair") (uncredited)
Kiyoshi Nakano
Minokichi (segment "The Woman of the Snow")
Tatsuya Nakadai
Yuki the Snow Maiden (segment "The Woman of the Snow")
Keiko Kishi
Minokichi's Mother (segment "The Woman of the Snow")
Yūko Mochizuki
Village Woman (segment "The Woman of the Snow")
Kin Sugai
Village Woman (segment "The Woman of the Snow")
Noriko Sengoku
(segment "The Woman of the Snow") (uncredited)
Akiko Nomura
(segment "The Woman of the Snow") (uncredited)
Torahiko Hamada
(segment "The Woman of the Snow")
Jun Hamamura
Hoichi (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Katsuo Nakamura
Warrior (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Tetsuro Tamba
Head Priest (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Takashi Shimura
Attendant (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Yoichi Hayashi
Kenreiinmon (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Eiko Muramatsu
Yasaku (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Kunie Tanaka
Tomomori (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
Kazuo Kitamura
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Ichirō Nakatani
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Masanori Tomotake
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Tokue Hanazawa
Tokiko (segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Shizue Natsukawa
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Shin Tatsuoka
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Makiko Kitashiro
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Masakazu Kuwayama
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Mutsuhiko Tsurumaru
Huntsman #2 (segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Akira Tani
Benkei (segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Yōsuke Kondō
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Kiyoshi Yamamoto
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Kinji Omino
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Atsuo Nakamura
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Ginzô Sekiguchi
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Akio Miyabe
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Gen'ya Nagai
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Toru Uchida
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Hikaru Jinno
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Toshio Fukuhara
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Kirô Abe
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Toshiro Yagi
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Yuriko Abe
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Yuri Satô
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Kyōichi Satō
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Nobuo Aikawa
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Taiji Kodama
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Nobuaki Maeda
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Teruhiko Shibata
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Haruo Kaji
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Michio Gina
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Seiji Tabe
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Mitsuko Narita
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Noriko Mikura
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Aiko Nagayama
(segment "Hoichi the Earless") (uncredited)
Michiko Nakahata
Kannai (segment "In a Cup of Tea")
Kan'emon Nakamura
Author / Narrator (segment "In a Cup of Tea")
Osamu Takizawa
Madame (segment "In a Cup of Tea")
Haruko Sugimura
Shikibu Heinai (segment "In a Cup of Tea")
Noboru Nakaya
Old Man (segment "In a Cup of Tea")
Seiji Miyaguchi
Ghost Samurai (segment "In a Cup of Tea")
Kei Satō
(segment "In a Cup of Tea") (uncredited)
Shigeru Kōyama
Kannai's Colleague #1 (segment "In a Cup of Tea") (uncredited)
Jun Tazaki
(segment "In a Cup of Tea") (uncredited)
Junkichi Orimoto
(segment "In a Cup of Tea") (uncredited)
Akiji Kobayashi
(segment "In a Cup of Tea") (uncredited)
Yoshirō Aoki
(segment "In a Cup of Tea") (uncredited)
Isao Tamagawa
(segment "In a Cup of Tea") (uncredited)
Hideyo Amamoto
Publisher (segment "In a Cup of Tea")
Ganjirō Nakamura II