The Summer of the Ubume

( Japanese - Ubume no natsu ( 姑獲鳥の夏 ) - 1994 )

novel by Kyogoku Natsuhiko

translated by Alexander O. Smith

Published: Vertical - trade paperback - 2009
ISBN: 1934287253 / 9781934287255

synopsis
In Japanese folklore, a ghost that arises from the burial of a pregnant woman is called an Ubume. In the first of the Kyogokudo series, the hero Kyogokudo is an exorcist with a twist: he doesn't believe in ghosts. To circumnavigate his clients' inability to come to grips with a problem being their own making, he creates fake supernatural explanations that he exorcises with staged rituals. In his first adventure, Kyogokudo must unravel the mystery of a woman who's been pregnant for 20 months and find her husband, who disappeared 2 months into her pregnancy.

awards
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film
http://www.kadokawa-pictures.jp/official/ubume/