This wonderful collection is inspired by an old Japanese parlour game of telling ghost stories. In this game, popular during the Edo period (1603-1868), participants gathered at night to sit around 100 lit candles. Each player then told a ghost story in turn. After each story, a candle was snuffed out. The last candle to burn out represented the end of a spiritual evocation, which the participants hoped would summon a supernatural being from another world. The Game of 100 Ghosts is a lyrical tribute to the poet's friends and relations who recently departed their lives. "For Terry, applause and gratitude, because he has held the people in his mind and his heart, and because he gave them back to us." - Joy Kogawa, author of Obasan