Why do you think people (both in the 18th century, when Akinari was writing, and in our own day) are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural?
I think people are attracted to tales of the supernatural because people are naturally inclined to be curious about the world. People want to find anything unusual since they believe that they’ve seen all there is to the world already (both in the 18th century and nowadays). They’d like to believe that these tales are true since it would be interesting and grant a new aspect of life for them to experience.
