Theme of nature destruction and consequences that come with it
Nature is a big part of Kwaidan and it shows the relation and the consequences that come with human's destroying it. In the story Oshidori a hunter kills a male mandarin duck and the female eventually kills itself. It shows that the natural world has its order as well and destroying one part of that order makes the other part unable to function. Making a human personification of nature makes the man more aware and more conscious of the consequences as it evokes empathy in him. In The Story of Aoyagi nature is shown as literally having a soul and destroying nature brings death to it. Again in this story nature is personified to make the man more aware of his consequences. In the Horai story the natural atmosphere of the place is said to be made out of thousands of souls that lived there and again the influence of man makes that atmosphere shrink and evaporate.
Theme of supernatural power of the spiritual world
This theme is present throughout these stories. The spiritual world is taken very seriously and the power of it is grave and shouldn't be tampered with as it can cost one's life. The story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi shows closely what happens if one messes with the spiritual world as it almost cost Hoichi his life. In The Story of O-Tei the promise that a dying girl made comes true as she is resurrected and reunited with her love. Dying people's wishes are taken seriously and they are very much real and come true in these stories. In the story Of a Mirror and a Bell a woman's wish creates an entire legend over a bell made put of mirrors. In the story Diplomacy a wish of a man that is about to be executed comes true even though he got tricked by the samurai executioner. This theme of spiritual power is of course granted as the name of the book is Kwaidan which translates to ghost story.
Theme of sacrifice
Theme of sacrifice is present in the stories Ubazakura and Jiu-Roku-Zakura. In the story Ubazakura the sacrifice is that of a mother. A milk nurse that loved a young girl that she nursed as her own daughter sacrificed her own life to save hers. She prayed for the girl's life and her prayers were answered. Ubazakura is a cherry tree of a milk nurse. In the story Jiu-Roku-Zakura an old man having lost everything but his old cherry tree sacrifices his life for it when that tree dies as well. The soul of the man enters the tree and makes it bloom every year in the snow season.
Theme of karma
Theme of karma is also one of the common themes in these stories. Order in the world must be restored and everyone must pay for what they did whether that payment takes place in the present or next life. In the story Jikininki a priest was greedy and used his calling for his own personal gains and therefore he must pay in his next life living as an entity eating dead human flesh.
