Ugetsu Monogatari (雨月物語 Tales of Moonlight and Rain) is a collection of nine supernatural tales by the Japanese author Ueda Akinari, first published in 1776. Largely taken from traditional Japanese and Chinese ghost stories, the collection is among most important works of Japanese fiction of the 18th century, the middle of the Edo period. Edo literary achievements are normally associated with the fiction of Ihara Saikaku and drama of Chikamatsu Monzaemon in the Genroku period and the popular literature of Takizawa Bakin in the later Bunka Bunsei period. Ugetsu Monogatari, then, occupies an important yet often overlooked position between these two moments in Edo literary history. The collection is the author's best known work. He had previously written two ukiyo zoshi in 1766-7 and a second collection Harusame Monogatari was not printed until 1907.