The Book of Yokai

The Book of Yokai
Author: Michael Dylan Foster
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2015-01-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520959124

A lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture through the concept of yokai. Monsters, ghosts, fantastic beings, and supernatural phenomena of all sorts haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yokai, these creatures come in infinite shapes and sizes, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water spirits to shape-shifting foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Currently popular in anime, manga, film, and computer games, many yokai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, readers will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries, some with original illustrations, on more than fifty individual creatures. The Book of Yokai invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them. By exploring yokai as a concept, we can better understand broader processes of tradition, innovation, storytelling, and individual and communal creativity.

The Book of Yokai, Expanded Second Edition

The Book of Yokai, Expanded Second Edition
Author: Michael Dylan Foster
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2024
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520389557

"Revised and expanded, this second edition of The Book of Yōkai features an all new yōkai picture gallery-with dozens of stunning color images-tracing the visual history of yōkai across centuries. With additional entries and fifty new illustrations, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of an even larger cast of yōkai, interpreting their varied meanings and introducing people who have pursued them through the ages. Monsters, spirits, fantastic beings, and supernatural creatures haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yōkai, they appear in many forms, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water sprites, to shape-shifting kitsune foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Popular today in anime, manga, film, and video games, many yōkai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. The Book of Yōkai invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them"--

The Yokai Caretaker

The Yokai Caretaker
Author: Michihiko Fujiei
Publisher: MediBang(global)
Total Pages: 163
Release:
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN:

Toritsuki Hiyori works at a very common Yokai garden.
Under the guidance of Mutsu Goro, a yokai doctor, Toritsuki takes on the task of raising yokai...?

The Book of Yokai

The Book of Yokai
Author: Michael Dylan Foster
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2015-01-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520271017

Monsters, ghosts, fantastic beings, and supernatural phenomena of all sorts haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yokai, these creatures come in infinite shapes and sizes, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water spirits to shape-shifting foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Currently popular in anime, manga, film, and computer games, many yokai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, readers will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries, some with original illustrations, on more than fifty individual creatures. The Book of Yokai provides a lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture. It also invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them. By exploring yokai as a concept, we can better understand broader processes of tradition, innovation, storytelling, and individual and communal creativity. Ê

Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter

Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter
Author: Cecile Brun
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1462920284

*Winner Japan International Manga Award* *Honorable Mention for 2018 Freeman Book Awards for Children's and Young Adult's Literature on East and Southeast Asia* *Short-listed for the 2019 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics* Part fantasy, part travelogue--this graphic novel transports readers to the intersection of the natural and supernatural worlds. Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter follows the adventures of two young foreigners as they travel to a remote and mysterious corner of Japan. Along the way, they purchase an old camera that has the unique ability to capture images of Japan's invisible spirit world. Armed with their magical camera, they explore the countryside and meet people who tell them about the forgotten ghosts, ghouls and demons who lie in wait ready to play tricks on them. These Yokai, or supernatural beings, are sometimes kind, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes downright dangerous! Readers young and old will enjoy following along on this journey of mystery and discovery. The comic book format will appeal to anime and manga fans, while introducing the ancient spirit world that is such an important part of Japanese culture. With the help of Atelier Sento's gorgeous watercolor and colored pencil artwork, you can't help but feel immersed in this fantasy.

Escape from Yokai Land

Escape from Yokai Land
Author: Charles Stross
Publisher: Tordotcom
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2022-03-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1250805716

Regular readers of Charles Stross's Laundry Files might have noticed Bob Howard's absence from the events of The Nightmare Stacks, and his subsequent return from Tokyo at the start of The Delirium Brief. Escape from Yokai Land explains what he was doing there. Bob's been assigned to work with the Miyamoto Group, checking the wards that lock down Japan's warded sites—a task previously handled by his predecessor Dr. Angleton, the Eater of Souls. This mostly involves policing yokai: traditional magical beings, increasingly grown more annoying and energetic. But then Bob's simple trip turns into a deadly confrontation with the ultimate yokai. It's massively powerful. It's pink. And it says "Hello." At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia

The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia
Author: Richard Freeman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2010
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9781905723546

Everyone has heard of vampires and werewolves, but how many have heard of the rokuro-kubi, the tsuchinoki or the sagari? Japan has a wealth of ghosts and monsters, collectively called yokai, which are totally unknown in the West. The bizarre and wonderful folklore of Japan includes giant corpse-eating rabbits, flaming pigs that steal human genitals, perverse water goblins, blood sucking trees, a dragon that impregnates women, cats who animate dead bodies, a zombie whale and a huge flesh eating sea cucumber that grows from a pair of discarded knickers!

Japanese Yokai and Other Supernatural Beings

Japanese Yokai and Other Supernatural Beings
Author: Andreas Marks
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2023-04-11
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1462923836

Superb Yokai images from the world's leading museums and private collections! Japan's vast pantheon of supernatural creatures includes demons (yokai), monsters, ogres (oni), ghosts (yurei) and magicians—mythical beings from folklore and popular culture which continue to thrill readers of traditional stories and manga today. This richly illustrated book by Andreas Marks, the leading authority on Japanese woodblock prints, presents authentic illustrations and descriptions of 100 different creatures, including: Bakeneko: Monster cats in human form who lick lamp oil and prey on humans born in the year of the Rat Han'nya: Female demons with sharp and pointed horns, metallic eyes and a smirking smile Hihi: Large ape-like monsters who live in the mountains and have superhuman strength, enabling them to kidnap and kill humans Mikoshi-nyudo: Yokai with an enormously extended necks who appear only at night And many more! The striking visual examples in this book are drawn from the rich canon of early Japanese prints, books, and paintings—sourced from leading museums, libraries and private collections worldwide. They show the "original" forms and appearances of the creatures which form the basis for all subsequent depictions. Also included are two long handscrolls from the Minneapolis Institute of Art (A Collection of Monsters and Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) which are reproduced here for the very first time. Prints and Paintings sourced from the following list of museums, libraries and private collections: Art Institute of Chicago Christie's, London & New York The Cleveland Museum of Art Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Kyoto University, Main Library Library of Congress Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art Minneapolis Institute of Art National Museum of Japanese History Princeton University Library Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Smithsonian Libraries

Yokai Attack!

Yokai Attack!
Author: Hiroko Yoda
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2013-07-30
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1462908837

Yokai Attack! is a nightmare-inducing one-stop guide to Japan's traditional monsters and creepy-crawlies. Yokai are ethereal sorts of beings, like ghosts, nearly always encountered at night; everyone has their own take on how they might look in real life and what sorts of specific characteristics and abilities they might have. This book is the result of long hours spent poring over data and descriptions from a variety of sources, including microfilms of eighteenth-century illustrations from the national Diet Library in Tokyo, in order to bring you detailed information on almost 50 of these amazing creatures for the first time in English. Illustrations, created by the talented Tatsuya Morino, detail the potential appearance of each yokai. Alongside each illustration is a series of "data points," with each yokai's important features at a glance--especially handy for any potential close encounters. Yokai Attack! will surely convince you that Japan's tradition of fascinating monsters is a long one--yet far from being history. Book 1 of 3 in the Yokai Attack! series. Others include Ninja Attack! and Yurei Attack!.

NonNonBa

NonNonBa
Author: Shigeru Mizuki
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2020-11-12
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1770464743

THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF MIZUKI'S BEST-LOVED WORK NonNonBa is the definitive work by acclaimed gekiga-ka Shigeru Mizuki, a poetic memoir detailing his interest in yokai (spirit monsters). Mizuki’s childhood experiences with yokai influenced the course of his life and oeuvre; he is now known as the forefather of yokai manga. His spring 2011 book, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, was featured on PRI’s The World, where Marco Werman scored a coveted interview with one of the most famous visual artists working in Japan today. Within the pages of NonNonBa, Mizuki explores the legacy left him by his childhood explorations of the spirit world, explorations encouraged by his grandmother, a grumpy old woman named NonNonBa. NonNonBa is a touching work about childhood and growing up, as well as a fascinating portrayal of Japan in a moment of transition. NonNonBa was the first manga to win the Angouleme Prize for Best Album. Much like its namesake, NonNonBa is at once funny and nostalgic, firmly grounded in a sociohistorical context and floating in the world of the supernatural. Translated from the Japanese by Jocelyne Allen.