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Monsters, ghosts, fantastic beings, and supernatural phenomena of all sorts haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yōkai, 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 yōkai 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 yōkai, 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 Yōkai 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 yōkai as a concept, we can better understand broader processes of tradition, innovation, story telling, and individual and communal creativity.
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The Book of Yōkai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore
Jan 14, 2015, University of California Press
0520271025 9780520271029
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- Created March 20, 2019
- 11 revisions
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December 21, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
August 29, 2022 | Edited by Martha Carson Wade | Added illustrator name |
August 28, 2022 | Edited by Martha Carson Wade | Added description from back cover |
September 18, 2021 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
March 20, 2019 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from amazon.com record |