![]() Some yōkai assume humanlike appearances, and others look like sprites or weird beings, akin to the trolls, elves and fairies found in European lore. Many of these animals were said to have the ability to shift their shape, taking on the form of a person or another animal or object in order to cause trouble in the human world. In addition to these allusive and fantastic beings, it can also refer to real animals-such as kitsune (foxes), tanuki (raccoon dogs), and even cats. Or it might refer to the long-nosed mountain goblin known as the tengu. It might indicate a slimy river creature, such as the froglike kappa. In practice though, especially in recent years, the word tends to refer to something more corporeal. In theory, it can indicate any unexplainable phenomenon, such as eerie sounds in the night or fireballs flitting around a graveyard. The concept of yōkai, and the word itself, is broader than the English-language monster or spirit. Historically yōkai were associated with folk narratives-such as myths, folktales, and legends-and were also part of local belief systems in villages and cities throughout Japan. In Japan the creatures and strange phenomena of folklore have been known historically by a variety of terms, including mononoke, bakemono and obake, but most commonly today they are called yōkai, a word that has become a catchall for everything spooky-from creepy monster, to ghostly spirit, to mysterious phenomenon. By looking at the fantastic beasts of Japan (and, for that matter, any culture) we can learn a lot about the people who create them, tell stories about them, play with them, and send them out into the world.Įvery culture has its monsters. But where do these monsters come from? Are they part of the traditional folklore of Japan, or are they recent creations-made to sell as part of Japan’s “soft power”? And most importantly, what can these Japanese monsters teach us? In this short essay, I address these questions by exploring how monstrous and strange beings reflect important trends in Japanese history. ![]() These various media are chock full of fantastic creatures and characters-from the mischievous to the murderous, from the fun to the frightening, from the humorous to the horrifying. We have seen them for years in Pokémon, and more recently (since 2015 in the US) they have insinuated themselves into our lives through Yo-kai Watch, an explosively popular franchise of video games, manga, anime, and all sorts of merchandise called. Through anime and manga, film and television, video and computer games, they have infiltrated the lives of children (and a great many adults). ![]() Japanese monsters have invaded the world.
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