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'A modern day Lafcadio Hearn is picking up his ghostly torch. Zack Davisson is the author, translator, and folklorist following in Hearn's footsteps.'--tofugu.comMysterious demons, ghosts and monsters have haunted Japan for centuries! The Ultimate Guide to Japanese Yokai presents 100 of the strangest creatures you have ever seen--from evil demons and terrifying monsters to mythical ghosts and enchanted beasts.In this book, Yokai expert Zack Davisson explains how Yokai are highly elusive, and yet without understanding them you will never truly know Japan. The Yokai profiled in this book include:Amabie: A mysterious half fish, half bird creature said to heal any affliction merely by gazing upon its imageTofu Kozo: A harmless Yokai that appears like a young child dressed in a fancy kimono with a straw hat carrying a plate of wobbly tofuKyokotsu: The pitiful spirit of a person who was thrown down a well and died--with pale skin and a shock of white hair growing from a bleached-white skullAkaname: A disgusting Yokai who skitters about licking the scum from filthy bathtubsKanibozu: Massive crabs, who shapeshift into human form, disguising themselves as monks asking riddles, but killing anyone who fails to answer correctly!And many more!Packed with interesting facts and entertaining stories, this book is richly illustrated with over 250 color woodblock prints and paintings that reveal the fascinating world of the Yokai.

Since ancient times, the Japanese have lived with superstitions of strange presences and phenomena known as'yōkai,'creating a culture by turns infused with unease, fear, and divinity. Tsukimono spirit possessions. Fearsome kappa, oni, and tengu. Yamauba crones. Ghostly yūrei. Otherworldy ijin...Where did they come from? Why do they remain so popular? Written by Japan's premier scholar of yōkai and strange tales, this book is both an introduction to the rich imagination and spirituality of Japan's yōkai culture and a history of the authors and writings that have shaped yōkai studies as a field.

In Japanese culture, oni are ubiquitous supernatural creatures who play important roles in literature, lore, and folk belief. Characteristically ambiguous, they have been great and small, mischievous and dangerous, and ugly and beautiful over their long history. Here, author Noriko Reider presents seven oni stories from medieval Japan in full and translated for an English-speaking audience. Reider, concordant with many scholars of Japanese cultural studies, argues that to study oni is to study humanity. These tales are from an era in which many new oni stories appeared for the purpose of both entertainment and moral/religious edification and for which oni were particularly important, as they were perceived to be living entities. They reflect not only the worldview of medieval Japan but also themes that inform twenty-first-century Japanese pop and vernacular culture, including literature, manga, film, and anime. With each translation, Reider includes an introductory essay exploring the historical and cultural importance of the characters and oni manifestations within this period. Offering new insights into and interpretations of not only the stories therein but also the entire genre of Japanese ghost stories, Seven Demon Stories is a valuable companion to Reider's 2010 volume Japanese Demon Lore. It will be of significant value to folklore scholars as well as students of Japanese culture.

Oni, ubiquitous supernatural figures in Japanese literature, lore, art, and religion, usually appear as demons or ogres. Characteristically threatening, monstrous creatures with ugly features and fearful habits, including cannibalism, they also can be harbingers of prosperity, beautiful and sexual, and especially in modern contexts, even cute and lovable. There has been much ambiguity in their character and identity over their long history. Usually male, their female manifestations convey distinctivly gendered social and cultural meanings. Oni appear frequently in various arts and media, from Noh theater and picture scrolls to modern fiction and political propaganda, They remain common figures in popular Japanese anime, manga, and film and are becoming embedded in American and international popular culture through such media. Noriko Reiderýs book is the first in English devoted to oni. Reider fully examines their cultural history, multifaceted roles, and complex significance as'others'to the Japanese.