Yōkai (妖怪? meaning"fishy", "mysterious", or "implausible") are a class of obake, creatures in Japanese folklore ranging from the evil oni to the mischievous kitsune or snow woman Yuki-onna. "pictures of the floating world" is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or Woodcuts) and Paintings produced between the 17th and (sometimes obakemono) are a class of monster or spirit in Japanese folklore. Japanese folklore is the Folklore of Japan. It is heavily influenced by both Shinto and Buddhism, the two primary religions in the country are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as Demons Devils Ogres or Trolls They are popular characters in Japanese is a spirit or Yōkai found in Japanese folklore. She is a popular figure in Japanese animation, Manga, and literature. Some possess part animal and part human features (e. g. Kappa and Tengu). alternately called or, are Legendary creatures a type of water sprite found in Japanese folklore. are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. Yōkai generally have a sort of spiritual or supernatural power, and so encounters with human beings tend to be dangerous. The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Yōkai also have different motives and agendas from human beings, which are often completely incomprehensible.
Japanese folklorists and historians use yōkai as "supernatural or unaccountable phenomena to their informants". In the Edo period, many artists, such as Toriyama Sekien, created a lot of yōkai inspired by folklore or their own ideas, and present day not a few yōkai created by them (e. The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 was an 18th century scholar and Ukiyo-e artist of Japanese folklore. g. Kameosa and Amikiri, see below) wrongly considered as a legendary origin.
Some yōkai simply avoid human beings; they generally inhabit secluded areas far from human dwellings. Other yōkai, however, choose to live near human settlements out of some strange attraction to mankind; perhaps they are drawn by the warmth of human houses, or the oil that humans keep to feed their fires. Yōkai are traditionally associated with fire, the direction northeast, and the season of summer, when the spirit world is closest to the world of humans. Yōkai and obake are often depicted in guises as much humorous as terrifying.
Manga artist Shigeru Mizuki popularized many types of yōkai in his works since the 1960s (e. born March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato Tottori, is a Japanese manga author, most known for his Shōnen Japanese horror manga g. one-eyed yōkai superhero Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro). is a Manga series created in 1959 by Manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. Lafcadio Hearn's collection of Japanese ghost stories entitled Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things includes stories of yūrei and yōkai such as Yuki-onna. Patrick Lafcadio Hearn ( June 27, 1850 - September 26, 1904) also known as after gaining Japanese citizenship was an author best known "Kwaidan" redirects here For the book by Lafcadio Hearn see Kwaidan Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Kwaidan Stories and Studies of Strange Things (often abbreviated to Kwaidan) is a book by Lafcadio Hearn that features several Japanese are figures in Japanese folklore, analogous to Western legends of Ghosts The name consists of two Kanji, 幽 ( yuu) meaning "faint" is a spirit or Yōkai found in Japanese folklore. She is a popular figure in Japanese animation, Manga, and literature.
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Types
There are a wide variety of yōkai in Japanese folklore. In general, yōkai is a broad term, and can be used to encompass virtually all monsters and supernatural beings, even including creatures from European folklore on occasion (e. g. , the English bugbear is often included in Japanese folklore to the point that some mistakenly believe it originates from said folklore). English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries A bugbear, also called a "boogerbear" is a Legendary creature comparable to the Bogeyman, Bogey, Bugaboo, Hobgoblin and
"Ghostly zoology"
In Japan, there can be found a good number of animals that are thought to have magic of their own. "pictures of the floating world" is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or Woodcuts) and Paintings produced between the 17th Kawanabe Kyōsai (河鍋暁斎 1831-1889 was a Japanese artist in the words of a critic "an individualist and an independent perhaps the last virtuoso in traditional Most of these are henge (変化?), shapeshifters, which often imitate humans, mostly women. Shapeshifting is a common theme in Mythology and Folklore, as well as in Science fiction and Fantasy. Some of the better known animal yokai include the following:
- Tanuki, (racoon dog)
- Kitsune, (foxes)
- Hebi, (snakes)
- Mujina (badgers)
- Bakeneko and nekomata, (cats)
- Ōkami, (wolves)
- Tsuchigumo (giant spiders)
- Inugami (dogs)
Oni
One of the most well-known aspects of Japanese folklore is the oni, which is a sort of mountain-dwelling ogre, usually depicted with red, blue, brown or black skin, two horns on its head, a wide mouth filled with fangs, and wearing nothing but a tigerskin loincloth. is the Japanese word for the Japanese raccoon dog ( Nyctereutes procyonides viverrinus) A fox is an Animal belonging to any one of about 27 Species (of which only 12 actually belong to the Vulpes genus or 'true foxes' of small A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the badger. In some regions the term refers instead to the Japanese raccoon dog (also called Tanuki Badger is the Common name for any animal of three subfamilies which belong to the family Mustelidae: the same Mammal family as the WikipediaManual of Style (spelling, articles should conform to one overall spelling style of English typically the one most linked to the article topic (if it is geographic The grey wolf or gray wolf ( Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora For the Noh and Kabuki plays by this name see Tsuchigumo (play. Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings In Japanese Mythology an is a type of, similar to a Familiar spirit, resembling and usually originating from a Dog, and most commonly carrying out vengeance The dog ( Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated Subspecies of the gray wolf, a Mammal of the Canidae family of the order are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as Demons Devils Ogres or Trolls They are popular characters in Japanese It often carries an iron club or a giant sword. Oni are mostly depicted as evil, but can occasionally be the embodiment of an ambivalent natural force. They are, like many obake, associated with the direction northeast. and (sometimes obakemono) are a class of monster or spirit in Japanese folklore.
Tsukumogami
Tsukumogami are an entire class of yōkai and obake, comprising ordinary household items that have come to life on the anniversary of their one-hundredth birthday. are a type of Japanese Spirit. According to the Tsukumogami-emaki, tsukumogami originate from items or artifacts that have reached their 100th birthday This virtually unlimited classification includes Bakezouri (straw sandals), Karakasa (old umbrellas), Kameosa (old sake jars), and Morinji-no-kama (tea kettles). is a creature from Japanese folklore. It is a straw zōri sandal which has been transformed into a Tsukumogami, a Yōkai or Kasa Obake, are a type of Tsukumogami, a form of Japanese Spirit that originate from objects reaching their 100th year of existence thus becoming animate
Human transformations
There are a large number of yōkai which were originally ordinary human beings, transformed into something horrific and grotesque usually by some sort of extreme emotional state. "pictures of the floating world" is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or Woodcuts) and Paintings produced between the 17th Women suffering from intense jealousy, for example, were thought to transform into the female oni represented by hannya masks. are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as Demons Devils Ogres or Trolls They are popular characters in Japanese The Moth Genus Hannya is now considered a Junior synonym of Habrosyne. Other examples of human transformations or humanoid yōkai are the rokuro-kubi (humans able to elongate their necks during the night), the ohaguro-bettari (a figure, usually female, that turns to reveal a face with only a blackened mouth), futakuchi-onna (a woman with a voracious extra mouth on the back of her head), and dorotabō (the risen corpse of a farmer, who haunts his abused land), among many others. are Yokai found in Japanese folklore. They look like normal Human beings by day but at night they gain the ability to stretch their necks to great lengths A is a type of Yōkai or Japanese Monster. They are characterized by their two Mouths - a normal one located on her face and second one on the back of the
Miscellaneous
There are countless number of yōkai that are too bizarre to fit into broad categories. These are usually some sort of perversion or transformation of creatures found in ordinary life, or are entirely new types of goblin-like creatures. Some examples are the abura-sumashi, an old, smug-faced and potato-headed goblin who drinks oil; the ami-kiri, a creature that exists for no other purpose than to cut mosquito netting; and the ushi-oni, a cow demon that is sometimes depicted with the body of a giant spider. is a creature from the folklore of Amakusa in Kumamoto prefecture. The, or gyūki, is a creature which appears in the Folklore of Japan.
Popular culture
Various kinds of yōkai are encountered in folklore and folklore-inspired art and literature, particularly manga and Japanese horror. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to Horror fiction in popular culture The man to whom most of the credit should go for keeping yōkai in the popular imagination (at least in Japan) is Shigeru Mizuki, the manga creator of such series as GeGeGe no Kitaro and Kappa no Sanpei. born March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato Tottori, is a Japanese manga author, most known for his Shōnen Japanese horror manga is a Manga series created in 1959 by Manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. With the exception of three volumes of GeGeGe no Kitaro, however, Mizuki's works have yet to be translated into English. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States
Yōkai have continued to be a common theme in modern works of fiction. They served as the stars in the 1960s Yokai Monsters film series, which was loosely remade in 2005 as Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War. Yokai Monsters is a series of Japanese children's movies created in the 1960s (born August 24, 1960) is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese Filmmaker. is a 2005 Japanese horror - Fantasy Children's film directed by Takashi Miike and produced by Kadokawa Pictures. They often play major roles in Japanese animation and comics, including animated films such as Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko, and various series such as Yōkai Ningen Bem, InuYasha, Hell Teacher Nūbē, Karas, Naruto, Tactics, YuYu Hakusho, Saiyuki, Kekkaishi, Shonen Onmyouji and Harukanaru Toki no Naka De. is a Japanese Animation Film studio, and previously was a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten. is a 1994 Japanese animated film the eighth written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli. is a Japanese Anime Television series which first aired on Fuji TV between October 7, 1968 (the 43rd year of the Shōwa full title ( romanized as INUYASHA is a horror-comedy Manga created by the collaborative efforts of writer and artist Takeshi Okano in Shueisha 's manga anthology book Weekly Shōnen is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto with an Anime adaptation is a Japanese Manga series collaborated between Sakura Kinoshita and Kazuko Higashiyama is a Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi with an Anime adaptation commonly known as Saiyuki, is a popular Manga series created by Kazuya Minekura. is a Manga series by Yellow Tanabe. It is published in Japan by Shogakukan and in North America in English by Viz Media. is a Light novel authored by Mitsuru Yūki and its illustrations done by Sakura Asagi. is an otome adventure game developed by Ruby Party and published by Koei. They also appear commonly in video games, such as Darkstalkers, Ōkami, Touhou and Pocky & Rocky They were also the enemy for 1994's Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. Darkstalkers, known in Asia as, is a series of 2D Fighting games produced by Capcom during the late 1990s for the CPS II hardware is a Scrolling shooter Video game with action elements licensed by Taito to Natsume, who developed and published the game for release in translated into English as Ninja Squadron Hidden Ranger, was TOEI Company Limited 's eighteenth production of the Super Sentai television
Foreign works
In the English-speaking world, knowledge of yōkai is slowly, but surely, developing a dedicated following. The word Anglosphere describes a concept of a group of Anglophone ( English -speaking nations which share historical political and cultural characteristics rooted Hawaiian folklorist Glen Grant was known for his "Obake Files", a series of reports he developed about supernatural incidents in Hawaii; the grand bulk of these incidents and reports were of Japanese origin, though in retelling have been much modified from their original forms in Japanese folklore. Folkloristics is the formal academic study of Folklore. What actually constitutes folklore is disputed even within the discipline but generally folklore focuses on the This page is about the author and historian There is also a Glen Grant (distillery Glen Grant ( February 23, 1947 Additionally, Mexican-American folklorist and author Alfred Avila included "La Japonesa", a story about a nekomusume, in his collection Mexican Ghost Tales of the Southwest. See also History of Mexican-Americans Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican ancestry
As a location
In more modern works, yōkai (妖界? note the different kanji) and makai (魔界?) are used synonymously as the supernatural world where yōkai live. are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana Works which have included one or the other include the manga series Tokimeki Tonight and the young adult fiction series Yōkai Navi Luna (妖界ナビ・ルナ?). is a Manga series by Koi Ikeno which ran in the Japanese manga magazine Ribon from July 1982 through October 1994 Young-adult fiction (often abbreviated as YA fiction, or simply YA) is Fiction written for published for or marketed to adolescents roughly between the
See also
- Yaoguai
- Yūrei
- Obake
- Shigeru Mizuki
- Kijimunaa and other legendary beings of the Ryukyu Islands
- Onryō
- List of legendary creatures in Japanese mythology
External links
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Mythic texts and folktales: |
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