The Book of Yokai : Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore / Michael Dylan Foster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Foster, Michael Dylan, Author.

Contributor:

Shinonome, Kijin, illustrator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yōkai (Japanese folklore).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (331 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Water Goblin Tales: Preface and Acknowledgments

Names, Dates, Places

1. Introducing Yōkai

2. Shape-Shifting History

3. Yōkai Practice/Yōkai Theory

4. The Order of Yōkai

5. Wilds

6. Water

7. Countryside

8. Village and City

9. Home

Epilogue: Monsterful

Notes

Bibliography

Alphabetized List of Yōkai in the Codex

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780520271029

0520271025

9780520959125

0520959124

OCLC:

893735854