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Welcome back to another day of Hotsui Matsuri! To add to our Nihongo Legends collection, this year we’re bringing up Yokai! Which is an ever growing list within Japanese folklore. Yokai by definition are creatures of the spirit world born from many things in many shapes and sizes. So let’s dive in!

To some, Yokai are considered the first “monsters” of Japan. Each one is made from different concepts, objects, locations, and reasons to teach valuable lessons to children but also scare and control the masses. (Similar to Grimm tales and Nursery Rhymes.) Some Yokai can be gruesome and gorey while others can be harmless. Although some very popular Yokai have made such a name for themselves, it’s often forgotten that they are Yokai. Examples being, Kitsune (the trickster, mischievous, foxes with up to nine tales), Tengu (the winged, masked, fearsome creature), Kappa (the people-eating lake monster posing to be a lily pad in the water). Even here on the blog, we’ve gone deeper in the folklore of the more popular Yokai because you can still find material starring these creatures.

The modern take on the subject has been things like Yokai-watch, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Natsume Youjincho, Mushi-shi, Princess Mononoke and A Whisker Away. Some would even argue that Pokemon are considered Yokai (maybe to the much older generations) but you can see the resemblance, especially with a name that is short for “Pocket Monster”. Think of the term as an umbrella title for other Japanese creatures like Yurei (Ghosts), Oni (Devils) and Akuma (Demons) given some titles can be interchangeable but who have their own set of rules.

Since every Yokai has a story we’ll have to leave you to discover more on your own. But here are some great resources that feed your curiosities. There’s a site called Yokai.com that is a giant database of Yokai that have been documented and is still making new entries today! And quite a few great books that show off the beautiful (and sometimes frightening) artwork of the Yokai (Introduction to Yokai Culture: Monsters, Ghosts, and Outsiders in Japanese History and YOKAI by Koichi Yumoto).

Feel free to share more resources on Yokai in the comments!

AishiteLOVEru~

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