Product Information
A lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture through the concept of yokai. 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 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.Product Identifiers
PublisherUniversity of California Press
ISBN-139780520271029
eBay Product ID (ePID)209417373
Product Key Features
Number of Pages336 Pages
Publication NameThe Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore
LanguageEnglish
SubjectMythology, History
Publication Year2015
TypeTextbook
AuthorMichael Dylan Foster
FormatPaperback
Dimensions
Item Height229 mm
Item Weight454 g
Additional Product Features
Country/Region of ManufactureUnited States
Title_AuthorMichael Dylan Foster
IllustratorShinonome Kijin