Monsters, ghosts, fantastic beings, and supernatural phenomena of most kinds haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yokai, these animals can be found in infinite sizes and shapes, from tengu hill goblins and kappa water spirits to shape-shifting foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Presently well-known in anime, manga, film, and computer games, many yokai started in regional legends, folktales, and local ghost stories.

Drawing on years of study in Japan, Michael about The Publication of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their origins, interpreting their meanings, and presenting people who have hunted them through the age range. In this wonderful and accessible narrative, listeners will explore the functions played by these secret beings within Japanese lifestyle and can also learn of their large quantity and variety through detailed entries on more than fifty individual creatures. The Publication of Yokai provides a lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its own ever-expanding impact on global well-known culture. It also invites listeners to examine how people create, transmit, and gather folklore, and exactly how they seem sensible of the mysteries in the globe around them. By exploring yokai as an idea, we are able to better understand broader procedures of tradition, invention, storytelling, and individual and communal creativity.