Yokai– tag –

English Version For centuries, yokai have represented strange and uncanny phenomena beyond ordinary human understanding. Some are said to bring good luck,

English Version Thanks to GeGeGe no Kitaro, Yo-kai Watch, and other pop culture hits, Japanese yokai are familiar not only to older generations but even to

English Version Hyakki Yagyo, often translated as the “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons,” has appeared as a motif in countless manga, anime, and works of

English Version Kappa are often counted among Japan’s three great yokai, alongside oni and tengu. Compared with many other spirits and monsters, kappa lege

English Version Yokai, especially the yokai of Japan, were not always enemies of humankind. Sometimes they helped people, and sometimes they played tricks

English Version Air raids, epidemics, bumper harvests, typhoons, blessed rain, the Great Kanto Earthquake, peaceful reigns, the Russo-Japanese War, World W

Katsushika Hokusai is known internationally for views of Mount Fuji and waves, yet much of his supernatural art appeared in a less familiar place: illustrated books. The Hokusai Museum in Obuse, Nagano, is bringing that darker body of wo...

English Version In Episode 2 of this series, we looked at how the idea of the inugami—a dog spirit used in curses or spirit possession—was already recogniz

English Version In the first part of this series, we looked broadly at how the being known as inugami may have developed and what kinds of legends surround

English Version Published October 21, 2019; updated February 21, 2020. This article continues from the first half of our report on Nurikabe, the mysterious