Pandemonium and parade : Japanese monsters and the culture of yōkai

Water sprites, mountain goblins, shape-shifting animals, and the monsters known as __yôkai__ have long haunted the Japanese cultural landscape. This history of the strange and mysterious in Japan seeks out these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines, and movies, exploring their meanings in the Japanese cultural imagination and offering an abundance of valuable and, until now, understudied material. Michael Dylan Foster tracks __yôkai__ over three centuries, from their appearance in seventeenth-century natural histories to their starring role in twentieth-century popular media. Focusing on the intertwining of belief and commodification, fear and pleasure, horror and humor, he illuminates different conceptions of the "natural" and the "ordinary" and sheds light on broader social and historical paradigms—and ultimately on the construction of Japan as a nation. Water sprites, mountain goblins, shape-shifting animals, and the monsters known as yôkai have long haunted the Japanese cultural landscape. This history of the strange and mysterious in Japan seeks out these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines, and movies, exploring their meanings in the Japanese cultural imagination and offering an abundance of valuable and, until now, understudied material. Michael Dylan Foster tracks yôkai over three centuries, from their appearance in seventeenth-century natural histories to their starring role in twentieth-century popular media. Focusing on the intertwining of belief and commodification, fear and pleasure, horror and humor, he illuminates different conceptions of the "natural" and the "ordinary" and sheds light on broader social and historical paradigms—and ultimately on the construction of Japan as a nation. Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Note On Japanese Names And Terms 1. Introduction To The Weird 2. Natural History Of The Weird: Encyclopedias, Spooky Stories, And The Bestiaries Of Toriyama Sekien 3. Science Of The Weird: Inoue Enryō, Kokkuri, And Human Electricity 4. Museum Of Theweird: Modernity, Minzokugaku, And The Discovery Of Yōkai 5. Media Of The Weird: Mizuki Shigeru And Kuchi-Sake-Onna 6. Yōkai Culture: Past, Present, Future Notes Bibliography Index Monsters known as yōkai have long haunted the Japanese cultural landscape. This history of the strange and mysterious in Japan seeks out these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines and movies, exploring their meanings in the Japanese imagination over three centuries