The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore

by Michael Dylan Foster Narrated by Tim Campbell

Overview

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, listeners will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries on more than fifty individual creatures. The Book of Yokai provides a lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture. It also invites listeners 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.

Editorial Reviews

International Institute for Asian Studies

"Readers will be fascinated (as well as teased) by the kaleidoscope of creatures, malignant and benign."

Reference Reviews

"Highly recommend . . . . A fascinating read. "

Journal of Religion in Japan

"Michael Dylan Foster draws the reader into a haunting tale of the uncanny from the first page."

Literary Review

"Foster . . . analyses and catalogues hundreds of yokai and tells many stories . . . enhanced by witty illustrations by Shinonome Kijin . . . A fascinating and charming compendium."

Western Folklore

"The Book of Yokai is a fascinating and enormously informative study. . . . Foster's narrative is smooth and often humorous. The book is easy to read, and at the same time immensely informative on the complicated and varied ways yokai have existed throughout Japanese history."

Times Literary Supplement

"Foster creates engagingly rich portraits of yokai . . . Kijin’s illustrations draw on Japanese artistic traditions to depict each creature’s personality and visual quirks, making this field guide a delight for researchers, enthusiasts and the uninitiated alike . . . Seen this way, even the most horrific yokai seems beautiful."

Foreword Reviews

"An interesting cultural text highly recommended to Japanophiles or aficionados of the otherworldly."

From the Publisher

"The Book of Yokai is a fascinating and enormously informative study. . . . Foster's narrative is smooth and often humorous. The book is easy to read, and at the same time immensely informative on the complicated and varied ways yokai have existed throughout Japanese history."-- "Western Folklore"

"Foster . . . analyses and catalogues hundreds of yokai and tells many stories . . . enhanced by witty illustrations by Shinonome Kijin . . . A fascinating and charming compendium."-- "Literary Review"

"Foster creates engagingly rich portraits of yokai . . . Kijin's illustrations draw on Japanese artistic traditions to depict each creature's personality and visual quirks, making this field guide a delight for researchers, enthusiasts and the uninitiated alike . . . Seen this way, even the most horrific yokai seems beautiful."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

"An interesting cultural text highly recommended to Japanophiles or aficionados of the otherworldly."-- "Foreword Reviews"

"Michael Dylan Foster draws the reader into a haunting tale of the uncanny from the first page."-- "Journal of Religion in Japan"

"Readers will be fascinated (as well as teased) by the kaleidoscope of creatures, malignant and benign."-- "International Institute for Asian Studies"

"Highly recommend . . . . A fascinating read. "-- "Reference Reviews"

Ícaro|Ícaro|Ícaro|International Ícaro|Ícaro|Ícaro|Institute for Asian

"Readers will be fascinated (as well as teased) by the kaleidoscope of creatures, malignant and benign."

The Times Literary Supplement

"Foster creates engagingly rich portraits of yokai . . . Kijin’s illustrations draw on Japanese artistic traditions to depict each creature’s personality and visual quirks, making this field guide a delight for researchers, enthusiasts and the uninitiated alike . . . Seen this way, even the most horrific yokai seems beautiful."

Western Folklore - Noriko T. Reider

"The Book of Yokai is a fascinating and enormously informative study... Foster's narrative is smooth and often humorous. The book is easy to read, and at the same time immensely informative on the complicated and varied ways yokai have existed throughout Japanese history."

Reference Reviews - Michelle Breckon

"I highly recommend this book. . . . A fascinating read . . . This will be on my personal bookshelf for years to come. "

Literary Review - Lesley Downer

"Michael Dylan Foster, associate professor of folklore at Indiana University and a yokai expert, analyses and catalogues hundreds of yokai and tells many stories . . . The book is enhanced by witty illustrations by Shinonome Kijin . . . A fascinating and charming compendium."

The Times Literary Supplement - Morgan Giles

"Foster creates engagingly rich portraits of yokai . . . Kijin’s illustrations draw on Japanese artistic traditions to depict each creature’s personality and visual quirks, making this field guide a delight for researchers, enthusiasts and the uninitiated alike . . . Seen this way, even the most horrific yokai seems beautiful."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171187408
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	12/25/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos