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Iriomote Oyamaneko – The Iriomote Great Mountain Cat
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara Iriomote Island in the Okinawa island chain is sometimes called the Galapagos Island of the East. When the Iriomote yamaneko (Iriomote mountain cat; 西表山猫) was...
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Jinmenju – The Human Face Tree
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara This tree is found in mountain valleys. The fruit of the tree looks like a human head. It doesn’t say a word, but it is constantly laughing. It is said that if...
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Shirime – Eyeball Butt
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara In old times, this was a yokai found on the roads leading to Kyoto. The legend goes that late at night, a samurai walking down the street when a man in a kimono...
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Shichinin Dōgyō – The Seven Pilgrims
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara This is a legend from Kagawa prefecture, and is one of several legends about someone out for a walk who runs into a mysterious band on the road, and dies as a...
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Shudan Borei – A Group of Ghosts
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara On July 28th, Showa 30th (1955), in a heartbreaking incident 36 junior high school girls drowned on a beach in Mie prefecture. Of the nine girls who survived...
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Baku – The Dream Eater
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujara and Japanese Wikipedia When a child in Japan wakes shaking from a nightmare, she knows what to do. Hugging her face in her pillow, she whispers three times...
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Takaonna – The Tall Woman
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Japanese Wikipedia The takaonna (tall woman) is a yokai with an interesting hobby. If she is walking along, and sees a two-story brothel, she stretches the...
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Gotokoneko – The Trivet Cat
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Japanese Wikipedia If you wake up on a cold morning to see a fire mysteriously roaring in what should be a cold fireplace, don’t be afraid. It...
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Happy 91st Birthday Mizuki Shigeru!
Born March 8th, 1922, today is the 91st birthday of the man who brought yokai back to Japan, and created the comics that have entertained and educated succeeding generations of people. Happy birthday...
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Mizuki Shigeru’s Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan
So, I haven’t had as much time to work on new translations for Hyakumonogatari.com, and I can finally tell you why. I have been working on translating Drawn & Quarterly’s new Mizuki Shigeru comic...
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Tesso – The Iron Rat
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources In Japanese folklore, if you make a promise you had better keep it—even if you...
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Mizuki Shigeru’s French Fry Heaven
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Twitter Account Mizuki Shigeru relishes his Double Quarter Pounder from McDonalds this spring afternoon. He eats a bit of burger, then some French Fries. Look how he...
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Hashihime – The Bridge Princess
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources Nothing quite embodies the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” like...
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What are Hanyō?
Half human. Half yokai. Hanyo have become a staple character in recent yokai comics and animation. But do they have roots in Japanese folklore? The answer to that is a pretty resounding no. Hanyo are...
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Mizuki Shigeru in Rabaul
Translated and Sourced from Showa: A History of Japan, Remembering the war in New Guinea, and Other Sources Mizuki Shigeru is Japan’s most famous living manga artist, and the greatest modern scholar...
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Onikuma – Demon Bear
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources What walks on its hind legs like a human, is covered in fur, and hauls of horses...
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Ijuu – The Strange Beast
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources If you are wandering through the forests of Japan and happen across a beast that...
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Nezumi Otoko – Rat Man
Translated and sourced from Kitaro’s Daihyaka, Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Japanese Wikipedia, and various Gegege no Kitaro comics Half yokai. Half human. All scoundrel. Nezumi Otoko is the trickster...
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Sazae Oni – The Turban Shell Demon
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources The Sazae Oni may not look like much—just a giant shellfish with an odd set of...
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Tsukimono – The Possessing Thing
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, The Catalpa Bow, Myths and Legends of Japan, Occult Japan, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources There are eight million gods and monsters in...
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