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Hidarugami – The Hunger Gods
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Showa: A History of Japan, Japanese Wikipedia, Kaii Yokai Densho Database, and Other Sources If you are walking through a mountain trail, and find...
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Countdown to Kitaro!
As most of my readers are probably aware, August 6th marks the arrival of Kitaro from Drawn & Quarterly. Kitaro—known as Gegege no Kitaro in Japan—is THE yokai manga, created and written by...
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Kori no Tatakai – Kitsune/Tanuki Battles
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, The Fox and the Badger in Japanese Folklore, Japanese Wikipedia, and OnMarkProductions. Kitsune (foxes) and tanuki share much in common. They are...
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What Does Ayakashi Mean in English?
Translated and sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Japanese Wikipedia, Kaii Yokai Densho Database Japanese Performing Arts Resource Center, and Other Sources A sea serpent so massive it takes three...
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Tanuki no Kintama – Tanuki’s Giant Balls
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Japanese Wikipedia, Japan Times, OnMark Productions, and Kaii Yokai Densho Database Who’s got big balls? Tanuki have big balls! Anyone who has...
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Betobeto-San – The Footsteps Yokai
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Japanese Wikipedia, and Kaii Yokai Densho Database When you are walking down a lonely mountain road at night, and you hear footsteps behind you,...
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Tenjoname – The Ceiling Licker
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Japanese Wikipedia, and Kaii Yokai Densho Database. Some yokai are scary, some are funny, and some are just … weird. The tenjoname—that bizarre,...
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Chikaramochi Yurei – The Strong Japanese Ghost
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Japanese Wikipedia Long ago in the Empou period (1670 – 1683), an unusual farmer’s wife lived in a small village called Mikoharabara, which was...
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Heike Ichizoku no Onryo – The Vengeful Ghosts of the Heike Clan
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, British Museum.org, Funa Benkei, The Warrior Ghosts of Noh, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources The year is 1185. Minamoto no Yoshitsune stands...
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Aizuwakamatsu no Yurei – The Yurei of Aizuwakamatsu
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara Long ago, in the town of Aizuwakamatsu (modern day Fukushima prefecture) lived a man named Iyo lived with his wife. One night the yurei of a woman appeared in...
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Yuigon Yurei – The Last Request Yurei
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Ehon Hyaku Monogatari, Japanese Wikipedia, and Other Sources It is said that people who die with some lingering issue—those who didn’t properly...
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Goze no Yurei – The Yurei of the Blind Female Musician
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Other Sources This story takes place during the Kyoho era (1716-1736). A samurai named Hotsumi Kanji,a minor prefect in Kitakuni province, was...
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Manekute no Yurei – The Inviting Ghost Hand
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Other Sources Late at night, when you have to get up to go to the bathroom, a mysterious hand beckons you from a wall. That’s strange enough,...
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Konnyaku no Yurei – The Konnyaku Ghost of Tenri
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Legends of Tenri, and Other Sources This peculiar story comes from Tenri city, in Nara prefecture. In the span separating Kabata ward from Inaba...
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Garei – The Picture Ghost
Translated from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Ochiguri Monogatari, and Other Sources Long ago, there was a dilapidated folding screen with the portrait of a woman holding her child. The screen was the...
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Countdown to Mizuki Shigeru’s Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan
The long wait is almost over! Mizuki Shigeru’s Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan arrives in stores November 11th!!! I hope everyone is as excited as I am. I guarantee this is one of the most...
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6 Japanese Yokai From Showa
In Showa period Japan belief in yokai was waning but could still be found, especially in the countryside and rural provinces. Mizuki Shigeru—Japan’s most honored and beloved author of yokai manga and...
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Oseichu – The Mimicking Roundworm
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Japanese Wikipedia, and Kaii Yokai Densho Database It starts with a high fever and some stomach pains, and ends with a giant mouth poking out of...
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Shio no Choji – Salty Choji
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara, Ehon Hyakumonogatari, and Japanese Wikipedia In Kaga province (modern day Ishikawa prefecture), there lived a wealthy man known as “Salty Choji”...
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Suppon no Yurei – The Turtle Ghost
Translated and Sourced from Mizuki Shigeru’s Mujyara and Japanese Wikipedia The big cities in the Edo period were full of shops that specialized in the soft shell turtle dishes called suppon. If the...
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