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Introduction to Yokai

I honestly wasn’t sure where to begin when it comes to my first statement for this blog. Might as well start with a subject I know extremely well. I’ve always known about different Yokai such as Kitsune, Tengu, Kappa, etc. Thanks to watching Anime as a kid there’s plenty of examples of Yokai to see and learn about. What I didn’t know until recently is how the word and description of Yokai evolved over time. Thanks to the books An Introduction to Yokai Culture Monsters, Ghosts, and Outsiders in Japanese History by Komatsu Kazuhiko and The Book of Yokai Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Dylan Foster I got to learn the history of it’s evolution.

In the academic world, Yokai is an ambiguous term that can describe a creature, presence or phenomena. It started out as being simply a presence, a creepy feeling you get in certain places. Over time it was a phenomenon given a name by local folks. A good example one of the books gave was of the Azuki-arai, otherwise known as the Bean Washer. People would hear this strange noise deep in the forest that sounds like someone washing their clothes with one of those grated wash boards. No one could ever find out where the sound was coming from and since it was spooky and unknown they labeled it as a Yoaki. Otherwise known as an unexplained phenomena.

During Japan’s medieval period everything changed. No longer were Yokai this unknown thing making mischief in random locations. Now they were given a visual representation whereas they didn’t have that before. No one is clear on why they didn’t have a visual representation before but I’d like to take a guess. Perhaps people felt drawing such creatures would summon them to their homes. Many other cultures have had this fear at some time in their history. I'm sure Japan is no exception to this rule. But this is purely speculation and would need further study to verify.

If you’d like to learn more on the subjects of Yokai I highly recommend the books I just suggested above. They are clear cut and informative not only in Yokai but Japan’s culture at different times evolving the spiritual belief in such beings.