A Tour of a Japanese Mystery World: Yokai Jenny Yuan Edited by Josephine Man Designed by Am Chunnananda
It was an empty room with only a couple of traditional Japanese dolls sitting on the shelf. I stared at the dolls out of boredom: they had chubby faces, dainty eyes, and ruby-like mouths. I grew tired and decided to lie down. That was when I recognized the faded blood stains on the floor. Then I heard childlike giggles behind my back… Luckily that was just a dream after I watched one episode about Zashikiwarashi, a childlike Yokai, in ayakashi. It was truly a spooky story, but somehow I got fascinated by the Yokai character and their stories after watching it. Having spent most of my time in Asia growing up, my childhood was greatly impacted by Japanese media such as movies, anime, and TV shows. From 怪 ayakashi, Natsume’s Book of Friends, to the classic Ghibli movie Spirited Away, or famous fiction Onmyōji (陰陽師), Yokai were one of the most popular elements in Japanese pop culture. Yokai, which means monsters or spirits in Japanese, were intended to spook people in the ancient days. Interestingly, in modern pop culture, they don’t always appear as spooky or evil characters. More often, they are depicted as an adorable character. In the anime Kappa no Kaikata, Kappa (a spirit that lives in a river) appears as a chubby, short boy with a beak who is being kept by a human as a pet. These interesting depictions got me fascinated about the Yokai culture and started my exploration of the artistic and cultural background behind it.
36
