Photo from “Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide” @2008 Kodansha International”
“An invaluable resource for those who want to know more about Japanese monsters. Written in a way that is enjoyable, fun but also interesting tidbits on how these monsters have impacted Japanese culture, information on sightings, how to escape from these monsters if one would come across them and much more.”
BOOK: Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide
AUTHORS: Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt, Illustrations by Tatsuya Morino
COMPANY: Kodansha International
PAGE COUNT: 196 pages
How do you escape from the Human-faced tree?
Keep your home safe from the Bathtub Licker?
Make it through a date with a woman whose neck puts an anaconda to shame?
Forget Godzilla. Forget the giant beasties karate chopped into oblivion by endless incarnations of Ultraman, Kamen Rider and the Power Rangers. Forget the Pocket Monsters. Forget Sadako form the Ring and that creep all-white kid from The Grudge. Forget everything you know about Japanese tales of terror. The yokai are the spookiest Japanese creatures you’ve never heard of, and it’s high time they got their due.
When I first got into Japanese pop culture, one of the things that I noticed through watching Japanese films, television, video games and reading manga (Japanese comic books) is that you would see occasionally see these monsters.
For Americans, when they think of Japanese monsters, outside of the typical Godzilla and related monsters that many have been accustomed to seeing in movies, some are discovering these weird creatures such as turtle-like humans or girls clad in traditional Japanese clothing that looked demonically possessed.
I can see people watching an anime like “Demon Prince Enma†and wonder why one of the monsters is this turtle like creature named “kappa†and then watch a Japanese TV show with people walking through a cemetery being scared out of their wits by people dressed up as a turtle. What is this “kappa� Or even play a video game such as “Dead or Alive†and see this muscular character with a very long nose called a “tengu†and then see this character on various video games? One thing you will notice as you follow Japanese pop culture is that these monsters are featured quite a bit and definitely makes you wonder more about them.
My curiosity peaked in mononoke (ghosts) or bakemono/obake (monsters) was through the books and radio programs by Hawaii’s Glenn Grant. Known for interviewing and researching these monsters and retelling the frightening stories on his radio program and audio book. About people who meet a beautiful woman on the beach, late at night and then all of a sudden this beautiful woman’s neck starts to elongate and ends up being a vengeful monster. Who is this monster known as “Rokuro Kubiâ€.
There are some websites that would have some information and some Japanese magazines that would do the occasional obake story every so often but recently, I have read the latest book from husband and wife team Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt titled “Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guideâ€.
I am very impressed by the amount of monsters featured in this book alone. The book is broken down in chapters: Ferocious Friends, Gruesome Gourmets, Annoying Neighbors, The Sexy and Slimy and the Wimps.
So, as an example, one of the popular monsters you see in Japanese pop culture is the Kappa.
For the Kappa, the writes give you a pronunciation, English name of the monster, the alternate Japanese names, the gender, its height, weight, locomotion (how they move), their distinctive features, offensive weapons, their weakness, their habitat and their claim to fame. Also, how they attack, how you survive an encounter with the Kappa and my favorite, how the monster has had its place in Japanese culture.
In this case, in Tokyo, there was a bridge called he Kappabashi (Kappa Bridge) but now is occupied by the Bhuddist temple, Sogenji, which is also known as a Kappa Temple.
Also, there is a sushi called the “kappa-makiâ€, which is a cucumber roll.
You get a lot of these fun details throughout the book and this is what I found quite enjoyable.
Also, a ghost that may sound funny but has terrorized school kids aplenty is the monster known as “Toire no Hanako†(Hanako in the Bathroom) which is a girl with a bobbed hair in red skirt.
There have been many crazy stories on this monster alone and featured aplenty on manga and anime. The monster has even been made to a horror film. But it was cool to see how this monster came to the scene and see the authors really do their research on the monster and also its comparisons to similar monsters.
There are so many of these Japanese monsters found in this book alone and it does help when the layout of the book has a very good layout, presentation with images and illustrations. Each monster chapter has a pretty cool illustration by Tatsuya Morino and definitely a nice touch to the book.
The book ends with a resource featuring websites, bibliography and a Yokai index to quickly find that monster that you may have seen on a television or manga.
Overall, the presentation of how this book was written was well-done. The authors definitely made it a book that is fun and reader-friendly, but most of all, it is quite obvious that they did their research on each monster (especially to know it’s various names and other monster comparisons) and although I’m sure there are plenty of monsters in Japan not featured on this book, the more well-known obake (about 46 of them) that one would see in a Japanese film, television show, video game or manga, is what you will find on this book.
Where else would you find how to escape from a human-faced tree or keeping your home safe from a bathtub licker?
“Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide†is an invaluable resource for those into Japanese culture and those who always wondered the origins of these creepy monsters and spirits. Definitely check it out!