Japan, like other parts of Asia, is a country with a strong belief in ghosts. Many of the Japanese people I met believed in such entities, even though they never saw one, and, unlike in the West, it is not ridiculous or stupid to believe in such things.
The stereotype of ghosts in western countries is, usually, either a white sheet with two black holes for the eyes (childish version), or a transparent person dressed with old-style clothes.
The Japanese ghosts are very different. Usually depicts as a young woman or girl, the Yurei (幽霊) wears a white dress and has a long black hair masking her face. The absence of feet makes it floating in the air.
This specific image of the Japanese ghost is used in many medias, such as movies, TV show or manga.
The ghost appears in movies like Ring, Dark Water, The Grudge, and more…; most of them girls with long hair, pale face, crawling on the floor, turning their head in impossible angle, emitting strange sounds.
There is also a TV show based on ghosts appearing in videos or pictures taken by the audience.
But there is another aspect of Japanese ghost I am interested in. It is the “Yokai” (妖怪).
Yokai are not ghosts, but more spirits or monsters, many kinds of creatures composing the Japanese mythology. It goes to the demon Oni (鬼) to the malicious fox Kitsune (狐) or the Tanuki (狸).
They were made famous by the mangaka Mizuki Shigeru (水木しげる), author of the manga “GeGeGe no Kitaro” (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎).
In my next entries, I will be talking about specific Yokai, describing the most popular one and giving some stories about them.
Mizuki’s website (in Japanese): http://www.japro.com/mizuki/index3.html
