Yokai Monsters in Cinema!

In Japanese monster Taxonomy, there's KAIJU (giant, destructive monsters like Godzilla & Gamera), and everything else. "Most everything else" falls into the category of YOKAI (supernatural beings/apparitions/elementals, cursed ghosts or Yurei, malicious demons/devils/ogres or Oni, animal spirits and shape-shifting Obake/Bakemono, etc) that are the Eastern umbrella equivalent/s to the Western vampires, werewolves, fairyfolk, etc. Good/Evil/Neutral world of creatures that seem like an Asian version of Barker's Nightbreed or Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (yes, the horror-to-fun spectrum is that broad). Japanese bizarro-world denizens that mirror Ridley Scott's LEGEND (the swamp-dwelling Meg Mucklebones and Japanese Kappa could be cousins). A Lord of the Rings or Dark Crystal world inhabited by vengeful Pokemon (alright, maybe that's a strange analogy).

I was 1st introduced to this foreign group of ghosts & goblins through reading Usagi Yojimbo comics and playing "Oriental Adventure" D & D modules in the 80's and 90's... the Kappa, the Oni... great monsters that our heroes would battle.



I came across an article in Fangoria around 2000 about a feature called SAKUYA YOKAIDEN, which was a Japanese flick that promised to pay homage to the Yokai films of the past (wha??? NOTE to SELF: needed to find out about these...). Fangoria had pics of skeleton warriors, spider demons (Tsuchigumo) and shape-shifting cat creatures (Bakeneko/Nekomata). I immediately hunted down a bootleg of this flick and really enjoyed the (heavily anime influenced*) monster-slaying and "fairy-realm" world that was hinted at in the comics and games that I played (turtle-monsters, living umbrellas, will o' the wisps... weird!). Practical effects and suits and puppets galore, right up my alley!



Since then, we've seen Miyazaki utilize this strange group of monsters in his flicks (especially Spirited Away and Pom Poko), the classic late 60's YOKAI MONSTERS trilogy (Spook Warfare, 100 Monsters, and Along With Ghosts) that Sakuya Yokaiden was a tribute to finally released to dvd, the Yokai-filled Samurai Werewolf flicks KIBAKICHI (1 & 2), and even Takashi Miike's GREAT YOKAI WAR. We've seen Yokai-heavy anime series INUYASHA and even the DTV animated HELLBOY: SWORD of STORMS focus on these Japanese spooks.



I still haven't caught Horoku the Goblin. The cool DAIMAJIN series is almost a bridge between the Kaiju and Yokai genres. Can anyone recommend something I've missed that showcases this eclectic and fun mythology of monsters? Anyone else share my love for Yokai? Anyone else creeped out by the Long-Necked Woman or floating demonic cannibal heads? I'm a huge monster-freak and fan of ghost stories from around the world and it was exciting discovering a whole new culture's monster-cyclopedia amd folklore (and their respective cinematic translations). Check out this weird stuff:

http://www.freewebs.com/cosmologies/theasianworld.htm
http://www.mangajin.com/mangajin/sam...sts/ghosts.htm








* Plays out very much like a live-action INUYASHA episode.

EDIT: To add The Great Yokai War thread link.

EDIT #2: Sorry for all the pics, but communicating the weird visuals of this bizarre realm seemed apropos.

Yeah, Sci-Fi/Superhero Tokusatsu. The Zooinoids in the Guyver are genetically engineered (mutants), and not really classicly folklore-based. The alien elements of the Guyver mythos make it more sci-fi than supernatural (more akin to UltraMan, etc).

Got to get me one of those books.

EDIT: Here's some stuff I found on amazon...

In Ghostly Japan (Classics of Japanese Literature): http://www.amazon.com/Ghostly-Japan-...0061227&sr=1-3
Myths and Legends of Japan: http://www.amazon.com/Myths-Legends-...0061227&sr=1-3
Japanese Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library): http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Tales...0061227&sr=1-3
Japanese Ghosts and Demons: Art of the Supernatural : http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Ghost...0061227&sr=1-3
Kwaidan: Stories And Studies Of Strange Things: http://www.amazon.com/Kwaidan-Storie...0061227&sr=1-3
The Japanese Fairy Book : http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Fairy...615778-9896014

Thanks for the info.
It's much more whimsical than anything Miike usually does (Happiness of Katakuris not withstanding), but still manages to be fairly weird (and even disturbing in sections). More akin to Neverending Story than Hellraiser, for sure.

Just a thought: I can't really be sure if anime series' like Devil Hunter Yohko or Curse of the Undead Yoma (or even to the extreme, sexually explicit Hentai) are steaped enough in Japanese Folklore to qualify as Yokai genre cousins. The demons and monsters in these anime seem way more generic or even Christianity influenced (or Lovecraft, in the case of Hentai) to be of the same supernatural realm. Not that classification is ultra-important, but there may be other materials I may be missing that have Yokai that I'm not aware of.

Anybody more learned in Japanese culture able to make a call on this? Is Yoma synonomous with Yokai?

Interesting tidbit I found while researching: YAMABUSHI: Japanese Demon Slayers for Real, Hidden Warriors of the Mountains

I also remembered a couple flicks that are more focused on the Exorcism of Japanese spirits, but are borderline Yokai-esque: ONMYOJI (1&2)

Also, the supernatural samurai flicks like ARAGAMI and DEATH TRANCE may offer something to fans of Yokai.

EDIT:
A guide to Japanese Gods & Goddesses.
A list of Japanese ghosts.
A list of Japanese Yokai in movies (maybe?)
I see the term, Kwaidan, thrown around a bit in association with vengeful Japanese spirits (similar to the Grudge, Ring, etc) or curses seen in ghost movies.
Info on Yurei (ghosts)
Info on Obake (shapeshifters)
Some ghostly tales from Japan.

A brief analysis on Japanese demons and possession:

A large body of Japanese anime is concentrated on the representation and portrayal of demons and half demons. I think this is an attempt to explain "how men forget to be men", to explain atrocities and inhuman acts. It is easier to believe in demons, than to believe a man could do something that vile. How does one become a demon? Sometimes through heredity (Inuyasha), sometimes by ingesting a forbidden substance (Mermaid Flesh), sometimes by accident (Demon City Shinjuku), sometimes by possession (Curse of the Yoma)-- there are many ways. In Princess Mononoke (one of my favorites) the transformation starts by touching a "made" demon. The transformation does not have to be instantaneous-- you can fight against it.

Den Beste says this about Princess Mononoke : "And the film's protagonist is an outsider, who is tasked with seeing clearly, with eyes unfogged by hatred. ." But Prince Ashitaka is not an "outsider"-- he has a "demon arm", he touched the transformed forest god. And now he must leave the village to seek a cure. Ashitaka does not want to be a demon, he fights against it. But Den Beste is right about Ashitaka's weapon against demonization-- he will not hate.

Some welcome the change. Rage is the path to demonhood. The Boar tribe, dispossessed by humans, delight in it. San, the wolf-princess, pleads with the Boar God, "Resist, don't become a demon!" But, furious over the ambush of his tribe, death and slaughter at the hands of humans everywhere, he wills the change, embraces it, in hopes of revenge.

Deserves its own post:

This is a great site! OBAKEMONO: A Gaijin's Guide to the Fantastic Folk Monsters of Japan

In Japanese, O is a prefix denoting respect, and bakemono literally means a changed thing - something perverted and altered and moved beyond its natural state - a monster.

To most Western eyes, traditional Japan is a serene veneer of stoic samurai, porcelain-skinned geisha, Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms. It seems like the last place you'd look for things bizarre, grotesque, and morbid. And yet the Japanese archipelago is home to as rich a tradition of goblins, ghouls, and monsters as you'll find anywhere on Earth. Imported from the mainland along with Buddhism or Chinese culture, or springing from fertile local imaginations and ancient animistic traditions, this impressive array of animated objects, transformed animals, ogres, demons, and human freaks is known collectively known as yōkai (yoh-kye), or bakemono (bah-keh-mo-no). They feature in countless folktales, prints, and paintings, often rendered with as much humor as horror, a troupe of beasts as charming as they are terrifying.

Sekien Toriyama was the first to catalogue Japan's vast bestiary, and in 1776 published a hefty illustrated tome called the "Hyakki Yakō", or "Hundred Demon Night Parade." Many since him have attempted to follow in his footsteps, the most notable among these being cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki, who has written and lavishly illustrated numerous books on the subject, all while keeping the yōkai alive in the public's imagination through his strange, enchanting comic stories.

In English-speaking nations, Japan's popular culture has of late enjoyed immense popularity in the form of animation, comic books, and video games, and Godzilla and his fellow giant rubber-suit monsters have always had a cult following. But the kaijū's older cousins, the yōkai, remain largely a footnote and a curiosity in the West. Occasionally they sneak over in the form of a low-budget monster movie, or show up altered, toned-down, or romanticized into unrecognizability in an imported cartoon popular with teens. Yet much of the fertile, monstrous imagination contained in old Japanese folklore and art has never been collected, translated, and presented to the English-speaking world.

With more than two hundred creatures slated to be illustrated and described, the Obakemono Project hopes to fill this void.

Yes! It had a witch too, IIRC.

It would seem that TGYW (wiki link has a list of which Yokai appear in the flick and info about them) is the 1st attempt besides Spirited Away to bring Yokai into the modern era. Generally, they're period pieces and tend to take place in the time of the folklore. The film follows a similar formula to that of the Wizard of Oz, Neverending Story, Alice and Wonderland, Peter Pan, Labyrinth, Warriors of Virtue, etc by having the main character as a child discovering this alternate world. Since the Yokai's spirit realm sort of exists alongside ours or within ours, there's much more crossover, than merely visiting a place like OZ or Wonderland. There's always the lessons about sacrafice, value of friendship, and growing up present. I think the purpose was to reintroduce this world to the youth of Japan and make it more accessible to family audiences (like Godzilla and Gamera both had done in stages in the past) by including a child main character.

I'll definitely have to watch it again to analyze your possible "deconstruction" assessment. Especially after doing all this research and reading. It seemed more straight-up adventure to me, but...

EDIT: Usagi Yojimbo is a great book. Sakai was the letterer for GROO for years as well.

There was a Usagi video game???

That dude in the back looks like the Toxic Avenger. Thanks for the heads-up on the other stuff, Chris. Similarly, there's also GOJOE, REBORN FROM HELL, and SAMURAI RESURRECTION (in addition to ARAGAMI & DEATHTRANCE that I mentioned) in the supernatural samurai genre.

Region 1? The only live-action ones that I have that are officially released are that Trilogy mentioned from the 60's (Spook Warfare, 100 Monsters, and Along With Ghosts), Kibakichi 1 & 2, and Miike's TGYW. Sakuya Yokaiden isn't available in retail form (officially).

Kwaidan ('64) is kinda like the precursor period version of stuff like the Ring & the Grudge. Anthology of traditional ghost tales. And Hiruko the Goblin is also known as "Yokai Hanta - Hiruko".

Animated, there's Miyazaki's stuff, Hellboy: Sword of Storms, and Inuyasha. There's also a ton of anime that feature ghosts, monsters, demons, etc that may or may not qualify.

Well, the term "Yokai" is pretty broad and sort of a blanket name for all ghosts, goblins, demons, etc.

The "Fantastic Folklore Spooks of Japan" are as varied as a D&D monster manual: http://www.obakemono.com/list.php

It can range from silly, plump raccon-dogs with gigantic scrotums (that can be used as parachutes!) called Tanuki (as seen in Pom Poko) to creepy faceless ghost women called Noppera-bō.




Obake (お化け, Obake?), also called "bakemono", are the traditional ghosts, goblins and monsters from Japanese folklore; the term is virtually the same as "yōkai", and includes traditional goblins and monsters, and "yūrei", spirits of the human dead. The term obake derives from the Japanese verb bakeru, meaning "to change"; thus obake are preternatural beings who have undergone some sort of change, from the natural realm to the supernatural.

Obake can range from animals (kitsune, tanuki, mujina) that are thought to have shapeshifting powers, to mythological creatures, to inanimate objects that have come to life (called "tsukumogami"). Popular examples of obake are the kappa, a water-dwelling imp who drowns humans and animals if he can get his hands on them; the tengu, a long-nosed mountain goblin skilled at martial arts and having the wings and sometimes beak of a bird; kasa-obake, an umbrella that has come to life; and kitsune, foxes, the masters of shapeshifting.

Obake also constitutes yūrei, the spirits of dead humans who have died in a great fit of rage or sorrow. Their spirit lingers on in the physical world, until their last desire has been fulfilled. This can range from obtaining revenge upon those that killed them, to ensuring that their children are properly cared for, as seen in the many tales of ubume.

Stories and legends of these Japanese apparitions have also been imported to other languages and cultures, such as the Hawaiian Pidgin of native Hawaiians. In Hawaii, some of the original lore concerning obake has been altered or misunderstood; the most common example is the mujina, originally a tanuki-like shapeshifter, which has been confused in Hawaii for the noppera-bō, a faceless human apparition. The source of this confusion was a story by Lafcadio Hearn called "Mujina". Hearn neglected to explain the reasoning behind his title: in Japan, mujina are often known to shapeshift into the faceless noppera-bō.

EDIT: More on the Inuyasha Wiki: http://inuyasha.wikia.com/wiki/Yokai
Lots of details and lore here: http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=142320

Thanks! I'm glad there's some shared enthusiasm for this bizarre mythology.

Looks like I lost some posts in the Revamp, and had to hunt for this thread, as the search function couldn't find it. But there's a Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro live-action flick that I've hunted down. I'll report back once I see it.

TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_s-3y7GX14

Much more "kiddie" than Miike's attempt (which skewed fairly young). Kind of so-so, with a few stand out moments and creatures. Give it a rent before buying.

Just added to my Netflix queue! Thanks for the heads up. Trailer.


Post #9.

Trailer for 1.
Trailer for 2.

The kabuki-inspired MANSION OF THE GHOST CAT ('58 AKA Black Cat Mansion) sounds intriguing.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202268/
Trailer.

Absolutely. and I told SS as much when I finally got to meet him last year. Bought his hardcover Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai book and got it signed as well.

 

Is it just me, or does the faceless doughy Nupperabo from the YOKAI MONSTERS movie series look like something in particular?

 

 

 

It kinda is actually.