Yurei

Author: Zack Davisson
Publisher: Chin Music Press Inc.
ISBN: 0988769352
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description
"I lived in a haunted apartment." Zack Davisson opens this definitive work on Japan's ghosts, or yurei, with a personal tale about the spirit world. Eerie red marks on the apartment's ceiling kept Zack and his wife on edge. The landlord warned them not to open a door in the apartment that led to nowhere. "Our Japanese visitors had no problem putting a name to it . . . they would sense the vibes of the place, look around a bit and inevitably say 'Ahhh . . . yurei ga deteru.' There is a yurei here." Combining his lifelong interest in Japanese tradition and his personal experiences with these vengeful spirits, Davisson launches an investigation into the origin, popularization, and continued existence of yurei in Japan. Juxtaposing historical documents and legends against contemporary yurei-based horror films such as The Ring, Davisson explores the persistence of this paranormal phenomenon in modern day Japan and its continued spread throughout the West. Zack Davisson is a translator, writer, and scholar of Japanese folklore and ghosts. He is the translator of Mizuki Shigeru's Showa 1926–1939: A History of Japan and a translator and contributor to Kitaro. He also worked as a researcher and on-screen talent for National Geographic's TV special Japan: Lost Souls of Okinawa. He writes extensively about Japanese ghost stories at his website, hyakumonogatari.com.

Kitaro

Author: Shigeru Mizuki
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
ISBN: 1770464832
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Book Description
Meet one of Japan's most popular characters of all time—Kitaro, the one-eyed monster boy Meet Kitaro. He’s just like any other boy, except for a few small differences: he only has one eye, his hair is an antenna that senses paranormal activity, his geta sandals are jet-powered, and he can blend into his surroundings like a chameleon. Oh, and he’s a yokai (spirit monster)! With all the offbeat humor of an Addams Family story, Kitaro is a lighthearted romp in which the bad guys always get what’s coming to them. Kitaro is bestselling manga-ka Shigeru Mizuki’s most famous creation. The Kitaro series was inspired by a kamishibai, or storycard theater, entitled Kitaro of the Graveyard. Mizuki began work on his interpretation of Kitaro in 1959. Originally the series was intended for boys, but once it was picked up by the influential Shonen magazine it quickly became a cultural landmark for young and old alike. Kitaro inspired half a dozen TV shows, plus numerous video games and films, and his cultural importance cannot be overstated. Presented to North American audiences for the first time in this lavish format, Mizuki’s photo-realist landscapes and cartoony characters blend the eerie with the comic. Translated from the Japanese by Jocelyne Allen.

Haunted Japan

Author: Catrien Ross
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462921337
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 175

Book Description
A delightfully creepy telling of Japanese ghost stories. Japanese folklore is abundant with tales of ghostly creatures and the supernatural. In Haunted Japan, author Catrien Ross reveals the legends that have been passed down for generations and continue to terrify us today. To research this book on the country's ghosts, demons and paranormal phenomena, Ross collected accounts from across Japan including: Sacred Mount Osore, a Japanese gateway to the land of the dead, where people gather to contact those who have passed on The Tokyo grave of the samurai Taira no Masakado, where passersby regularly witnessed his ghost until prayers finally laid him to rest The mummified remains of the monk Tetsumonkai at the Churenji Temple on Mount Yudono--a place where bizarre happenings are common The ruins of Hachioji Castle in Tokyo, which was abandoned for many years because of its many hauntings The result is an unparalleled insight into the dark corners of the Japanese psyche--a world filled with horrifying creatures including Oni (demons with fierce and ghastly appearances), Yurei (Japanese ghosts who inhabit the world of the living), and Yokai (supernatural monsters). The book also includes several traditional Japanese legends, concluding with two of the most famous ghost stories--that of the wronged wife Oiwa and the tale of the Peony Lantern. This book is richly illustrated with 32 pages of full-color prints of frightening ghosts and legendary creatures from Japan's shadowy past. Haunted Japan is the ideal book for anyone interested in exploring the darker side of Japanese history.

Satoshi Kon's Opus

Author: Satoshi Kon
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 1630081582
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 377

Book Description
Brilliant anime director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Paranoia Agent, Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, Perfect Blue) died tragically young in 2010 at the age of forty-six. But before he became a director, he was a manga artist, and Dark Horse is honored to remember Kon with the release of Satoshi Kon’s OPUS, an omnibus collection of a two-volume manga from 1996, created by Kon on the eve of his first film. OPUS contains the mastery of both realism and surrealism that would make Kon famous in Perfect Blue, as a manga artist planning a shocking surprise ending to his story gets literally pulled into his own work—to face for himself what he had planned for his characters! * Satoshi Kon was a Time magazine 2010 Person of the Year. * Kon was eulogized by director Darren Aronofsky. * Kon was a chief assistant to Katsuhiro Otomo on the Akiramanga.

Yokai Stories

Author: Zack Davisson
Publisher: Chin Music Press
ISBN: 1634059158
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 64

Book Description
Bookworm Akira has read about the conniving ways of Yokai, but when he trips over one along a forest path, he decides to help the creature back to its murky water home. A challenge ensues involving Akira’s beloved grandmother, a pizza-producing hammer, and a crunchy cucumber. Haunting illustrations of the Yokai accompany 17 original stories.

Soseki Natsume's I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition

Author: Soseki Natsume
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462922392
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Book Description
Japan's beloved literary masterpiece brought to life in manga form! Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle-class Japanese society in early 20th century Tokyo. Written with biting wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a rather cynical stray kitten. He finds his way into the home of an English teacher, where his running commentary on the follies and foibles of the people around him has been making readers laugh for more than a century. This is the very first manga edition in English of this classic piece of Japanese literature. The story lends itself well to a graphic novel format, allowing readers to pick up on the more subtle cues of the expressive cat, while also being immersed in the world of his perceptive narration. It is true to classic manga form, and is read back to front. Beautifully illustrated by Japanese artist Chiroru Kobato, this edition provides a visual, entertaining look at a unique period in Japan's history--filled with cultural and societal changes, rapid modernization and a feeling of limitless possibility--through the eyes of an unlikely narrator.

Art of Satoshi Kon

Author:
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 1616557419
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Director Satoshi Kon blazed a brilliant animation career before his tragic death in 2010 at age 46. Now Dark Horse is privileged to remember him and his works through The Art of Satoshi Kon, a beautiful book of Kon’s illustrations for his movies Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Milennium Actress, Paprika and his televison series Paranoia Agent, plus his unfinished The Dreaming Machine, his manga, commercial art, and several little-known and incomplete projects by the creator! Includes a special message from Academy Award nominated director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Black Swan, Noah)

The Ghost and The Lady

Author: Kazuhiro Fujita
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
ISBN: 1682334619
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Book Description

Kaibyo: the Supernatural Cats of Japan

Author: Zack Davisson
Publisher: Mercuria Press
ISBN: 9781634059183
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
Woodblock prints, essays, and translations scratch to light the secret lives of Japan's mythological felines.

What's Michael?: Fatcat Collection Volume 1

Author: Makoto Kobayashi
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 1506714145
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 532

Book Description
True-to-life daily cat scenarios and off-the-walls crazy feline fantasies combine in this epic manga collection. Makoto Kobayashi's hilarious New York Library Award and Parents' Choice Award Winning Series returns in a set of oversized collections. What's Michael? FatCat Collection Volume 1 contains the out-of-print original What's Michael? Volumes 1 to 6. Over 500 pages of tumultuous fun, including the out-of-print volumes Michael's Album, Living Together, Off the Deep End, A Hard Day's Life, Michael's Favorite Spot, and Michael's Mambo.