Ghosts and spirits in Japanese folklore

[BigBossIchi]

Can some one lead me in the right direction to a complete look at Japanese folklore, it's ghosts, spirits, goblins and more. Especially the actual origin of the pale-faced, long haired ghosts that a so popular in their cinema history. Thx!

[名無し]

Can some one lead me in the right direction to a complete look at Japanese folklore, it's ghosts, spirits, goblins and more.It might not hurt to start with books by Lafcadio Hearn, Kwaidan (http://peripluspublishinggroup.com/tuttle/shopping/product_details.php?id=0804836620) for instance.


related thread (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12155)
more (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193)

[pipokun]

The site is nice. Obakemono Project (http://www.obakemono.com/index.php)
http://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/kikaku/page/2004/0203/yuurei.jpeg
Pale faced like her?
Ohkyo Maruyama, my favorite painter in the Edo, draw lots of ghost like the above, so I heard Japanese have the image of pale, long-haired and legless ghosts.
Daijoji temple (http://museum.daijyoji.or.jp/en/index.html) offers a superb online museum about Ohkyo and his school's works. Worthwhile seeing them.

[gwendy85]

err....what's the Japanese term for ghost? I need it to search online.

[Kyoko_desu]

Yuurei（幽霊）
Obake（お化け）
Bakemono（化け物）
Youkai（妖怪）

I hope those words will do.:-)

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

怪　(AYAKASHI)
ayakashi Japanese Classic Horror ANIME
OP 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPhYJcLpeMY&search=AYAKASHI
OP 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjFvNc5jT6k&search=AYAKASHI
OP 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_r6VQTG5Dg&search=AYAKASHI
ED 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FzbydTj4PY&search=AYAKASHI
SITE
http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/ayakashi/

YOTUYAKAIDAN
http://images-jp.amazon.com/images/P/B000EULVMM.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[Revenant]

Shigeru Mizuki was an expert on the old Japanese mythology of ghosts, spirits, and monsters. He incorporated a lot of the myths into his well-known comic Gegege no Kitarou. This is an old videogame link with some info on the main characters and monsters included. (http://www.bogleech.com/gba-kitarou.html)

At the bottom of the page, there is a link to the monsters, be sure to follow that to see some interesting mythical monsters of Japanese folklore.

[euske]

Well, long-haired ghosts are more like made-up stories rather than folklore. From anthropologic point of view, I found Kunio Yanagita (柳田国男)'s pioneering study much more interesting. He collected a lot of folk tales in rural areas (mainly Tohoku region) such as Kappa (河童) and Yamamba (山姥), and tried to interpret them in the light of cultural or historical backgrounds. Most of these tales sound bizarre and illogical, but many of them are not totally made-up, but actually based on real stories. Grown up in rural areas in Japan and being familiar with those mountains and villages, I found Yanagita's stories very terrifying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanagita_Kunio

[Kyoko_desu]

The most well-known/classic Japanese ghost story is 四谷怪談（よつやかいだん）(Yotsuya Kwaidan)http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertainment/japanofile/archive/news/2005/09/images/20050902p2g00m0et046000p_size6.jpg
This story of the poor woman "Oiwa" has been performed in movies, rakugo, kabuki many times for ages here.
The story was made based on what really happened in the Genroku era.
http://homepage2.nifty.com/e-tedukuri/yotuyakaidan.htm
まじ　こわいよ〜！ >.<

[godppgo]

The most well-known/classic Japanese ghost story is 四谷怪談（よつやかいだん）(Yotsuya Kwaidan)http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertainment/japanofile/archive/news/2005/09/images/20050902p2g00m0et046000p_size6.jpg
This story of the poor woman "Oiwa" has been performed in movies, rakugo, kabuki many times for ages here.
The story was made based on what really happened in the Genroku era.
http://homepage2.nifty.com/e-tedukuri/yotuyakaidan.htm
まじ　こわいよ〜！ >.<

So the movie was made in 1959? It does look very scary, I think I'll check out the local Japanese video store here to see if they have a copy...

[godppgo]

I've always found Kappa (河童) to be a mystical creature. Does it actually harm human beings?

[Kyoko_desu]

Yes, the one I put the link for was made a long time ago, but there are alot more movies of Yotsuya Kwaidan. The most recent one was made 2 years ago but the movie title was changed into "Warau Iemon" (Iemon is a name of Oiwa-san's husband.)
I hope you can find this newest one at the store or the rental video shop.


Here is a list of all the movies and anime of Yotsuya Kwaidan. (found it at Wikipedia)


映画作品
* 四谷怪談（前・後編）（1949年　監督：木下恵介 伊右衛門：上原謙、お岩：田中絹代）
* 四谷怪談（1956年　監督：毛利正樹 伊右衛門：若山富三郎、お岩：相馬千恵子）
* 東海道四谷怪談（1959年　監督：三隅研次　伊右衛門： 長谷川一夫、お岩：中田康子）
* 東海道四谷怪談（1959年　監督：中川信夫　伊右衛門： 天知茂、お岩：若杉嘉津子）
* 四谷怪談（1965年　監督：豊田四郎　伊右衛門：仲代達 矢、お岩：岡田茉莉子）
* 忠臣蔵外伝 四谷怪談（1994年　監督：深作欣二　伊右衛門：佐藤浩市、お岩：高岡早紀）
* 嗤う伊右衛門（2004年　監督：蜷川幸雄　伊右衛門：唐 沢寿明、お岩：小雪）
...


アニメ作品
* アニメ版 東海道・四谷怪談（1981年　監督：澤田隆治、大塚康生 　語り：一龍斎貞水）
* 怪 〜ayakashi〜「四谷怪談」（2006年　監督：今沢哲男　 伊右衛門：平田広明、お岩：小山茉美（声のみ））


http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%B1%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%93%E5%9B%9B%E8%B0%B7%E6%8 0%AA%E8%AB%87#.E6.98.A0.E7.94.BB.E4.BD.9C.E5.93.81
(http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%B1%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%93%E5%9B%9B%E8%B0%B7%E6%8 0%AA%E8%AB%87#.E6.98.A0.E7.94.BB.E4.BD.9C.E5.93.81 )↑link for Yotsuya Kwaidan Wikipedia page



Now about kappa, I heard they catch people and eat their butt holes, ahahahaha! How can someone eat a "hole"?
Well, other well-known thing about kappa is their another favorite food is a cucumber. That's why maki-zushi with a cucumber in it is called kappa-maki.

[godppgo]

Ah.. that's why it's called Kappa-maki! I've always wonder why they name a sushi after Kappa..

Thanks for the movie info btw kyoko!

[TuskCracker]

-
For folklore, I believe I have read this.

-> Creaturs that can change shape.
-> Like a racoons that can change shape at night
-> Frogs seem part of much folklore

[DoctorP]

You could pick up a copy of the book "Ghosts of Okinawa". Although it focuses strictly on Okinawa, and not the rest of Japan.

[jonerik]

It might not hurt to start with books by Lafcadio Hearn, Kwaidan (http://peripluspublishinggroup.com/tuttle/shopping/product_details.php?id=0804836620) for instance.
related thread (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12155)
more (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193)
The 1965 "Kwaidan" film directed by Masaki Kobayashi is also well worth seeing.