Don’t go into the outhouse
October 18, 2023 11:18 AM Subscribe
Every October Matthew Meyer shares and illustrates* A Yokai A Day.
Starting last year, Meyer began translating stories from an Edo period collection called Shokoku hyakumonogatari (“100 Tales from Various Provinces”) which he continues this month (and presumably next year.)
Some accounts are frightening, some… less so. An interesting aspect is that they appear to have been written down without author embellishment, so expected details may be missing. They have an almost “dispatches from the paranormal front” feel.
2021's entries revolved around a Little Mermaid story from Hakoiri musume menya ningyo published in 1791 (half a century before Hans Christen Anderson’s tale.)
2020 featured infectious yokai (naturally) from an Edo Period medicine book called Harikikigaki.
2019 drew from the Ino mononoke roku, a collection of stories about bizarre occurrences which took place at the Ino house in Miyoshi, Hiroshima, in July of 1749. (Sort of The Amityville Horror of Edo Japan.)
The earlier editions don’t have indices, so the links are to the October 1st entry. In 2011 the AYAD posts were for Kickstarter backers. They all end up on Yokai.com†, the online encyclopedia of yokai he’s maintained since 2013.
You can follow on social media (including Fedi) with the hastag #AYokaiADay
*He's currently nursing an injured arm, so sometimes his wife provides the illustration.
†Yokai.com was mentioned below the fold previously.
Starting last year, Meyer began translating stories from an Edo period collection called Shokoku hyakumonogatari (“100 Tales from Various Provinces”) which he continues this month (and presumably next year.)
Some accounts are frightening, some… less so. An interesting aspect is that they appear to have been written down without author embellishment, so expected details may be missing. They have an almost “dispatches from the paranormal front” feel.
2021's entries revolved around a Little Mermaid story from Hakoiri musume menya ningyo published in 1791 (half a century before Hans Christen Anderson’s tale.)
2020 featured infectious yokai (naturally) from an Edo Period medicine book called Harikikigaki.
2019 drew from the Ino mononoke roku, a collection of stories about bizarre occurrences which took place at the Ino house in Miyoshi, Hiroshima, in July of 1749. (Sort of The Amityville Horror of Edo Japan.)
The earlier editions don’t have indices, so the links are to the October 1st entry. In 2011 the AYAD posts were for Kickstarter backers. They all end up on Yokai.com†, the online encyclopedia of yokai he’s maintained since 2013.
You can follow on social media (including Fedi) with the hastag #AYokaiADay
*He's currently nursing an injured arm, so sometimes his wife provides the illustration.
†Yokai.com was mentioned below the fold previously.
Needs a SpookySeason tag!
posted by hippybear at 12:35 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 12:35 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Coincidentally, I just finished reading Tono Monogatari, a manga retelling of spooky yokai tales from Tono. Highly recommend it if you are into the genre. There's a lot of detail, background info, and faithfulness to the source material, while also being funny and outlandish in typical manga style. (Warning: many of the tales are brutal, including wanton violence and violence towards women).
posted by splitpeasoup at 2:52 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by splitpeasoup at 2:52 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:20 AM on October 18, 2023