Download or read book Hokusai written by Giuseppe Lantazi and published by Laurence King Publishing. This book was released on 2021-06 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Latest title in the "Graphic Lives" series

Download or read book The Book of Yokai written by Michael Dylan Foster and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2015-01-14 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monsters, ghosts, fantastic beings, and supernatural phenomena of all sorts haunt the folklore and popular culture of Japan. Broadly labeled yokai, these creatures come in infinite shapes and sizes, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water spirits to shape-shifting foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Currently popular in anime, manga, film, and computer games, many yokai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories. Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, readers will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries, some with original illustrations, on more than fifty individual creatures. The Book of Yokai provides a lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture. It also invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them. By exploring yokai as a concept, we can better understand broader processes of tradition, innovation, storytelling, and individual and communal creativity. Ê

Download or read book Japandemonium Illustrated written by Toriyama Sekien and published by Courier Dover Publications. This book was released on 2017-01-18 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japanese folklore abounds with bizarre creatures collectively referred to as the yokai ― the ancestors of the monsters populating Japanese film, literature, manga, and anime. Artist Toriyama Sekien (1712–88) was the first to compile illustrated encyclopedias detailing the appearances and habits of these creepy-crawlies from myth and folklore. Ever since their debut over two centuries ago, the encyclopedias have inspired generations of Japanese artists. Japandemonium Illustrated represents the very first time they have ever been available in English. This historically groundbreaking compilation includes complete translations of all four of Sekien's yokai masterworks: the 1776 Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (The Illustrated Demon Horde's Night Parade), the 1779 Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (The Illustrated Demon Horde from Past and Present, Continued), the 1781 Konjaku Hyakki Shū (More of the Demon Horde from Past and Present), and the 1784 Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro (A Horde of Haunted Housewares). The collection is complemented by a detailed introduction and helpful annotations for modern-day readers.

Download or read book Onibi Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter written by Cecile Brun and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Winner Japan International Manga Award* *Honorable Mention for 2018 Freeman Book Awards for Children's and Young Adult's Literature on East and Southeast Asia* *Short-listed for the 2019 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics* Part fantasy, part travelogue--this graphic novel transports readers to the intersection of the natural and supernatural worlds. Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter follows the adventures of two young foreigners as they travel to a remote and mysterious corner of Japan. Along the way, they purchase an old camera that has the unique ability to capture images of Japan's invisible spirit world. Armed with their magical camera, they explore the countryside and meet people who tell them about the forgotten ghosts, ghouls and demons who lie in wait ready to play tricks on them. These Yokai, or supernatural beings, are sometimes kind, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes downright dangerous! Readers young and old will enjoy following along on this journey of mystery and discovery. The comic book format will appeal to anime and manga fans, while introducing the ancient spirit world that is such an important part of Japanese culture. With the help of Atelier Sento's gorgeous watercolor and colored pencil artwork, you can't help but feel immersed in this fantasy.

Download or read book written by 梶谷亮治 and published by Pie Books. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of imaginative (and even humorous) illustrations of hell and other underworld realms in Japanese art works. A great reference for artists and illustrators.

Download or read book Cats in Ukiyo E written by Pie Books and published by Pie. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a collection of the work of Kuniyoshi's works that feature cats.

Download or read book In Ghostly Japan written by Lafcadio Hearn and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book 101 Great Samurai Prints written by Utagawa Kuniyoshi and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-09-21 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kuniyoshi was a master of the warrior woodblock print — and these 18th-century illustrations represent the pinnacle of his craft. Full-color portraits of renowned Japanese samurais pulse with movement, passion, and remarkably fine detail.

Download or read book Japanese Demon Lore written by Noriko T. Reider and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oni, ubiquitous supernatural figures in Japanese literature, lore, art, and religion, usually appear as demons or ogres. Characteristically threatening, monstrous creatures with ugly features and fearful habits, including cannibalism, they also can be harbingers of prosperity, beautiful and sexual, and especially in modern contexts, even cute and lovable. There has been much ambiguity in their character and identity over their long history. Usually male, their female manifestations convey distinctivly gendered social and cultural meanings. Oni appear frequently in various arts and media, from Noh theater and picture scrolls to modern fiction and political propaganda, They remain common figures in popular Japanese anime, manga, and film and are becoming embedded in American and international popular culture through such media. Noriko Reiderýs book is the first in English devoted to oni. Reider fully examines their cultural history, multifaceted roles, and complex significance as "others" to the Japanese.

Download or read book Pure Invention written by Matt Alt and published by Crown. This book was released on 2020-06-23 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of how Japan became a cultural superpower through the fantastic inventions that captured—and transformed—the world’s imagination. “A masterful book driven by deep research, new insights, and powerful storytelling.”—W. David Marx, author of Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style Japan is the forge of the world’s fantasies: karaoke and the Walkman, manga and anime, Pac-Man and Pokémon, online imageboards and emojis. But as Japan media veteran Matt Alt proves in this brilliant investigation, these novelties did more than entertain. They paved the way for our perplexing modern lives. In the 1970s and ’80s, Japan seemed to exist in some near future, gliding on the superior technology of Sony and Toyota. Then a catastrophic 1990 stock-market crash ushered in the “lost decades” of deep recession and social dysfunction. The end of the boom should have plunged Japan into irrelevance, but that’s precisely when its cultural clout soared—when, once again, Japan got to the future a little ahead of the rest of us. Hello Kitty, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and multimedia empires like Dragon Ball Z were more than marketing hits. Artfully packaged, dangerously cute, and dizzyingly fun, these products gave us new tools for coping with trying times. They also transformed us as we consumed them—connecting as well as isolating us in new ways, opening vistas of imagination and pathways to revolution. Through the stories of an indelible group of artists, geniuses, and oddballs, Pure Invention reveals how Japan’s pop-media complex remade global culture.

Download or read book Owl and the Japanese Circus written by Kristi Charish and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-01-13 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first in an exciting series featuring the unforgettable antiquities thief Owl—a modern-day “Indiana Jane” who reluctantly navigates the hidden supernatural world—from the pen of rising urban fantasy star Kristi Charish (The Kincaid Strange series). For fans of Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Jennifer Estep, Jenn Bennett, and the like. Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief, Alix—better known now as Owl—has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen three thousand years ago, and makes her an offer she can’t refuse: he’ll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. A dragon is about the only entity on the planet that can deliver on Owl’s vampire problem—and let’s face it, dragons are known to eat the odd thief. Owl retraces the steps of Mr. Kurosawa’s ancient thief from Japan to Bali with the help of her best friend, Nadya, and an attractive mercenary. As it turns out though, finding the scroll is the least of her worries. When she figures out one of Mr. Kurosawa’s trusted advisors is orchestrating a plan to use a weapon powerful enough to wipe out a city, things go to hell in a hand basket fast…and Owl has to pick sides.

Download or read book Japanese Fairy Tales written by Yei Theodora Ozaki and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of Japanese fairy tales is the outcome of a suggestion made to me indirectly through a friend by Mr. Andrew Lang. They have been translated from the modern version written by Sadanami Sanjin. These stories are not literal translations, and though the Japanese story and all quaint Japanese expressions have been faithfully preserved, they have been told more with the view to interest young readers of the West than the technical student of folk-lore.... In telling these stories in English I have followed my fancy in adding such touches of local color or description as they seemed to need or as pleased me, and in one or two instances I have gathered in an incident from another version. At all times, among my friends, both young and old, English or American, I have always found eager listeners to the beautiful legends and fairy tales of Japan, and in telling them I have also found that they were still unknown to the vast majority...

Download or read book written by 金子信久 and published by Pie Books. This book was released on 2015-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 江戸の絵草紙屋にタイムスリップ。眺めて飾って細部を味わう60枚 絵草紙屋の店先で気に入った絵を選ぶように、1枚の絵をB5判の1ページ大で楽しむ趣向の「めでる国芳ブック」シリーズ。 第1弾の猫は、味わい深い美人画の猫、代表作の猫の当字、役者の似顔絵ほか、猫を描いためずらしい絵も収録。 「猫は、いわば人の掌の上で生きている小さな動物。人は、その掌の上の動物と、対等にやり合ったり、ときには下に敷かれたりしながら、この仲間との関係に喜びを感じるのである。猫のプライドの高さを味わい、時折みせるへまを、彼らのプライドを傷つけないよう口を塞ぎながら笑う。そして、そんな人と猫の独特の関係を絵の中でも堪能することこそ、国芳の描いた猫の味わい方だし、それこそが、国芳という画家と猫との関係を読み取ることでもあるだろう」。(本文より)

Download or read book Shots in the Dark written by Shoji Yamada and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-06-24 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the years after World War II, Westerners and Japanese alike elevated Zen to the quintessence of spirituality in Japan. Pursuing the sources of Zen as a Japanese ideal, Shoji Yamada uncovers the surprising role of two cultural touchstones: Eugen Herrigel’s Zen in the Art of Archery and the Ryoanji dry-landscape rock garden. Yamada shows how both became facile conduits for exporting and importing Japanese culture. First published in German in 1948 and translated into Japanese in 1956, Herrigel’s book popularized ideas of Zen both in the West and in Japan. Yamada traces the prewar history of Japanese archery, reveals how Herrigel mistakenly came to understand it as a traditional practice, and explains why the Japanese themselves embraced his interpretation as spiritual discipline. Turning to Ryoanji, Yamada argues that this epitome of Zen in fact bears little relation to Buddhism and is best understood in relation to Chinese myth. For much of its modern history, Ryoanji was a weedy, neglected plot; only after its allegorical role in a 1949 Ozu film was it popularly linked to Zen. Westerners have had a part in redefining Ryoanji, but as in the case of archery, Yamada’s interest is primarily in how the Japanese themselves have invested this cultural site with new value through a spurious association with Zen.

Download or read book Tales of Japan written by Chronicle Books and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2019-06-18 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A goblin with no body and a monster with no face. A resourceful samurai and a faithful daughter. A spirit of the moon and a dragon king. This collection of 15 traditional Japanese folktales transports readers to a time of adventure and enchantment. Drawn from the works of folklorists Lafcadio Hearn and Yei Theodora Ozaki, these tales are by turns terrifying, exhilarating, and poetic. • Striking illustrations by contemporary Japanese artist Kotaro Chiba • Special gift edition features an embossed, textured case with metallic gold ink, and a satin ribbon page marker • Part of the popular Tales series, featuring Nordic Tales, Celtic Tales, Tales of India, and Tales of East Africa Fans of Ghostly Tales, and Japanese Notebooks will love this book. This book is ideal for: • Fans of fairytales, folklore, ghost stories, Greek mythology, roman mythology, Chinese mythology, and Celtic mythology • Anyone interested in Japan's history books and culture studies • People of Japanese heritage • Collectors of illustrated classics

Download or read book Japan Supernatural written by Melanie Eastburn and published by Art Gallery of New South Wales. This book was released on 2020-01-30 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the pioneering work of eighteenth-century painter Toriyama Sekien to contemporary superstar Takashi Murakami, Japan Supernatural presents wildly imaginative works by Japanese artists past and present and takes readers on a journey of discovery through the astonishing array of yōkai culture and yūrei (ghosts)--phenomenal beings from fiendish goblins to mischievous shapeshifters--that have inhabited Japanese culture for centuries. Once a means of explaining the unexplainable, they have been kept alive in stories and artworks. Evolving into a form of entertainment ranging from horror to the comical, they have maintained an ongoing presence in Japanese novels, films, anime, manga, and games. Drawn from around the world, the artworks illustrated in Japan Supernatural date from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century and include fantastically detailed ukiyo-e woodblock prints, miniature netsuke, wall-sized scrolls, and large-scale contemporary photographs, paintings, and installations. Some of the greatest Japanese artists of the past, including Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and Kawanabe Kyosai, are featured alongside contemporary artists such as Chiho Aoshima, Miwa Yanagi, and Takahashi Murakami, who update the tradition for the present.

Download or read book The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons written by Matthew Meyer and published by . This book was released on 2015-03-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the mists of prehistory to the present day, Japan has always had stories of fantastic monsters. There are women with extra mouths in the backs of their heads, water goblins whose favorite food is inside the human anus, elephant-dragons which feed solely on bad dreams, baby zombies, talking foxes, fire-breathing chickens, animated blobs of rotten flesh that run about the streets at night, and the dreaded "hyakki yagyo" "the night parade of one hundred demons"-when all of the yokai leave their homes and parade through the streets of Japan in one massive spectacle of utter pandemonium. What are yokai? Put simply, they are supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore. The word in Japanese is a combination of "yo," meaning "bewitching," and "kai," meaning "strange." The term encompasses monsters, demons, gods ("kami"), ghosts ("bakemono"), magical animals, transformed humans, urban legends, and other strange phenomena. It is a broad and vague term. Nothing exists in the English language that quite does the trick of capturing the essence of yokai. This field guide contains over 100 illustrated entries covering a wide variety of Japanese yokai. Each yokai is described in detail-including its habitat, diet, origin, and legends-based on translations from centuries-old Japanese texts. This book was first funded on Kickstarter in 2011 and then revised in 2015.