Books of Interest

Tales of Fantasy and Fact by Brander Matthews Books for Libraries Press Freeport, New York, 1969. ISBN: 8369-3160-2 (Out of Print)

Japanese Ghosts and Demons edited by Stephen Addiss George Braziler. Inc, New York, 2005 ISBN: 0-8076-1126-3

Tales of the Supernatural in Early Modern Japan: Kaidan, Akinari, Ugetsu Monogatari by Noriko T. Reider The Edwin Mellen Press, New York, 2002 ISBN: 0-7734-7095-6

Japanese Tales Edited and Translated by Royall Tyler Pantheon Books, New York, 1987 ISBN: 0-375-71451-0

Handbook of Japanese Mythology by Michael Ashkenazi Oxford University Press, Oxford New York, 2003. ISBN: 978-0-19-533262-9

Religions of Japan in Practice Edited by George J. Tanabe Jr. Princeton University Press, New Jersey. ISBN: 0-691-05789-3

A Reader's Guide to Japanese Literature Edited by J. Thomas Rimer Kodansha International, Tokyo. 1999 ISBN:4-7700-2359-6

Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en Translated by W.J.F. Jenner Foreign Language Press. Beijing China. 1993. ISBN: 7-119-01663-6

Manga

Higurashi: When they Cry. Volume 1 and 2 Ryukishi07. Yen Press. 2009. ISBNS: 978-0-7595-2984-7, 978-0-7595-2983-0

Tokyo Babylon. CLAMP. Volume 1. Tokyo Pop. 1991. ISBN: 1591828716

Saiyuki. Kazuya Minekura. Volume 1. Tokyo Pop. 2004. ISBN: 978-1-59182-651-4

Azumanga Diaoh. Kiyohiko Azuma. Volume 1. ADV. 2000. ISBN: 1-41-390000-3

Vampire Princess Miyu. Toshiki Hirano and Narumi Kakinouchi. Volume 1. Iron Cat. ISBN: 1-929090-16-1 (Out of Print)

xxxHolic. CLAMP. Volume 1. DelRey. New York. 2004. ISBN: 0-345-47058-3

Lament of the Lamb. Kei Toume. Volume 1. Tokyo Pop. 2004. ISBN: 1591828149

Descendents of Darkness. Yoko Matsushita. Volumes 10-11. Vizmedia. 2006. ISBNs: 978-1-4215-0321-9 and 978-1-4215-0536-7

Paper News

Research will be up and there will be new updates to this page coming your way, this means yes, I will be adding more stuff including something from a series that I should have used before. Mushi-shi will be added to the research part of written texts. I would like to tell people who are visiting that yes, the new research stuff will be added as soon as possible, but I will be currently looking at new books and also working on finding out more about future texts to be used.

Anime and manga groups will be added to it as well, anyone in the field that I am studying, please contact me if that is possible.

Rough draft of the research paper will be up and running at NDK in September and I will be showing some of it to a private group, you have to ask if you want to see it.

Conventions and Panels

NDK: All issues with the panel was worked out and I will be working at NDK as well as doing my research for my book.

Gemucon: The new store is in Old Littleton

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Introduction

Like anyone who has ever sat through an anime, people think, how do the Japanese come up with such strange ideas? Well...the culture itself has an amazing collection of history and mythology that has linked itself in such a strange manner.

Anime is no exception to the rule about the use of the stories, if people will see anime like Sailor Moon, xxxHolic, Tokyo Babylon, X/1999, Lament of the Lamb, Higurashi and so on you will hear the stories. They are told in different manners and some of the greatest series will show you the stories that have ever existed.

When I read about it now, I thought about how silly I was and that Japanese culture was something that I had no interest in until I started to read more into it. Stories like xxxholic and Higurashi took me into a dark side of anime and story telling. I became more interested in trying to make a sort of contribution to the Western World by going to Japan someday to collect the stories of the East and give the stories new life. No to mention try and consider what is going on in the world in a manner that is way beyond the Western thought.

The Anime and Stories

Anime is of course my favorite topic, but that is far from what I am researching, the dark side of mythology is the ghost stories. In Japan, Ghost stories are sort of warnings about what might happen if certain things are ignored and people tread in a manner that could cause lack of balance.

When it comes to seeing Japanese mythology in action, Inuyasha is one of the largest contributions. The story about a hanyu, Inuyasha and his friends who try to find shards of a crystal and meet demons of all sorts. You have the Thunder Brothers, the Tengu (Birds of Paradise), Saiyuki (not the anime) characters like the pig coming out, and even the festivals are covered. I would not say it is the greatest storywise, but its contributions are that people are now aware of the stories tied.

One story that comes up is the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, where an old man finds a little baby in the bamboo and because of his kindness is rewarded. He raises this child as if she was his own and then becomes a rich owner of land. He even starts to be asked if he wants to marry his daughter off, which she gives men various tasks, those that even cause some to die or disappear. Then the Emperor hears of her beauty and pursues her, she tells him as much as she would like to come and live in his palace, she cannot. She has to return to the land of the Moon, and one night she disappears with the people of the sky and never seen again.(Rendering from Japanese Tales please see books in use)

This is a famous story, in fact many animes have different renderings of the story. Sailor Moon S movie has her as a villain who comes to Earth to turn it to ice, while in Inuyasha, she is trapped inside a mirror. There are many other anime that has this story in it, so don't think that these are the only two. D.N.Angel has the same rendering in some sense, so you have a whole list still to use.

Chinese Influenced

There are stories that were later brought into the culture and passed on for centuries, one being Journey to the West, it was entitled Saiyuki. Unlike many of the other stories, this was a treasure of China, and Japan built off it in many different animes, two of the most famous are: Dragon Ball and Saiyuki. These are considered some of the most popular, even though in some cases, people who sit through Dragon Ball don't know that it is the story of Son Goku, the monkey and the priest going to the west to bring the Buddhist teachings to the East.

The audiences in the United States think it is just an action movie, but in some cases it is the story of how China learned about Buddhism from travelling missionaries who came into the area. Japan had gotten the story as missionaries who practiced Chan, translated to Zen Buddhism who were able to influence a whole group.

Japanese Ghost Stories: Kadian

I highly recommend that some people when doing the research have a good long look at what is constituted in Ghost Stories of Asia. Japanese Ghost Stories can come off to some people being a little cheesy or just a little weird, there are points where demons in the United States are viewed almost differently.

Anime like xxxholic and Higurashi have a lot to do with the Kadian tradition of ghost stories, these are stories that make almost seem like chillers at time. People like R.L. Stine or other horror writers of young adult could have taken a sort of look at these stories and built off, but these are not the case at times. The stories just plainly come from the rural areas or even inner cities.

There is a saying, "You never play hide and seek after dark, even in Edo, if you do, the demons will take you away," this was something said by even the strongest of Samurai, and many people found there was a sense of fact to it. There were strange disappearances that happened in Japan even today in the remote villages that are not explainable at times, the term, "Demoned Away" is what happened. Sometimes the body parts are found, while other times the heads are gone utterly, not even many people know what the means because of the terms that villagers use are not the same as the ones used by city people.

In the modern times, you don't hear the words "Demoned Away" very much or even the warnings that were given by even the most senior of people in Japan anymore. There is a sense that some of the people are beginning to forget the demons or spirits. Though in rural villages they are still enforced or sort of being reminded to some of the younger crowds.

There is are also the experiences of some of the tourists who have gone to Japan and have come back completely unsure of whether or not they believe in ghosts. One lady I spoke with who spent some time in Japan, became convinced that she was haunted by a Japanese Samurai after bringing home something from the home. At first I passed this off as just another part of the story, but then I realized that if you can't explain some things, then you shouldn't judge so harshly.

Religious Notes

Japan is known for a couple of religions, one being brought into the country by Chinese missionaries, and the other embraced by the locals of the time. The first is Shinto, one that has been around the longest in some sense in the culture. Though embraced in many ways that has been the state religion up from 1860s during the Bakumatsu reformation period.

Buddhism came to Japan through trade and missionaries from China, the sect of Chan also known as Zen became much more popular as many religous practices were embraced. The culture accepted and some of the practices including some Taoism was adopted into the Samurai culture. This was a philosophical following much more than a religious one.

Definitions

Tengu: Flying mountain demons, sometimes though they are also on the ground, this is a Shinto term

Kami: Gods and Goddesses of Japan, these are sometimes very powerful, sometimes angering them is not recommended and some people want even foriegners to respect the wishes of the Kami.

Oni: This term did not appear in the Japanese wording until the Buddhists came to Japan, this actually is for the Hungry Ghosts of China or even Buddhists from India. These are ghosts who have unfinished business or could not pass through to the after life well. (Sometimes even mentioned in Taoism)

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