AltJapan

Creature Feature

Calling all monster hunters: I penned this Freaky Field Guide to Tokyo's Top 10 Mythical Beasts, which features lavish color illustrations by the talented Chip Boles.

Rather than yokai, it focuses on legendary animals -- the sorts of things you're likely to see adorning shrines and temples, or described in the pages of ancient scholarly texts. Ever wonder what that cavalcade of creatures sculpted around the roof of your local Buddhist temple is all about? Now's your chance to find out.

From favorites like the Beckoning Cat and the Kirin to more obscure specimens like Gama Sennin's three-legged toad, it's a complete guide for creature watching in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. (For reals! There are even instructions for where to find them.)

Kappa vs. Toad

A kappa wrestles a toad atop a pumpkin in this netsuke Hiroko and I found several years back. Provenance unknown. The faces look startlingly modern-anime-esque, but then again, Japanese artists have been toying with the building blocks of "kawaii" design for centuries.

Tenguspotting

Mount Takao, an hour west of Tokyo by train, is one of the city's favorite getaways. It also happens to be the stomping grounds of a yokai known as the Tengu -- mountain goblins from folklore. Don't believe me? Look at how many we spotted up there this weekend!

Tengu come in two distinct "species" -- the Karasu-, or Raven-Tengu, and the Hanadaka-, or Longnose Tengu. Check the faces and you'll see what I mean.

Yokai Etiquette

"Applying makeup on the train!? It's enough to scare a yokai!"

Now here's a train-etiquette sign that would only make sense to Japanese commuters (or someone who's read Yokai Attack!) A nopperabo ("faceless one") puts on her makeup as other yokai look on, including a One-Eyed Boy, a Kappa, a Snake-Necked Woman, and a haunted umbrella.

Personally, I've never had a big problem with people (or monsters) applying makeup on the train, but maybe that's because I almost never have to commute during rush hour.

Das Foot

Close encounter of the five-toed kind: an "Ashiarai Yashiki" resin figure, sculpted and cast in holiday hues by my pal Servbot30!

Inspired by Yokai Attack, this has to be the world's first and only "action figure" based on the creature. It's a massive disembodied foot that crashes through ceilings demanding to be washed -- a terror of the Edo period. (Wash it and it leaves; ignore it and it goes on a unipedal rampage through your living room.) 

Serv says he's hard at work on other yokai, so stay tuned...

'Sup

Hi there.

Here's an article I wrote about eating fugu for CNNgo. I've also sorta taken over the Snack Nation column there, so tune in for some refreshment.

Remember our pet kabuto-mushi? He's now safe and sound on a tree near the peak of Mt. Takao, where we released him last weekend.

We just found out this morning that Yokai Attack is going into a sixth printing, thanks to all of your support. The sequel, Ninja Attack, is due out in America next month -- we'll be throwing some shuriken of info your way when we get closer to the release date.

And: despite being written entirely in English, Ninja Attack has been getting some great press in Japan, where people remain astounded at the overseas popularity of this otherwise rather obscure aspect of their culture. RocketNews24 interviewed us the other day, and if you understand Japanese you can tune in to a segment I recorded with Tomohiro Machiyama for the TBS radio show Kira Kira. ("Many Americans think ninja can disappear and blow fire from their mouths," gravely explained Machiyama by way of introduction.)

Jidaigeki Agitators

  

Big news, people: Hiroko and I have been working with Kodansha International on a top-secret sequel to Yokai Attack! This time we took a detour from fantasy into history, and the result is "Ninja Attack! True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws." It is on sale now at bookstores all over the world! Ninja Attack chronicles the totally real-life adventures of the bad-asses who made ninja a household name -- and how they changed pop culture around the world.

The idea behind Ninja Attack started from a simple question: Japan didn't invent the concept of assassins or espionage. So why are ninja the poster children for clandestine behavior around the world today? We uncovered a wealth of stories and vintage art that helps explain why. It's a collection of true tales of the men and women "behind the mask." 

Featuring all-new illustrations by the talented manga artist Yutaka Kondo, who was a consultant on the Ninja Scroll anime series, it covers more than a thousand years of Japanese history. Although it's anchored firmly in fact, fans of ninja in fiction will find it a tantalizing guide to the true stories behind some of their favorite characters, from Hattori Hanzo to Ishikawa Goemon to Yagyu Jubei and more.

It also delves deep into the history of ninja in pop culture, such as Jiraiya, Sarutobi Sasuke, and Kirigakure Saizo -- all of whom live on today in modern fare such as "Naruto." And a book-within-a-book explores their tools, weapons, tactics, places they lived, and more. It is a one-stop guide to ninja legend and lore.

Order it at Amazon.co.jp, Amazon USA, or your favorite bookstore today! It's everything you wanted to know about ninja... but were afraid you'd get a shuriken in the eye if you asked!

Flat Horror

I found this set of vintage (early-mid Seventies?) punch-out paper dolls in a Shimokitazawa toy shop last week. The amazingly grotesque cover-art features what appears to be Oiwa-san on the front and a kappa, kara-kasa, and hitotsume-kozo kicking it with a skeleton on the reverse. Called "yako obake," or "glow ghouls," the really scary thing is that they still retain their luminescence after all these years, making me wonder exactly what the hell the manufacturer used (Radioactive isotopes? Photonic energy? Crushed-up human souls?)

Unfortunately, only three cards plus the display monster remained in the set. The one on the left is a ningyo, or Japanese mermaid; the Son-of-Godzilla-esque fellow on the right is a generic monster. The others in the pack were your average skeletons. The cover says there are 30 variations total, and now I've "gotta get 'em all."

Killer Tofu & Testicles of Terror

Time to go to monster school, people.

Hiroko and I get the Last Word in this month's issue of Metropolis magazine! The illustration is by the talented Chip Boles, whose online portfolio is worth a visit too. (His tokusatsu-esque Himeji Joe vs Tako-Yaki cracks me up every time.)

Yokai Attack San Francisco!

On All Hallow's Eve (afternoon, actually), I will be giving a presentation about yokai at the New People Center in San Francisco's Japantown. The fun begins at 1:00pm on October 31st and admission is totally free! A gallery of legendary Eighteenth century woodblock prints by Katsushika Hokusai and artwork by the manga master Shigeru Mizuki will be on display, and of course, copies of Yokai Attack will be available as well. Check out the New People site for more details -- and see you there!