Kunio Yanagita, a scholar and folklorist who has been called the father of Japanese folklore studies, was born in this town of 20,000 people. The town has striking statues of Yokai ( supernatural ...

In ancient Japan, that uncanny "something" was thought to be "yokai," ghouls and hobgoblins lurking in dark and hidden places. In this bright age of digital technology, we now have a "Dr. Yokai ...

In this episode of YOKAI: Exploring Japanese Folklore, we track down the legend of the ferocious Ushioni, a Yokai with the hulking body of a bull and an ogre-like face. In certain regions of Ehime ...

Long before the supernatural mermaid-like “yokai” shot to fame, however, a U.S.-born illustrator living here started introducing Japanese ghouls and hobgoblins to the world while providing ...

The Yokai Ubume was said to be a ghostly woman appearing at night, asking passersby to hold her child under threat of death. We examine how this terrifying figure came to be seen as a sympathetic one.