Thanks for reading A-Yokai-A-Day, Pandemic Edition. 2020 has been a rough year, but at least we live in an age where we know more about diseases and cures than ever before. Let’s be glad we are not treating COVID-19 with … Continue reading →
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A-Yokai-A-Day 2020 Lineup
Thanks for reading A-Yokai-A-Day, Pandemic Edition. 2020 has been a rough year, but at least we live in an age where we know more about diseases and cures…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Kanmushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Munemushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Kanshaku
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Shinshaku
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume
October is here, and you know what that means. A-Yokai-A-Day is upon us! Every day of the month, in celebration of Halloween, I will be painting and posting…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume
October is here, and you know what that means. A-Yokai-A-Day is upon us! Every day of the month, in celebration of Halloween, I will be painting and posting…
Coming Soon: A-Yokai-A-Day 2023!
Hello readers and yokai lovers! It's been nearly a year since I've posted here, as I've been more active on various social media sites, Patreon, and yokai.com these…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Shōni no mushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Shōni no mushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Ase no mushi
If you’d like to join me and many others in painting a yokai a day this month, all you have to do is paint, draw, or create any…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 21)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today we start the third and final volume of Hakoiri musume menya ningyo. And the mermaid starts a new…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 26)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Wealth and comfort seem to suit our mermaid well. Here she is looking as cool and composed as ever.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 10)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Page 10 of Hakoiri musume is a strange one because it contains a mini-story that seems to have little…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 22)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today Heiji comes up with a plan to make money (with the mermaid’s help, of course). From the two-page…
A-Yokai-A-Day 2022 Index: Shokoku hyakumonogatari
Thanks to everyone for reading 2022’s A-Yokai-A-Day selections from Shokoku hyakumonogatari! If you missed a day, or want to go back and read it again, here is an…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 16)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s page features another two-spread illustration which shows a large scene in Denzō’s brothel. Business seems to be doing…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 5)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Pages 4 and 5 are depicted below. The illustration shows Urashima Tarō and Orino flirting in an expensive, private,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 11)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today we officially crack open part 2 of Hakoiri musume. Kibyōshi are often split into 3 or more volumes…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 3)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s post is page 3 of Hakoiri musume. The illustration on pages 2 and 3 forms a double page…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 13)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s page is very silly, but without a bit of explanation it makes very little sense. Everything that happens…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 2)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. As I explained earlier, I will be presenting Hakoiri musume menya ningyo one page at a time. However, some…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 18)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s illustration is another double page spread, showing the street during Uondo’s debut as an oiran. Onlookers peek out…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 6)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Like yesterday’s page, today’s page is full of absurdities. Kyōden’s hyperbolic metaphors for the depth of love between man…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 12)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. If this were a Disney story, you’d expect there to be a song by now. Well, in this scene,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 19)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. We’ve already seen Santō Kyōden break the fourth wall a couple of times and address the readers directly. He…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 8)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. This is where our story changes timelines. Everything we’ve read so far has merely been backstory—the main character’s origin…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 1)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Hakoiri musume menya ningyo begins with a single-page foreword by the publisher–or so the author would have us believe.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 2)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. As I explained earlier, I will be presenting Hakoiri musume menya ningyo one page at a time. However, some…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 9)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Page 9 of Hakoiri musume shares a double-page spread with page 8. We see Heiji on his boat in…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 20)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. A courtesan’s debut was a very big and costly event. Girls were expected to buy their dresses, beds, etc.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 1)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Hakoiri musume menya ningyo begins with a single-page foreword by the publisher–or so the author would have us believe.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 23)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. It looks like Heiji’s plan is beginning to pay off. People are willing to pay dearly for a chance…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 17)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. One of the cool things about these kind of old books is that they have a rudimentary form of…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 24)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. It seems like Heiji’s scheme was a success! So successful, in fact, that is spawned copycat businesses. Today we’ll…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 29)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. If you thought the story couldn’t get any weirder after yesterday’s scene, you might be surprised by today’s page.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri Musume (page 4)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Pages 4 and 5 of Hakoiri musume are presented with a two-page spread illustration, so I am sharing both…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 14)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Pages 14 and 15 share a double page illustration. The whole spread is posted below. Notice the byōbu in…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 27)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. It seems that Heiji and the mermaid have become rich and successful, but surely you knew the story wouldn’t…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 7)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. If there is anyone left who doesn’t yet think that Urashima Tarō is a jerk for cheating on Otohime…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 15)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today our little mermaid does the unthinkable! She signs a contract and joins a brothel. Hopefully her new owner…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 25)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Today’s page answers yesterday’s question about whether cheap knock-off mermaid licks are as good as the real thing. Heiji…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 30)
If you’ve enjoyed this year’s A-Yokai-A-Day, please support me Patreon and get stories like this all year round! Happy Halloween! All good things must come to an end,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Hakoiri musume (page 28)
If you enjoy A-Yokai-A-Day, please consider joining my Patreon. Just when all seems lost for baby-Heiji and the mermaid, a familiar pair of faces show up to save…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Katawaguruma of Higashinotōin, Kyōto
Tonight's story is about a katawaguruma, although the original illustration found in Shokoku hyakumonogatari more closely resembles a wanyūdō. It just goes to show that the names and…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bōrei of Tsuruga Province
Today I am in Kyoto attending the Mononoke Ichi flea market and hyakki yagyo night parade. It's been 3 years since the last time this event took place…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Samurai’s Shiryō from Sendai
The creature in tonight's story is referred to as a shiryō. This is essentially identical to the term bōrei, which we've seen several times so far this month.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono in the Outhouse
Tonight's story is very short and, if I'm being honest, doesn't translate too well into English. In Japanese, the language is creepy and evocative, but translated into English…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Nekomata of Echigo Province
Animal yōkai are always popular with readers, both abroad and in Japan. I found that with the reaction to my latest book, The Fox's Wedding! Tonight's story is…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Yūrei of the Kirishitans
Tonight's yokai is a yūrei, or simply, a ghost. There are lots of ways to say "ghost" in Japanese. Yūrei literally means "faint spirit," and it is used…