Today's story is somewhat rare in that it is a morality tale. With a few exceptions (like Dōchin's lesson about pride), most of the stories in Shokoku hyakumonogatari read like news reports, simply explaining what happened without commentary or justification for why something happens. Like Matsuura Iyo's bakemono, or the henge that killed Itagaki Saburō,
Oct 5, 2022 • Subscribe
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A-Yokai-A-Day: How the Mistress of a Certain Man in Kii Province Died and Obsession Brought Her Back
Tonight's yokai is another ghost. However, while yesterday's was described as a yūrei due to being faint and eerie, this one is much more violent. The story never…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Rokutan no Genshichi Saved an Adulterous Woman
While yesterday's story was quite Halloween-ish and creepy, today's is a bit more amusing. It still has plenty of creepy elements though. Since Shokoku hyakumonogatari is written as…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Shōni no mushi
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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: How a Tsuchigumo Turned into a Woman in Kaga
Tonight's yōkai is a tsuchigumo: an interesting term with a lot of history. Literally it means "earth spider," and they are depicted in scroll paintings as gigantic monster…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Kurita Genpachi Slew a Bakemono
As I mentioned, the Mononoke Ichi yokai market and hyakki yagyo night parade was yesterday in Kyoto. This was the first night parade since the covid pandemic, and…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Hashii Yasaburō Ferried a Ghost
Tonight's story is one of my favorites in Shokoku hyakumonogatari. Something about the ghost being upside-down is so creepy and visually striking. Not only that, it's part love…
A-Yokai-A-Day: Watanabe Shingorō’s Daughter and Her Affection for a Chigo in Wakamiya
Tonight's story is another one dealing with attachment. And once again, snakes are used as a symbol for that attachment. One term that might be unfamiliar to some…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How the Obsession in Love Letters Became an Oni
Tonight's story features another oni and another chigo. The chigo here is presented as a sex symbol, the embodiment of the ideal male youth. The oni is born…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Killing Turned a Man’s Hair White
Tonight's story may seem a bit weird to Western readers with its focus on "killing." What may seem to some as simple hunting or fishing, whether for fun…
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: 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: Kanmushi
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A-Yokai-A-Day: Kanshaku
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A-Yokai-A-Day: How A Wager Led to a Child’s Decapitation
With only three stories left in this year's A-Yokai-A-Day, it's time for me to plug my Patreon again. If you like these stories and illustrations, I do this…
Chainsaw Man (Volume 7) – In a Dream
After the nasty business with Reze, Makima is keen to take a vacation and she’s inviting Aki, Denji, and Power. Unfortunately, almost as soon as she told them,…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Itagaki Saburō Was Killed by a Henge in Suruga Province
Hello yokai lovers! It's that time of the year again: A-Yokai-A-Day is here! In celebration of Halloween season, every day this October I will post a translation and…
(My Wife Draws) A-Yokai-A-Day: How Hating a Stepdaughter Backfired in Shimōsa Province
I'm resting my broken arm today to make sure I don't over-stress it, so my wife has kindly taken over for the illustration again. Tonight's story features a…
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 2020 Lineup
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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 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: 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: How a Man From Gojō, Kyōto Was Punished For Scraping the Gold Foil Off of a Buddha
Tonight's story repeats some common themes — namely, a problem caused by attachment to material wealth, and snakes being used to represent that attachment. This story is interesting…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Dōchin’s Pride Was Wounded by a Tengu at Kuragari Peak in Kawachi
Today's tale showcases an exceedingly famous kind of yōkai: a tengu. They are one of the "big 3" yōkai of Japanese folklore, along with oni and kappa (and…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Horikoshi From Tōtomi Province Was Infatuated With His Daughter-in-Law
Today is the first day of October, and that marks the start of A-Yokai-A-Day! I hope you'll join me in sharing yokai on social media/blogs/wherever using the #ayokaiaday…
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: How Denzaemon from Amagasaki Met a Bakemono at a Hot Spring
Today's yōkai is another generic-sounding "bakemono." It may have been a shapechanged kitsune or tanuki, although they often prefer to play tricks rather than outright kill their victims.…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono of Onoderamura in Sagami Province
The yōkai in tonight's story is unnamed, but it is referred as both a bakemono and a henge. The assumption, then, is that it is probably a shapeshifted…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Bakemono of Komatsu Castle in Ōshū
Before we get to today's yokai, I'd like to take a moment to point out that both this website and yokai.com are presented ad-free and paywall-free. That's because…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Novice Monk at Eiheiji in Echizen
One thing I love about the stories in Shokoku hyakumonogatari is that they can be so specific about the locations these stories take place. Some of them go…
How Mother 3 Breaks You
Here is a video where I talk about baths. Oh, and also about Mother 3 (sequel to Earthbound), one of the most beautiful and heart breaking games of…
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Monk Who Met a Bōrei in Shimotsuke
There are many nuanced ways to describe ghosts in Japanese. The most common words are obake (which means "changed thing"), yūrei ("faint spirit"), and onryō ("grudge spirit"). Tonight's…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Okushima Kengyō Climbed the Bureaucracy Thanks to a Mountain God
Tonight's story doesn't feature a yokai, but a yama no kami (mountain spirit/god) instead. Well, that sort of begs the question of what is a yokai vs what…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Genshin of Mt. Hiei Saw Hell and Came Back
🦇 Happy Halloween!!! 🦇 Tonight's is the final story in this year's A-Yokai-A-Day. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed these stories and my paintings (and my…
A-Yokai-A-Day: How Unshō, a Monk from Shima Province, Escaped from a Poisonous Serpent
Tonight's yōkai is another serpent like the one we saw a couple of weeks ago. Contrary to my normal pattern of leaving yōkai names untranslated, I use English…
Prospera is a caring mother who loves her tall daughters
I'm curious where we'd be if Vim hadn't abandoned the assassination attempt.
Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury
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 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 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 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: 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.…