Yesterday we saw a creepy bird, today let’s look at another creepy bird. I like creepy birds… especially ones with legendary ties to actual historical events.

One of the really fun parts about choosing the yokai for The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits was looking for yokai that were somehow related to each other. Although there isn’t really a narrative or any sort of continuity in the books (being encyclopedias) there is something particularly interesting when different entries reference the same things. It puts the history and the folklore into perspective, and makes it a little more tangible. This is especially helpful when dealing with Japanese history, because it is very complex and for the most part, Americans never really hear much about Japan prior to the 1850s or even World War 2…

While it’s not necessary to understand Japanese history to enjoy yokai, I think it really really helps! So many yokai are tied to historical events and figures that when you don’t know the history, you’re only getting half the story. Or maybe it’s more like when you do know the history, you’re getting double the story! This is coming straight from the mouth of a history buff, so you can take that with a grain of salt. In any case, I tried to introduce bits and pieces of relevant Japanese history in the book in ways that are easily digestible and flesh out the background of some of these yokai more so, as non Japanese history scholars, readers will be able to get a fuller understanding of the circumstances surrounding certain yokai.

Read on below: