SHIGERU MIZUKI: An illustrated guide to Yokai
Shigeru Mizuki, born in Osaka in 1922, was a prolific manga artist often regarded as the master of Japanese Yokai stories. Yokai is a general terms used to refer to the supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore tales. Many possess animal features (such as Kappa or the Tengu) and their behavior ranges from malevolent to friendly.
A childhood prodigy at drawing, Mizuki’s prospects as an artist were nearly cut short when he was enlisted and sent to the Pacific to fight for the Imperial Japanese Army. Losing his left arm in battle & seeing first hand the horrors of war, Mizuki eventually returned to Japan with a pacifistic and egalitarian outlook on life.
Back in Japan, Mizuki was free to pursue his passion for art and he used the medium to pursue the themes of war and Yokai. His passion for master stories ran all the way back to his childhood when a local woman, known to Shigeru as Nononba, would tell him ghost stories.
Mizuki gained fame for using the world of Yokai to pass his pacifist teachings onto a wider audience, while simultaneously helping to return these traditional tales to the modern consciousness. In 1960, Mizuki began what would become his most famous and longest running serial, GeGeGe no Kitaro. The story perfectly embodies Mizuki’s philosophy as it focuses on Kitaro, the last survivor of a Ghost Tribe who goes on adventures with various other Yokai while attempting to unite the human world with that of the monsters.
Until his death in 2015, Mizuki remained a prolific writer producing hundreds of works. Through this, he became one of the country’s premier authorities on Yokai and produced a number of encyclopedias and guides regarding the creatures and tales of Japan’s folklore.
He released the ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO YOKAI in 2004 - perhaps one of his finest works. A series of gorgeous illustrations, the book presents readers with Yokai depicted in Mizuki’s unique style. Each drawing is adorned with various facts and descriptions to provide detailed information on the creature. For anyone interested in Yokai or wishing to delve deep into Japan’s rich storytelling past, the book is an absolute must.
