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    Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide
    Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide
    Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide
    Ebook159 pages17 hours

    Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide

    By Hiroko Yoda, Matt Alt and Tatsuya Morino

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Yokai Attack! is a nightmare-inducing one-stop guide to Japan's traditional monsters and creepy-crawlies.

    Yokai are ethereal sorts of beings, like ghosts, nearly always encountered at night; everyone has their own take on how they might look in real life and what sorts of specific characteristics and abilities they might have. This book is the result of long hours spent poring over data and descriptions from a variety of sources, including microfilms of eighteenth-century illustrations from the national Diet Library in Tokyo, in order to bring you detailed information on almost 50 of these amazing creatures for the first time in English.

    Illustrations, created by the talented Tatsuya Morino, detail the potential appearance of each yokai. Alongside each illustration is a series of "data points," with each yokai's important features at a glance--especially handy for any potential close encounters.

    Yokai Attack! will surely convince you that Japan's tradition of fascinating monsters is a long one--yet far from being history.
    Book 1 of 3 in the Yokai Attack! series. Others include Ninja Attack! and Yurei Attack!.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTuttle Publishing
    Release dateJul 30, 2013
    ISBN9781462908837
    Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide

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    Reviews for Yokai Attack!

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      This was such a fun book. Every yokai has a full-page illustration and mostly a 3-page summery. While it's a reference book, it's also a satire book of survival guides. Clearly, it's not meant to be taken seriously. You read this for fun and maybe a starter for yokai culture. I'm into yokai stuff because of video games, anime, manga, and whatnot, but this book even points out some of those stories have been changed or watered-down versions. Kappa aren't cute like in Animal Crossing. According to this book and based on an old painting, kappa don't like it if you fart on them (which I didn't know) but they would drag people into the water (that I did know). I noticed a lot of yokai is based off old Japanese humor or cautionary tales. Overall, highly recommend this book to people into the subject.

      I could have finished this earlier, but have personal things going on.
    • 4/5
      I'm not sure why I passed over Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide when it was first published by Kodansha International in 2008. Perhaps it got lost in the slew of zombie materials coming out at the time. The book is written by the wife and husband team of Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt, who have worked on several other projects together, and is illustrated by Tatsuya Morino. Fortunately, Yokai Attack! was recently brought to my attention again. And since I have become increasingly interested in Japanese folklore and legends, it made sense for me to pick up a copy. I'm particularly interested in yokai--traditional Japanese supernatural creatures--because I frequently come across references to them in the books and manga that I read, the videos I watch, the games I play, and even at my dōjō. Yokai seem to be everywhere. The information on yokai readily available in English is somewhat limited, and I believe Yokai Attack! may actually be one of the first guides of its kind.Yokai Attack! provides detailed information about forty-six different yokai. However, there are only forty-two separate entries because closely related yokai are addressed together. Instead of being arranged alphabetically, the guide is arranged thematically, grouping the yokai into "Ferocious Fiends," "Gruesome Gourmets," "Annoying Neighbors," "The Sexy and Slimy," and "The Wimps." (There is also an alphabetical index of the yokai covered towards the end of the book.) Each entry provides brief details about a yokai's name, appearance, where it is likely to be found, and how prevalent the creature is. Each entry is also fully illustrated and many include reproductions of Sekien Toriyama's (1712-1788) traditional woodblock prints in addition to Morino's modern interpretations. More information is given in depth regarding a yokai's claim to fame, various stories and trivia, how a typical encounter plays out and how you might survive or at least minimize the damage incurred. Unfortunately, quite often the answer is "Sorry, you're screwed."Although Yokai Attack! is extremely informative, it is not particularly academic or definitive, instead relaying facts and trivia about the various yokai that could be considered common knowledge in Japan. It is also presented in a very relaxed manner. The writing style is very informal and while some readers might find it annoying, overall it makes Yokai Attack! very approachable. The book's design and layout are colorful and include an eclectic mix of images and reproductions. Unfortunately, the color pages are abruptly dropped for the last quarter or so of the book. Personally, I would have preferred a consistent page design throughout and was sad to see the color pages go. But really, I was primarily reading Yokai Attack! for the information anyway; the entertaining layout was simply an added bonus.I am very glad I finally got around to picking up Yokai Attack! I found it very informative and enjoyable to read. In addition to some of the yokai I was already vaguely familiar with--like the kitsune, tanuki, kappa, and tengu--Yokai Attack! also covers plenty of yokai that I had never even heard of before and many which I have seen references to elsewhere but knew very little about. Yoda and Alt also include more contemporary yokai in the book along with the more traditional ones. At the end of the book they have provided a section devoted to other yokai resources. They list films featuring yokai, note several online resources available, and include a bibliography of Japanese and English language print materials. Yokai Attack! really is a fantastic resource with a ton of great information presented in a very accessible way. It's certainly one of the best introductions to yokai that I've come across. While it may not be comprehensive, it is a wonderful place to start learning about yokai.Experiments in Manga

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