Japanese Yokai: The Supernatural Creatures and Spirits of Japan

For most of Japan's history, the dark was crowded. A fox on the road might be a woman by morning. The water in the dish on a kappa's head held its life. A neglected tool, a hundred years old, could open an eye and bear a grudge. These are the yōkai: the demons, ghosts, and spirits that Japan set at the edge of every mountain, every river, and every lonely house. They were how a people explained wh...