Shigeru Mizuki

Welcome to the wonderful and scary and silly world of Yokai! The Definitive Yokai Field Guide introduces young readers to the fantastically fascinating world of Japanese folklore. Universally beloved cartoonist and Eisner Hall of Fame inductee Shigeru Mizuki s passion for researching and writing about Japan s yokai knows no bounds. In this perfect companion to Mizuki s Kitaro comics and art books, kids and kids at heart can now discover this magical world and its many peculiar creatures all on their own. The book that captivated Japan for decades as a perennial bestseller can now inspire readers the world over. Bursting with frightfully fun content including 80 yokai profiles The Definitive Yokai Field Guide also boasts a map of where to find different yokai around the world, and the exciting comic 'The Yokai of Obobe Swamp.' Mizuki s whimsical and mischievous approach to cataloging these one-of-a-kind creatures found nowhere else is sure to enlighten and amaze fans of both the natural and supernatural world. In fact, it might just be the perfect gift for current and future folklorists, ghost hunters and myth busters to boot! Translated by Mizuki scholar and yokai aficionado Zack Davisson, the most famous all-ages guide to yokai becomes available in English for the very first time.

Manga titan Shigeru Mizuki brings Japan s most entertaining myths to the modern age. As travellers approach a lush, cedar forest the soft floor and woodland scent palpable from Shigeru Mizuki s fecund drawing something falls from the trees with a thud: a human head, twelve times average size. A dozen more heads follow, peering at the travelers with maniacal laughter, before retreating back into the woods. A hallucination? No, this is Tohoku No Tsurubeotoshi. An earthworm, larger than a human, floats in the air, backlit from window lights ensconced by shadowy darkness. Sontsuru majestic on the page in Shigeru Mizuki s delicate ink lines and bold colors is no worm, but a yokai who haunts families across generations, wriggling between their skin and muscles. And then there is Shirime, a city dwelling trickster who shouts, 'A moment, sir!' only to then lift their kimono to reveal their unusual rump a giant, glowing eyeball where one would otherwise expect a crack. Indeed, not all the yokai in the pages of Yokai: Shigeru Mizuki s Supernatural Parade are there to cause fright. Like Mizuki himself, yokai often have a playful spirit, which Mizuki explores with joy in this stunning collection, which contains one hundred new, lavish, full page yokai illustrations, with biographies for each. Yokai: Shigeru Mizuki s Supernatural Parade is the companion book to Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki, and includes supplementary writing by acclaimed Mizuki scholar and translator Zack Davisson.