The Japanese Yokai Handbook

This book is your ultimate guide to Japan's scariest creatures!

Yokai come in every imaginable shape and form--from frightening ghosts and cruel demons to cute fairies and enchanted animals. They can be evil monsters, harmless tricksters or prophets of doom, depending on their inclination.

This book profiles 100 of the most fascinating Yokai, including:

Yokai expert Masami Kinoshita has been documenting Yokai in folklore, and in real life, for many years. This book presents her most interesting findings and has over 175 full-color illustrations that vividly depict the appearances of these weird creatures. No matter their origins, each Yokai has a strange and wonderful story that is sure to amaze you!

Masami Kinoshita is a Yokai researcher based in Japan. After graduating from Nara Women's University she wrote about Yokai on the online newspaper "Nara Monster Times" which reports on supernatural beings and folklore in Nara. She has written stories on a wide variety of Yokai, ranging from Oni and Tengu mountain spirits to Suchinoko, a snake-like creature that was reportedly encountered several times in the 1970s and 1980s.