The Book of Hakutaku. Stories of Japanese Monsters.
MEYER Matthew.

The Book of Hakutaku. Stories of Japanese Monsters.

Nuinui
Regular price €24,90 €0,00 Unit price per
N° d'inventaire 22838
Format 19.5 x 27
Détails 228 p., numerous illustrations, paperback.
Publication ChermigFALSE, 2020
Etat Nine
ISBN 9782889357574

This book contains a wide range of monsters and ghosts, some native to Japan, others from foreign cultures and incorporated into Japanese folklore. According to legend, an old emperor received as a gift from a magical animal called, aptly, Hakutaku, an extraordinary work, a sort of "bestiary of monsters" containing information on all the spirits, ghosts, divinities and demons of Japan. Disappeared a very long time ago, this book is said to have survived only in fragmentary form. Over the centuries, Japanese artists created illustrated encyclopedias dedicated to the world of spirits (yôkai) and the supernatural. Their main sources were the stories and traditions of local folklore, but also history and literature; and they also did not fail to draw on the immense heritage of ancient Chinese classics, reinterpreted through the filter of Japanese culture and sensibility. They thus invented a host of new yôkai! And even today, the habit of collecting and telling such stories is widespread in Japan.

This book contains a wide range of monsters and ghosts, some native to Japan, others from foreign cultures and incorporated into Japanese folklore. According to legend, an old emperor received as a gift from a magical animal called, aptly, Hakutaku, an extraordinary work, a sort of "bestiary of monsters" containing information on all the spirits, ghosts, divinities and demons of Japan. Disappeared a very long time ago, this book is said to have survived only in fragmentary form. Over the centuries, Japanese artists created illustrated encyclopedias dedicated to the world of spirits (yôkai) and the supernatural. Their main sources were the stories and traditions of local folklore, but also history and literature; and they also did not fail to draw on the immense heritage of ancient Chinese classics, reinterpreted through the filter of Japanese culture and sensibility. They thus invented a host of new yôkai! And even today, the habit of collecting and telling such stories is widespread in Japan.