Some stories about Japan's youkai

I'm gradually becoming more and more fascinated with the Japanese creatures generally called youkai. They don't fit into any bag we have an English name for; I've seen the word translated demon, monster, ghost, fairy, goblin, and endless variations more. They're a little like all of those, and also like nature spirits and lesser gods; they can be big, fierce oni (usually translated "ogres") or humble little tsukumogami (household things that have existed more than a hundred years). There's no end to them and their wonderful stories, and there's no reason whatever to believe they're extinct.

Youkai (or yokai--either spelling is fine) have been subjects of Japanese stories and art for hundreds of years, but they only made their way into manga in the 1950s, with the work of manga-ka and youkai scholar Shigeru Mizuki. His manga GeGeGe no Kitaro, still running a half-century later, is credited with bridging the gap between the world of the youkai and the world of modern pop culture. Decades later, Kitaro has been joined by many more manga and anime using youkai characters, some historically, some less so, some as good guys and some as bad.

I'm going to be collecting some things about all of them here.

--A wonderful article from Asia-Pacific Journal: "The Non-Fiction Manga of Mizuki Shigeru".

--Here's an account of the American gallery debut of "53 Stations of the Yokaido Road", a series of prints by Shigeru Mizuki.

--Some info on Saiyuki, one of my favorite youkai anime and manga series (much more to come).

--More detailed stuff on Tactics, one of many series involving a youkai-hunting hero.

--The most popular of all youkai anime among American fans, Inuyasha.

...more to follow.