Yokai
Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki from Drawn and Quarterly is a tome showing not just Mizuki’s exceptional artwork but also some of the most fascinating yokai in all of Japan. Mizuki based much of his career on yokai, creating manga on his half-yokai Kitaro character for decades. Yokai serve as a never-ending source of inspiration for villains and allies as well as complex figures for capturing in art. As Mizuki transitioned from cartoonist to renowned fine artist, living up to his bold ambition stated at age fifteen, “I will serve the people of my country by making art,” he made enormous, full-color representations of many of the yokai in museum quality, now shown in this collection.
Just as W.B. Yeats did for Ireland and the Brothers Grimm did in their native Germany, Mizuki made a habit of collecting folklore around Japan. Much of the work had already been done, such as the Tono Monogatari from 1910 that Mizuki later adapted into a graphic novel. Mizuki’s research also shows in the numerous references including the 1687 Kokon Hyakumonogatari Hyoban (“Critique of Hundred Tales Old and New”) and the ancient Shoku Nihongi history of Japan completed in 797. In addition to studying texts, relates many of the stories he heard directly and even provides commentary like wondering why Tokushima seems to be the epicenter of Tanuki possession.
Yokai can be difficult to classify since is a blanket term for creatures that may be spirits, corporeal, or some mixture of the two. Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki shows the great breadth of yokai from across Japan. These yokai may be ghosts of former humans that transition beyond the typical kami inari, like the Gakitsuki, which is the spirit of a beggar who died from hunger. Its spirit now wanders, taking possession of the living and causing “instant, overwhelming hunger” until it is finally released by eating some food. They may also be objects or animals that have undergone a transformation, such as the Hossumori that are hossu (small brooms made of hair and hemp on a handle for brushing Buddhist altars) that are used so thoroughly that they take on human shape, move by themselves, and may communicate telepathically. Or, yokai may be entirely unique creatures, such as the water-dwelling kappa that looks like a cross between a monkey and a turtle, of which Mizuki shows many varieties from all over Japan.
Each of the yokai depicted in Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki is portrayed in a vivid painting along with a few paragraphs of description from the folklore. The art is quintessentially Mizuki with his trademark juxtaposition of cartoony-faced humans and exceptionally detailed backgrounds. The pairing works well to portray yokai, many of which are cartoony themselves like the bathtub-licking Akaname while others are dark and menacing, such as the giant newt Kaiimori. Simply flipping through Yokai will indeed inspire the reader not only in the wide range of monsters in Japanese lore, some comical, some horrifying, but also in the immortal skill of Shigeru Mizuki’s brush.
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