Dark & Dreamy Tales from Japan: Curious Legends from the Greatest Storytellers on Earth

by YUYUPANCHI (Illustrator)

Captivating tales of mysterious monsters, enchanted animals, and ghostly surprises

Explore a surreal world of horrifying demons and magical secrets that will test the boundaries of your imagination. From corpse-eating goblins to shape-shifting animals and giant centipedes, Dark & Dreamy Tales from Japan invites you to discover the ancient legends and timeless characters that continue to inspire today’s best anime shows and movies. With evocative manga art to bring each story to life, you’ll find yourself in the dramatic grip of twenty-one hauntingly beautiful tales,

- The Tongue-Cut Sparrow
- The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad
- The Ogre of Rashōmon
- The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child
- The Mirror of Matsuyama

184 pages, Hardcover

Published August 5, 2025

Reviews

[Merenwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like there might be better translations out there somewhere. I realize that the stories came from two different anthologies by two different authors, but the translations could've been better. "Dress" was used instead of "kimono" or other Japanese garments, people "saluted" when they should've been bowing, etc.; also, there was some clunky grammar and punctuation here and there. And one story didn't have an explanation of what a daimyō was, but the very last story did. I knew more or less what a daimyō was (because I read a nonfiction book about the end of the Tokugawa Era), but most people wouldn't know. A glossary would've helped.