What do you think?
Rate this book
Yokai #2
The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits: An Encyclopedia of Mononoke and Magic
In Japan, it is said that there are 8 million kami. These spirits encompass every kind of supernatural creature; from malign to monstrous, demonic to divine, and everything in between. Most of them seem strange and scary—even evil—from a human perspective. They are known by myriad bakemono, chimimoryo, mamono, mononoke, obake, oni, and yokai.
Yokai live in a world that parallels our own. Their lives resemble ours in many ways. They have societies and rivalries. They eat, sing, dance, play, fight, compete, and even wage war. Normally, we keep to our world and they keep to theirs. However, there are times and places where the boundaries between the worlds thin, and crossing over is possible.
The twilight hour is when the boundary between worlds is at its thinnest. It is the easiest time for yokai to cross into this world, or for humans to accidentally cross into theirs. Our world is still awake and active, but the world of the supernatural is beginning to stir. Superstition tells people to return to their villages and stay inside when the sun sets in order to avoid running into demons. This is why in Japan twilight is known as the hour of meeting evil spirits.
This encyclopedia contains over 125 illustrated entries detailing the monsters of Japanese folklore and the myths and magic surrounding them. Each entry is described in detail, including its habitat, diet, origin, and legends based on translations from Japanese texts.
Yokai live in a world that parallels our own. Their lives resemble ours in many ways. They have societies and rivalries. They eat, sing, dance, play, fight, compete, and even wage war. Normally, we keep to our world and they keep to theirs. However, there are times and places where the boundaries between the worlds thin, and crossing over is possible.
The twilight hour is when the boundary between worlds is at its thinnest. It is the easiest time for yokai to cross into this world, or for humans to accidentally cross into theirs. Our world is still awake and active, but the world of the supernatural is beginning to stir. Superstition tells people to return to their villages and stay inside when the sun sets in order to avoid running into demons. This is why in Japan twilight is known as the hour of meeting evil spirits.
This encyclopedia contains over 125 illustrated entries detailing the monsters of Japanese folklore and the myths and magic surrounding them. Each entry is described in detail, including its habitat, diet, origin, and legends based on translations from Japanese texts.
274 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 2015
134 people are currently reading
555 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Meyer
30 books46 followersMatthew Meyer is an illustrator and folklorist based in Japan. He received a BFA in illustration from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2005. Ghost stories and folklore have been one of his greatest passions for his whole life. Since 2008 his work has been focused on Japanese folklore, particularly yokai studies. He is known as The Yokai Guy for his work on yokai.com, the online database of Japanese ghosts and monsters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 15, 2020
A continuation from The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: a Field Guide to Japanese Yokai (reviewed by me at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) in the same mode -- a short article followed by a charming illustration. Great style for short attention span reading. After a while the yokai all start to sound weirdly alike, but about midway in this one is a series of chapters on the Japanese Buddhist/mythological hell, particularly useful if one has been watching the anime Hozuki's Coolheadedness and wondering where all the lunacy comes from. As I suspected, the anime writers weren't making the most bizarre stuff up. (The elaborate hell mythologies seem remarkably aggressive and sadistic for a purportedly pacifist religion. Psychological displacement, perhaps...) This part of the book also gives usefully coherent explanations of/insights into Japanese funeral customs, which I'd also encountered in unexplained bits and pieces in fiction originally aimed at a Japanese-domestic audience.
Ta, L.
December 24, 2019
This review is a copy paste from my previous review of the other book 'The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: A Field Guide to Japanese Yokai' with one caveat.
Caveat: This loses a star, sadly, there are a lot of grammatical errors and misspellings in this particular title. Content wise though, it's just as great as the previous title.
Copy/Paste:
I picked up this and the other 2 books in the series after getting sucked into the world and lore of the video game Nioh (Which is set in 1600 within a fictionalised dark fantasy version of the late Sengoku period, where the Yokai world intermingles with the world of the living). My interest in ancient and medieval mythologies certainly helped both along as well.
In my opinion this book is so very well done, the art is fantastic and pays pure homage to original Japanese style. The entries are well done, different names, translation of said name, it's habitat and diet being bullet pointed. After; what causes the Yokai to appear, any legends of it, what makes them tick, etc are included. All of this is rooted and set in what the original Japanese mythology stated.
Very much looking forward to the other 2 and Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien (The latter being reprints of the original art done by Sekien in the 1700's).
Caveat: This loses a star, sadly, there are a lot of grammatical errors and misspellings in this particular title. Content wise though, it's just as great as the previous title.
Copy/Paste:
I picked up this and the other 2 books in the series after getting sucked into the world and lore of the video game Nioh (Which is set in 1600 within a fictionalised dark fantasy version of the late Sengoku period, where the Yokai world intermingles with the world of the living). My interest in ancient and medieval mythologies certainly helped both along as well.
In my opinion this book is so very well done, the art is fantastic and pays pure homage to original Japanese style. The entries are well done, different names, translation of said name, it's habitat and diet being bullet pointed. After; what causes the Yokai to appear, any legends of it, what makes them tick, etc are included. All of this is rooted and set in what the original Japanese mythology stated.
Very much looking forward to the other 2 and Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien (The latter being reprints of the original art done by Sekien in the 1700's).
April 24, 2016
I really enjoyed learning about the history and folklore of various Japanese monsters and spirits. There is some overlap with the previous book by this author, but overall, everything is fresh and new.
I really like the art in this one, too. The woodblock print style is the perfect companion to these monster tales. They range from images of grotesque inhuman monstrosities to deceptively cute or pitiable figures; they're always imaginative and colorful.
If you have any interest at all in Japanese supernatural folklore, I recommend this and the previous volume.
I really like the art in this one, too. The woodblock print style is the perfect companion to these monster tales. They range from images of grotesque inhuman monstrosities to deceptively cute or pitiable figures; they're always imaginative and colorful.
If you have any interest at all in Japanese supernatural folklore, I recommend this and the previous volume.
Read
July 18, 2018More Demons!
February 21, 2023
TOP. Mais pourquoi tant de fautes de traduction ??? Et de coquilles qui prouvent un manque de relecture ???? Quel dommage, sinon c'est superbe !
May 16, 2023
Oggi sono qui per parlarvi di un'altra bellissima opera arrivata nelle nostre librerie.
Come sapete sono una grande amante del genere, quindi potevo mai farmelo scappare? Assolutamente no.
Anche se fa parte di una trilogia, questo volume di Matthew Meyer può essere letto anche in autonomia poiché ogni libro a sé è dedicato a varie storie del folklore nipponico.
Di Mononoke forse si sa molto anche grazie a anime e film, ma in questo nuovo volume che ci accompagna alla scoperta di spiriti maligni più ripugnanti e malefici del Giappone, i Mononoke per me hanno il primato.
Nemmeno la magia, i sacerdoti e le superstizioni possono nulla contro questi esseri. Ma cosa sono con precisione i Mononoke?
I Mononoke (物の怪?) sono spiriti vendicativi (onryō), spiriti dei morti (shiryō), spiriti dei viventi (ikiryō), o spiriti della letteratura classica giapponese e del folclore religioso che sono in grado, secondo la tradizione, di impossessarsi di un essere umano e di farlo soffrire, di causare malattie o persino la morte.
Si incontrano spesso nella letteratura del periodo Heian e spesso monaci e yamabushi praticavano incantesimi e preghiere contro le malattie causate da questi demoni, trasferendo temporaneamente lo spirito dal posseduto in una persona definita "yorimashi" (di solito servi, apprendisti, ecc.), e praticando l'esorcismo sul Mononoke per curare la malattia.
Insomma, tra gli spiriti maligni è di certo tra i più rinomati e chi è appassionato di queste storie non può di certo farsi scappare anche questo meraviglioso volume a loro dedicati.
Ne dico un'ultima: se siete fan di Inuyasha, ne avete incontrato uno anche al primo episodio della primissima serie.
Come sapete sono una grande amante del genere, quindi potevo mai farmelo scappare? Assolutamente no.
Anche se fa parte di una trilogia, questo volume di Matthew Meyer può essere letto anche in autonomia poiché ogni libro a sé è dedicato a varie storie del folklore nipponico.
Di Mononoke forse si sa molto anche grazie a anime e film, ma in questo nuovo volume che ci accompagna alla scoperta di spiriti maligni più ripugnanti e malefici del Giappone, i Mononoke per me hanno il primato.
Nemmeno la magia, i sacerdoti e le superstizioni possono nulla contro questi esseri. Ma cosa sono con precisione i Mononoke?
I Mononoke (物の怪?) sono spiriti vendicativi (onryō), spiriti dei morti (shiryō), spiriti dei viventi (ikiryō), o spiriti della letteratura classica giapponese e del folclore religioso che sono in grado, secondo la tradizione, di impossessarsi di un essere umano e di farlo soffrire, di causare malattie o persino la morte.
Si incontrano spesso nella letteratura del periodo Heian e spesso monaci e yamabushi praticavano incantesimi e preghiere contro le malattie causate da questi demoni, trasferendo temporaneamente lo spirito dal posseduto in una persona definita "yorimashi" (di solito servi, apprendisti, ecc.), e praticando l'esorcismo sul Mononoke per curare la malattia.
Insomma, tra gli spiriti maligni è di certo tra i più rinomati e chi è appassionato di queste storie non può di certo farsi scappare anche questo meraviglioso volume a loro dedicati.
Ne dico un'ultima: se siete fan di Inuyasha, ne avete incontrato uno anche al primo episodio della primissima serie.
December 11, 2019
Much like The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons by the same author, this is a nicely illustrated, engaging list of a variety of yokai. Unlike that other volume however, The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits spends more time focusing on individual yokai (e.g. spirits of actual people which turned into vengeful ghosts after they died, specific kitsune, etc.). There are still entries for types and classes of yokai as a whole, but it was interesting, seeing the history behind these individual creatures. Also differentiating it is its exploration of magic and curses, mostly those of the onmyodo religion, which I'd barely even heard of before. Fascinating stuff!
Unfortunately, also unlike Night Parade, Evil Spirits is sprinkled with a surprising number of spelling and grammatical mistakes. They're not everywhere, but they're frequent enough to be noticeable, and tarnish the experience a bit. Especially for a second printing, you'd think they would have caught more of these and fixed them.
That relatively minor issue aside though, this book is another treasure trove for anyone interested in the folklore and mythology of Japanese yokai, and one I can easily recommend.
Unfortunately, also unlike Night Parade, Evil Spirits is sprinkled with a surprising number of spelling and grammatical mistakes. They're not everywhere, but they're frequent enough to be noticeable, and tarnish the experience a bit. Especially for a second printing, you'd think they would have caught more of these and fixed them.
That relatively minor issue aside though, this book is another treasure trove for anyone interested in the folklore and mythology of Japanese yokai, and one I can easily recommend.
May 28, 2019
Another wonderful compendium
I was as impressed with this as the previous work of Mathews that I read. The depth of research shows, the art is beautiful, and it is written in such a way it can be enjoyed by both children and adults. I am overlong in getting to this in my reading list but it certainly has my endorsement. I can only hope that he will manage to collect some modern sightings as folklore is a living thing which urban legend is part of.
I was as impressed with this as the previous work of Mathews that I read. The depth of research shows, the art is beautiful, and it is written in such a way it can be enjoyed by both children and adults. I am overlong in getting to this in my reading list but it certainly has my endorsement. I can only hope that he will manage to collect some modern sightings as folklore is a living thing which urban legend is part of.
December 10, 2021
Interesting, encyclopedia-type book of Japanese demons. Every entry is accompanied by a picture. My problem with the book is that I'm not too fond of the drawing style, it's just not what I expected. The pictures are drawn by the author himself in a western cartoon style similar to Gravity Falls or My Little Pony. But aside from that it's a well-made book in general with interesting information.
January 11, 2019
Fun read
It was a fun to read book as I am into old ghost stories and the reasons behind them as well. Making use of easy to understand explanations and images or makes for a fun read.
It was a fun to read book as I am into old ghost stories and the reasons behind them as well. Making use of easy to understand explanations and images or makes for a fun read.
April 25, 2022
Many chapters describe not yokai, but rather phenomena, curses, dead nobles, or general categories of ghost spirits. The book should have been more specific & systematic in cataloguing yokai creatures.
October 22, 2022
Matthew Meyer runs yokai.com, which I love and use a lot on my personal research on yokai. Good source of information. Also, his artwork is somehow more beautiful more printed in than it is on a computer screen.
January 27, 2019
More spirits from Japan. Mostly evil a few good.
February 23, 2020
Very well researched and accessible.
January 27, 2025
Excelente lectura, los gráficos la hacen más amena, me ayudó a disipar algunas dudas del folclore japonés.
March 13, 2016
This beautifully illustrated anthology is not just an encyclopedia of yokai, but an attempt to show them in the context of Japanese history and modern Japanese popular culture. The original illustrations alone make it worth a look. The author's website, yokai.com, drew me to his writings, and has a lot of great content as well.
April 14, 2016
It's scarier than the last one! After reading the chapters on Jigoku, I felt so resolved to behave well, uhu. Anyway, recommended for fans of this sort of subject! It's layman level reading with a gravity approaching academic so one really is taken to this world of Mononoke.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews