The Dark Side of Japan: Ancient Black Magic, Folklore, Ritual

by Antony Cummins

The Dark Side of Japan is a collection of folk tales, black magic, protection spells, monsters and other dark interpretations of life and death from Japanese folklore. Much of the information comes from ancient documents, translated into English here for the first time.

Antony Cummins has also searched the now forgotten Victorian volumes on Japanese mythology and explains recent academic research on Japan for the non-expert. Antony has transformed the complex information into a modern rendering, with stories and details that let a modern reader enter into the world of the forgotten legends of old Japan and the superstitions that colour them, some of which still exist today.

The Dark Side of Japan is profusely illustrated, with drawings showcasing the ‘hellish’ concepts within. And remarkably hellish they are, too. Consider the kappa: ‘goblin-like creatures that have the body of a child, the face of a tiger adorned with a beak and the shell of a turtle. They drag people into rivers and ponds and drown them. If a woman gives birth to a kappa baby after being raped, the baby is hacked to death.’

Genres: Mythology, Japan, Nonfiction, History, Folklore, Occult, Paranormal

224 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 2017

Reviews

[Emily Boucher · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

There are so many problems with this book that it's not even worth going into. I feel duped and stupid for buying it. It is extremely poorly written, the author has absolutely no credentials and the information is corrupt because it is completely out of context. The research is poorly done, poorly documented and poorly applied. And I can say with a completely straight face that I could organize a better paragraph when I was in elementary school.

If you're interested in fun & quirky tidbits about Japan I would check out the podcast Uncanny Japan by author Theresa Matsuura. If you want Japanese urban legends/horror check out the podcasts Kowabana & Toshiden by Tara Devlin or check out her books. If you want a book about Japanese creatures check out the amazingly well researched The Book of Yokai by Michael Dylan Foster. If you're interested in Japanese legends and folklore read the legends themselves. There are a lot of books of Japanese legends out there.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love Japan and you love fairy tales and oriental legends, this is just the book for you, also because there are a number of characters that the Ghibli studio has used quite a bit....

Se siete amanti del Giappone ed amate favole e leggende orientali, questo é proprio il libro che fa per voi, anche perché ci sono una serie di personaggi che lo studio Ghibli ha riutilizzato parecchio....

[Devon Thurston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stuff, but this was formatted like a very long dramatis personae

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a wild one. I urge you to browse through this before buying. Not a scholarly book at all. The writing style is very plain and straightforward, and just odd. My feelers were up just reading the introduction. The book is pretty much just a rapid fire list of tales, ideas, concepts and honestly I couldn’t tell if he was making a lot of this up. The way he’d present these brief descriptions and then just move on to a new one made for an interesting read. However in a weird way it made it that much more entertaining because you’d laugh out loud at the craziness of what he presented and then it would be over. Japan does have some of the craziest folklore around so to present it this way with no context in these capsule sized sections just made it a feast of weirdness. So I guess I did like it?!

That being said I’m keeping this to graze through every once in a while to get a nice dose of the weird.

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good introduction to folklore and folk tales from Japan. I was skeptical, because I heard the author's interview on Coast to Coast AM, and he did not seem to remember what was in his own book; however, the book itself is an interesting and fun introduction to a topic about which I know very little. I am interested enough to read some of the author's other books. My only issue was poor proofreading near the end. It seemed as if entire words were left out of sentences in places, but I tried not to let that interfere with my enjoyment of the topics presented. On the one hand, I question the attention to detail in the research if attention is not paid to basic proofreading. On the other hand, I can be too judgmental and just need to let little things go. In any case, I enjoyed this introduction to a new interest.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skip it. Or just read the sources he lists in the biography instead.

[Kylie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a word: disappointing.

It's written very abruptly with lack of detail - I'm assuming this is Cummings' attempt to summarise information and/or paraphrase other authors' work, but it makes for disjointed and unsatisfying reading if you're genuinely interested in the subject. If you're a complete newcomer to the subjects it might be worth a read to see if it's worth you picking up anything more complex on your favourite aspects, other than that you need to skip it.

[Kendra Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lover of Japan, I found some parts of this interesting (and some of it I already knew). thr poignant reminder of what modernization can do to folklore is mentioned in the book, and a call to keep them alive.

However. there were issues with the book (including the failure to acknowledge native beliefs), and it was so brief.

[Butts McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wholly entertaining

[Bill Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book that told me that human saliva is poisonous to centipedes. Amusing anecdotes from Japanese folklore. (Note that I have not tested my saliva on centipedes)

[Amir Hossein Fassihi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great cultural summary

This book contains a lot of folk tales and ancient beliefs of Japan. A very good and concise compilation for those interested in the topic.

[౨ৎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

was interesting at parts but the writing was, well, ass.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read. Lots of fun facts. Not academic enough for me because I was hoping for more references to additional information.

[Imge · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I enjoyed reading it overall, but towards the end, it felt rushed and disorganized, like cramming in too much information in a plain, unengaging way without any storytelling.

[Alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining but lacking any real substance. Reading this book is like skipping the food and slurping down condiments while the chef tries to convince you that you’re well fed.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

there's a lot of material packed into these 219 pages! because of this, unfortunately a lot of subjects and stories are very brief. the good thing, though, is that there's a bibliography at the end! so despite all the brevity here, it's a good jumping off point for looking further into japanese folklore and mysticism.

[Jason McCuiston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great resource for anyone interested in Japanese folklore, myth, and superstition. As a writer, I found it full of story idea and reference material. My only complaint is that it is so short, giving the reader a broad overview rather than an in-depth exploration of this particular mythos. But I feel it adequately does fulfill the author’s intention of introducing the reader to the darker side of Japanese historic culture. Though I hope later editions are better edited.

[I. S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

All in all this book did hold some interesting information, but I’m just not a fan of how it was presented. Each subject was very briefly touched on, almost more like the book was a bunch of lists in prose form.

There was a list of books for further reading, but I really would have preferred to see foot or end notes so I could easily find the sources for each section. That way, I would be able to find (hopefully) the specific subjects I wanted to read more about.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

This was okay. It condensed many of the writings of Lafcadio Hearn into bite-sized stories, often snipping off some of the charm too. Also, while I'm in no way an expert about Japan, it seemed to me that he attempted to make certain traditions seem scarier than they really are (like Obon, for example, which is a time when people honor their ancestors, not really a spooky ghost time).

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed reading The Dark Side of Japan, I felt that the author was trying to cram too much information in too few pages. It also felt that some of the stories lacked an ending. Some of the illustrations were good but would have been better in colour.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

the books almost a condensed record and I am convinced there is more

[Morgan Rooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF