Supernatural and Mysterious Japan: Spirits, Hauntings and Paranormal Phenomena

by Catrien Ross

Jepang memiliki keunikan. Kekayaan akan peninggalan tradisi dan legenda supranatural telah memberi pengaruh bagi kekuatan dan kemajuan Jepang.

Untuk menulis buku ini penulis melakukan perjalanan dengan menjelajahi tempat-tempat menyeramkan yang memiliki kekuatan supranatural dan menjelaskannya secara ilmiah. Kekuatan supranatural yang menjadi bagian hidup dari masyarakat telah memberi andil bagi kemajuan Jepang. Dari penelusurannya itu penulis bahkan menegaskan bahawa apa-apa yang sekarang ini dianggap supranatural mungkin saja akan menjadi kekuatan super dalam kehidupan sehari-hari di masa yang akan datang.

Untuk menyelesaikan buku ini, penulis tanpa rasa takut mendatangi tempat-tempat yang menyeramkan, termasuk makam si cantik Oiwa yang dikhianati (tempat yang ramai dikunjungi orang) dan gunung suci Osore yang merupakan gerbang untuk berkomunikasi dengan orang yang sudah mati. Hasil dari perjalanannya adalah sebuah pandangan sekilas ke dalam aspek-aspek dunia paranormal Jepang yang tersembunyi yaitu dunia yang tak dapat terselami: dukun-dukun wanita, pohon yang ditumbuhi rambut manusia, batu menangis dan bahkan sebuah makam yang diyakini sebagai tempat Yesus dikuburkan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan

195 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 1996

About the author

Catrien Ross moved to Japan more than twenty-five years ago, embarking on a contemplative life as a mystic, spiritual teacher, and sudden genius artist.

She is the founder of Energy Doorways, a creative and spiritual center at the foot of Mt. Fuji that also serves as the indie publisher of Catrien Ross new books in Japanese and English, as well as her CDs and other productions.

In 2013 Catrien Ross experienced the phenomenon of sudden genius, an abrupt onset of original paintings and music. Yet she had never in her life studied either painting or the piano.

Catrien Ross lives in a centuries-old Japanese kominka in the mountains, where she continues to express life as multicultural, multifaceted, and multidimensional.

Reviews

[James Crawford]

This is a very good and very detailed small book into the supernatural in Japan. Information ranges from tales from the Edo era to present-day hauntings. A few of the more interesting pieces of information include the following:

There are believed to be over 8 million dieties according to Japanese belief. These are referred to as kami and can live anywhere. Their opposites, oni are the demons who mirror the "dark side of human nature." If you watch anime you will hear from time to time the term kami-sama, which is the Japanese way of saying kami, but adding the honorific -sama to the base word.

For those who have played Animal Crossing, the kappa will be familiar. This is a creature that has a beaked mouth, a scaly body with a tortoise shell and a hollow or bald spot on the top of its head whose favorite food is the cucumber. In Animal Crossing it's a friendly creature who rows you to your island and back. In Japanese mythology, it's most unfriendly, trying to drown children and washerwomen.

The tanuki is a raccoon-like creature that is a shape-shifter. Miyazaki's film Pom Poco tells a tale about these creatures.

Japanese shamans were referred to as miko.

Japan has had its share of prophets. A woman named Deguchi Nao foretold Japan's war with China and with Russia over a decade in advance. She also practiced automatic writing .

In 1873 a law was passed outlawing mediums and psychics, and in 1874 another law outlawed faith healers and psychic healers.

There's a lot of other information in this book including some folk-tales.

[Roswitha Muntiyarso]

Sangat berani. Seorang asing yang memcoba menyelami kehidupan supranatural dari orang-orang Jepang yang notabenenya trmasuk sangat kuat. Buku ini benar-benar mengambarkan seperti apa spiritualitas orang Jepang dan kepercayaannya akan hal-hal gaib. Benar-benar cocok dengan gambaran yang saya baca di manga-manga dan cerita dari ayah saya yang banyak bekerja dengan orang Jepang. Seperti kita orang Indonesia yang memegang budaya timur dan percaya dengan hal-hal gaib, begitu pula orang Jepang. Jadi jangan heran jika orang Jepang kadangkala tidak mau membangun tempat kerja di bekas kuburan atau sebelah kuburan. Seperti halnya dengna kita, orang Jepang pun percaya akan hantu dan tata krama dengan arwah yang berdiam di suatu tempat.

[Novia]

I find this book very interesting. I am a true Islam believer but it is always fun to read about other people’s belief and this book provides a lot of info of those unusual beliefs. Besides that, this book also has good ghost sighting stories. I enjoy every page on this book.

full review of the book is here http://bokunosekai.wordpress.com/2009...

[Brittany]

A decent book with some good bits of information on psychic phenomena in modern Japan as well as some nice ghost stories and haunted places.

[Dave Friedman]

I edited this book as a young editor at Tuttle Publishing.

[Ta0paipai]

A fun book with tons of info but no citations that reads like an old episode of "In Search Of."