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Yokai: Shigeru Mizuki's Supernatural Parade
Manga titan Shigeru Mizuki brings Japan’s most entertaining myths to the modern age
As travelers approach a lush, cedar forest—the soft floor and woodland scent palpable from Shigeru Mizuki’s fecund drawing—something falls from the trees with a a human head, twelve times average size. A dozen more heads follow, peering at the travelers with maniacal laughter, before retreating back into the woods. A hallucination? No, this is Tohoku No Tsurubeotoshi.
An earthworm, larger than a human, floats in the air, backlit from window lights ensconced by shadowy darkness. Sontsuru—majestic on the page in Shigeru Mizuki’s delicate ink lines and bold colors—is no worm, but a yokai who haunts families across generations, wriggling between their skin and muscles.
And then there is Shirime, a city dwelling trickster who shouts, “A moment, sir!” only to then lift their kimono to reveal their unusual rump—a giant, glowing eyeball where one would otherwise expect a crack.
Indeed, not all the yokai in the pages of Shigeru Mizuki’s Supernatural Parade are there to cause fright. Like Mizuki himself, yokai often have a playful spirit, which Mizuki explores with joy in this stunning collection, which contains one hundred new, lavish, full page yokai illustrations, with biographies for each.
Shigeru Mizuki’s Supernatural Parade is the companion book to The Art of Shigeru Mizuki, and includes supplementary writing by acclaimed Mizuki scholar and translator Zack Davisson.
As travelers approach a lush, cedar forest—the soft floor and woodland scent palpable from Shigeru Mizuki’s fecund drawing—something falls from the trees with a a human head, twelve times average size. A dozen more heads follow, peering at the travelers with maniacal laughter, before retreating back into the woods. A hallucination? No, this is Tohoku No Tsurubeotoshi.
An earthworm, larger than a human, floats in the air, backlit from window lights ensconced by shadowy darkness. Sontsuru—majestic on the page in Shigeru Mizuki’s delicate ink lines and bold colors—is no worm, but a yokai who haunts families across generations, wriggling between their skin and muscles.
And then there is Shirime, a city dwelling trickster who shouts, “A moment, sir!” only to then lift their kimono to reveal their unusual rump—a giant, glowing eyeball where one would otherwise expect a crack.
Indeed, not all the yokai in the pages of Shigeru Mizuki’s Supernatural Parade are there to cause fright. Like Mizuki himself, yokai often have a playful spirit, which Mizuki explores with joy in this stunning collection, which contains one hundred new, lavish, full page yokai illustrations, with biographies for each.
Shigeru Mizuki’s Supernatural Parade is the companion book to The Art of Shigeru Mizuki, and includes supplementary writing by acclaimed Mizuki scholar and translator Zack Davisson.
Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2025
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About the author
Shigeru Mizuki
742 books331 followersShigeru Mizuki (水木しげる) was a Japanese manga cartoonist, most known for his horror manga GeGeGe no Kitaro. He was a specialist in stories of yōkai and was considered a master of the genre. Mizuki was a member of The Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology, and had travelled to over 60 countries in the world to engage in fieldwork of the yōkai and spirits of different cultures. He has been published in Japan, South Korea, France, Spain, Taiwan, the United States and Italy. He is also known for his World War II memoirs and his work as a biographer.
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November 20, 2025
Mizuki Shigeru (1922-2015) was one of the founders of Japanese manga after the WW2. But he was also a life-long student of Japanese folklore and especially yokai, the supernatural creatures, spirits and other phenomena that he held to be the integral part of Japanese (or any) nature. He wrote several books and encyclopaedia of them during his long life, and they had a deep impact on his work as a manga artist.
This is a collection of some of Mizuki’s yokai art edited by Zach Davidson, translator and folklorist. The book consists of horizontal, full-page, full-colour original images by Mizuki, with brief explanations of each yokai and some personal anecdotes of those yokai Mizuki had encountered himself.
The art is absolutely gorgeous. They combine folkloristic images of yokai, sometimes in traditional Japanese woodcut style, with comical manga images of humans encountering them. They’re highly imaginative and full of details that a reader can spend ages studying, always finding new things. I absolutely loved them. I wish they’d chosen one of the colourful images on the cover too, instead of the rather bland two-tone image.
From the editor, I would’ve needed a little more information. There’s a brief biography at the beginning of the book that concentrates on Mizuki as a folklorist rather than a manga artist, which somehow manages to leave out the detail mentioned in the back copy bio that Mizuki lost an arm in WW2. Which arm, and did it affect his work as an artist? I would also have liked to learn how this collection was edited. Is it an existing book or did the editor make a selection? How was the selection made? Based on images, editor’s favourite yokai, or potential reader interest? Are the descriptions Mizuki’s original, abbreviated from originals, or editor’s own? I would also have liked a table of contents or an index that would’ve made searching for a particular yokai easier.
These technical details aside, this is a delightful collection, a perfect coffee table book, and a starting point for anyone interested in Japanese yokai and Mizuki’s art.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This is a collection of some of Mizuki’s yokai art edited by Zach Davidson, translator and folklorist. The book consists of horizontal, full-page, full-colour original images by Mizuki, with brief explanations of each yokai and some personal anecdotes of those yokai Mizuki had encountered himself.
The art is absolutely gorgeous. They combine folkloristic images of yokai, sometimes in traditional Japanese woodcut style, with comical manga images of humans encountering them. They’re highly imaginative and full of details that a reader can spend ages studying, always finding new things. I absolutely loved them. I wish they’d chosen one of the colourful images on the cover too, instead of the rather bland two-tone image.
From the editor, I would’ve needed a little more information. There’s a brief biography at the beginning of the book that concentrates on Mizuki as a folklorist rather than a manga artist, which somehow manages to leave out the detail mentioned in the back copy bio that Mizuki lost an arm in WW2. Which arm, and did it affect his work as an artist? I would also have liked to learn how this collection was edited. Is it an existing book or did the editor make a selection? How was the selection made? Based on images, editor’s favourite yokai, or potential reader interest? Are the descriptions Mizuki’s original, abbreviated from originals, or editor’s own? I would also have liked a table of contents or an index that would’ve made searching for a particular yokai easier.
These technical details aside, this is a delightful collection, a perfect coffee table book, and a starting point for anyone interested in Japanese yokai and Mizuki’s art.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 of 1 review