Status Updates From The Book of Yokai: Mysterio...

So an edo-period depiction of the nurikabe doesn't show a wall but a flat-faced three-eyed elephant.

Hm, I had never seen the element that Tengu were once humans who failed in Buddhism and so became Tengu.

Oh, so tsuchigumo (earth-spider) might have been a derogatory and demonizing term by Japanese for the indigenous inhabitants of Japan. Granted, that is apparently in mythological texts, so who knows whether these people ever existed.

That oni section sure was long. Albeit not much new stuff for me here

Yeah.... this chapter on how the yokai sections are ordered really could have been left out, there was no reason for it.

Gosh, did 1/3 of the book really have to deal with all this history stuff and all these many many authors and books? Who would be able to remember even half of it and I don't think that most people reading this, really care about that part. Heck, it was a chore for me to sit through.

Funny, I can't remember anyone, ever, portraying Yamata no Orochi as having trees on its back. I can't even remember 8 tails being portrayed, only 8 heads

Hm, he mentions that depicting ghosts without legs is a japanese tradition and that made wonder: Was that exported to other parts of the world? Because in pre-20th century depictions of ghosts here in germany, they always have legs but later on you see in fiction ghosts without legs.

Ok, now that the book deals with terms like mononoke, bakemono, oni and yokai the reading experience is much better.

Why are introduction always so boring?