Analyzing Variations of Yokai in Japanese Folklore and Media

This essay proposal explores the variations of Yokai, supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore and mythology. Yokai, derived from Kanji terms meaning bewitching or mysterious, encompass ghosts, phantoms, and monsters with varying appearances, from animalistic to human-like or invisible. They can be benevolent, bringing luck, or malevolent, causing trouble. The research questions address the definition, variations (Obake, Tengu, Kappa, Yamauba), and media representation of Yokai in books, movies, anime, manga, and video games, highlighting their significance in Japanese culture. Desklib provides a platform to explore more such solved assignments.

Running head: VARIATIONS OF YOKAI
Variations of Yokai
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

1VARIATIONS OF YOKAI
The Variations of Yokai
Thesis Statement
The thesis statement of this proposal is determining what yokai’s are and
the variations of yokai that are available in the mythology and folklores of Japan.
Research Questions for the Proposal
1. What are Yokais? Where are they commonly found?
2. What are the variations of the Yokai in Japan?
3. How has the Yokai been represented in the media platforms?
These questions are need to be asked as well as important because these questions
provide the answers to the readers about the meaning of the term Yokai. It will also
inform the audience about the types of Yokai available as well as how they have been
represented in the media over the year. These questions are important because they
will tell the readers about Yokais. This will enable the readers to know about the term
and its meaning if they have never heard of the word before.
Proposal
The summary of the research proposal will focus on the meaning of the term “Yokai”
as well a as their variations and how they have been represented in the media platforms over
the years.
The term ‘Yokai’ refers to the supernatural creatures that are commonly found in the
Japanese folklore and mythology. The term is derived from the Kanji terms for “bewitching,
attractive, spectre, mysterious etc.” These can include ghosts, phantoms, supernatural
monsters or apparitions of any kind (Ross, 2015). Yokais can vary from being benevolent,

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bringing good luck and fortune to people encountering them to downright malevolent and
mischievous, scaring people or causing trouble for them. Although Yokai are known to
possess animal features, some of them look like humans, inanimate objects or simply
invisible.
As stated by Shamoon (2013), there have been various variations of yokai mentioned
in the Japanese folklore and mythology. These mythologies mention the yokais to be of
different shapes and sizes as mentioned by the experts and in the mythological books and
other texts. However, the common variations of Yokai that are commonly known to the
experts include the following :
Obake – These are terms for creature that can shapeshift into human forms.
Tengu - These are bird monsters who have the ability to take human forms. Once
considered as dangerous, these are now considered to be the protectors of forests and
mountains.
Kappa – These are river monsters based on giant salamanders. They can be
problematic but also good natured. They are known to enjoy good sumo wrestling
matches.
Yamauba – These are monstrous old women with unproper hair said to live deep in the
mountains. They have a ghost like existence.
Yokai have been represented in various ways in the media platforms of Japan and
other countries. Numerous books and movies have been made that featured these supernatural
creatures from the mythology and the folktales of Japan. Apart from that they have also been
portrayed in numerous anime, manga as well as video games for the audiences. Hence are the

3VARIATIONS OF YOKAI
ways in which the Yokai have been represented in the media platforms of Japan and other
countries (Morishita, 2016).
Reference List
Foster, M.D., 2015. The book of yokai: Mysterious creatures of Japanese folklore. University
of California Press.
Morishita, M., 2016. From Eerie to Endearing: Yokai in the Arts of Japan. Museum Worlds,
4(1), p.234.
Ross, C., 2015. Supernatural and Mysterious Japan: Spirits, Hauntings and Paranormal
Phenomena. Tuttle Publishing.
Shamoon, D., 2013. The Yōkai in the Database: Supernatural Creatures and Folklore in
Manga and Anime. Marvels & Tales, 27(2), pp.276-289.

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