Pop Yokai

A delightful journey into Japanese popular culture through yokai art.

Yokai are strange, mysterious creatures that populate Japanese folklore and inspire contemporary art and entertainment, such as Pokémon and the Oscar-winning film Spirited Away. The Yokai Art Museum, which is situated on the idyllic island of Shodoshima in the Seto Inland Sea, is the only museum in Japan dedicated solely to contemporary yokai and boasts a collection of almost 1,000 artworks. Visitors are guided by the voice of one such creature as they discover the origins and history of yokai and explore the contemporary world through yokai-themed art.

This fascinating, one-of-a-kind museum is reproduced in the pages of this book. It includes material written by Dr. Masanobu Kagawa, the first accredited Japanese yokai scholar and the author of many yokai-related books, original works created for this publication by yokai artist and museum director, Chubei Yagyu, and yokai tales from Shodoshima and other parts of Kagawa.

The term "yokai" encompasses the many strange creatures and supernatural phenomena that enrich Japanese folklore and legends. Highly diverse, some yokai are wicked while others are bearers of happiness. The Yokai Art Museum, which is situated on the island of Shodoshima in the Seto Inland Sea, is the only museum in Japan dedicated solely to contemporary yokai. It boasts a collection of almost 1,000 artworks and serves as a hub of contemporary yokai creation. Visitors are guided by the voice of one such creature as they discover the origins and history of yokai and explore the contemporary world through yokai-themed art.

Masanobu Kagawa (known as Dr. Yokai) is the author of many yokai-related books, the first accredited Japanese yokai scholar, and head curator of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History.

Cathy Hirano is an award-winning translator whose most recognized work is for lifestyle guru Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

Akiko Iwamoto runs a publisher based in France, which aims to make Japanese curious culture known worldwide.