Valentine's Day in Japan

Do you know how Japanese celebrate Valentine's Day? Perhaps you may already have heard about their strange way of celebrating Valentine’s Day. In Japan, Valentine’s Day is known as a day when women (yes, women and only women) give chocolates to men!

Wait, so don’t women ever get anything from men? Don’t worry, we have another silly day called White Day on March 14th, where men give something to women in return ^_^ We Japanese people love gift exchanges, if you are in Japan you can take an advantage of Valentines Day to give someone a gift and show an appreciation for him/her! Giving chocolate on Valentine’s Day can be linked to as a romantic event, however it is not always the case.

Okay, there are two kinds of chocolate. One is 本命チョコ (honmei choco), and other is 義理チョコ (giri choco). When a girl gives a chocolate to her romantic partner or someone she fancies, that’s called honmei choco (a word “honmei” means dead certain). But if it’s not the case, it’s called 義理チョコ (“giri” means obligation).

According to it, 東ハト(Tohato, one of the companies that sell confectionary) had a survey and asked people what giri choco means to them. 54% of women said it’s a way of showing appreciation, 24％ said courtesy. On the other hand, 41% of men said courtesy and 22% said “probably a love”. Hm interesting, so it means chocolate gives guys hope that it will grow into something bigger? Which leads to the problem that chocolate giving can bring confusion and sometimes trouble. Girls don’t give guys chocolate and say, “This is giri choco by the way”. It’s kind of rude… So guys have to figure that out. At the same time, girls have to be careful too to avoid the confusion. They have to somehow make it clear that it’s not honmei choco without clearly stating it. You don’t want to be stalked by someone you are not interested in you know. This uncertainty sounds annoying but perhaps that’s the exciting part!?


So how did giri choco start? Well, no body really knows. But one thing that is known is that its sale boosted around 1986, when there was an economic bubble in Japan. The average cost of giri choco per person has been around 500 yen. According to ガールズトーク’s (Girl’s Talk) research, 60 percent of people spend less than 1000 yen for giri choco in total which means 250 to 500 yen for each.

However, nowadays kind of giri choco has evolved so many ways. There are 友チョコ (tomo choko: for friends), 世話チョコ (sewa choco: apparently it’s more significant than giri choco), パパチョコ (papa choco: for fathers), and even 自分チョコ (jibun choco: reward for yourself)!! えーーーっ, why do we have to come up with so many names?? Even I didn’t know such terms existed. Quite impressive…… Anyway, it is said that women are probably spending more than 1000 yen for giri choco because there are so many kinds now.

[ Sources from: TastyMiso ]

Japanese people

Japanese People

 

The Japanese people (日本人 Nihonjin, Nipponjin) are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries are referred to as nikkeijin (日系人). The term "Japanese people" may also be used in some contexts to refer to a locus of ethnic groups including the Yamato people, Ainu people, and Ryukyuans.





Culture
Language
The Japanese language is a Japonic language that is sometimes treated as a language isolate; it is also related to the Ryukyuan languages, and both are suggested to be part of the proposed Altaic language family. The Japanese language has a tripartite writing system using Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Domestic Japanese people use primarily Japanese for daily interaction. The adult literacy rate in Japan exceeds 99%.

Religion
Japanese religion has traditionally been syncretic in nature, combining elements of Buddhism and Shinto. Shinto, a polytheistic religion with no book of religious canon, is Japan's native religion. Shinto was one of the traditional grounds for the right to the throne of the Japanese imperial family, and was codified as the state religion in 1868 (State Shinto was abolished by the American occupation in 1945). Mahayana Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century and evolved into many different sects. Today the largest form of Buddhism among Japanese people is the Jodo Shinshu sect founded by Shinran.
Most Japanese people (84% to 96%) profess to believe in both Shinto and Buddhism. The Japanese people's religion functions mostly as a foundation for mythology, traditions, and neighborhood activities, rather than as the single source of moral guidelines for one's life.

Literature
 Bisque doll of Momotaro, a character from Japanese literature and folklore.
Certain genres of writing originated in and are often associated with Japanese society. These include the haiku, tanka, and I Novel, although modern writers generally avoid these writing styles. Historically, many works have sought to capture or codify traditional Japanese cultural values and aesthetics. Some of the most famous of these include Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (1021), about Heian court culture; Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings (1645), concerning military strategy; Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi (1691), a travelogue; and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's essay "In Praise of Shadows" (1933), which contrasts Eastern and Western cultures.
Following the opening of Japan to the West in 1854, some works of this style were written in English by natives of Japan; they include Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Nitobe Inazo (1900), concerning samurai ethics, and The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo (1906), which deals with the philosophical implications of the Japanese tea ceremony. Western observers have often attempted to evaluate Japanese society as well, to varying degrees of success; one of the most well-known and controversial works resulting from this is Ruth Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1946).
Twentieth-century Japanese writers recorded changes in Japanese society through their works. Some of the most notable authors included Natsume Natsume Sōseki, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Osamu Dazai, Yasunari Kawabata, Fumiko Enchi, Yukio Mishima, and Ryotaro Shiba. In contemporary Japan, popular authors such as Ryu Murakami, Haruki Murakami, and Banana Yoshimoto are highly regarded.

Arts
Decorative arts in Japan date back to prehistoric times. Jōmon pottery includes examples with elaborate ornamentation. In the Yayoi period, artisans produced mirrors, spears, and ceremonial bells known as dﾨﾭtaku. Later burial mounds, or kofun, preserve characteristic clay haniwa, as well as wall paintings.
Beginning in the Nara period, painting, calligraphy, and sculpture flourished under strong Confucian and Buddhist influences from Korea and China. Among the architectural achievements of this period are the Hōryū-ji and the Yakushi-ji, two Buddhist temples in Nara Prefecture. After the cessation of official relations with the Tang dynasty in the ninth century, Japanese art and architecture gradually became less influenced by China. Extravagant art and clothing was commissioned by nobles to decorate their court life, and although the aristocracy was quite limited in size and power, many of these pieces are still extant. After the Todai-ji was attacked and burned during the Gempei War, a special office of restoration was founded, and the Todai-ji became an important artistic center. The leading masters of the time were Unkei and Kaikei.
Painting advanced in the Muromachi period in the form of ink and wash painting under the influence of Zen Buddhism as practiced by such masters as Sesshū Tōyō. Zen Buddhist tenets were also elaborated into the tea ceremony during the Sengoku period. During the Edo period, the polychrome painting screens of the Kano school were made influential thanks to their powerful patrons (including the Tokugawas). Popular artists created ukiyo-e, woodblock prints for sale to commoners in the flourishing cities. Pottery such as Imari ware was highly valued as far away as Europe.
In theater, Noh is a traditional, spare dramatic form that developed in tandem with kyogen farce. In stark contrast to the restrained refinement of noh, kabuki, an "explosion of color," uses every possible stage trick for dramatic effect. Plays include sensational events such as suicides, and many such works were performed in both kabuki and bunraku puppet theaters.
Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has absorbed elements of Western culture. Its modern decorative, practical, and performing arts works span a spectrum ranging from the traditions of Japan to purely Western modes. Products of popular culture, including J-pop, manga, and anime have found audiences around the world.


Origins
 Japan at the height of the last glaciation about 20,000 years ago
A 2005 study by Michael F. Hammer reports genetic similarities between the Japanese and several other Asian populations, which shows that common human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups of Japanese are D-P37.1 (34.7%), O-P31 (31.7%), O-M122 (20.1%), C-M8 (5.4%), C-M217 (3.1%), NO (2.3%) and N (1.5%). Haplogroup N is detected in samples of central Japanese, but is not found in Ainu and Ryukyuan people. Also, haplogroup O and C-M8 are not found in Ainu, and C-M217 is not found in Ryukyuan, but D-P37.1 is found in all Japanese groups including Ainu and Ryukyuan. This study, and others, report that Y-chromosome patrilines crossed from the Asian mainland into the Japanese Archipelago, and continue to make up a large proportion of the Japanese male lineage. If focusing haplogroup O-P31 in the research, the patrilines derived from its subclade O-SRY465 are frequently found in both Japanese (29.7%) and Koreans (37.3%). According to the research, these patrilines have undergone extensive genetic admixture with the Jﾨﾭmon period populations previously established in Japan.
Another study conducted in 1991 by Hanihara is based on the "dual structure model". According to Hanihara, modern Japanese lineages began with the original Jōmon people, who moved into the Japanese Archipelago during Paleolithic times from their homeland in southeast Asia, and immigrants from the Yayoi period (300 BCE - 300 CE). However in recent decades, others have proposed (mainly based on archaeological evidence of former folk customs) that the Japanese people are related to the Yi, Hani, and Dai people.
It is believed that there was a second wave of immigrants from southeast Asia clarification needed name to northeastern Asia. Following a population expansion in Neolithic times, these newcomers then found their way to the Japanese archipelago sometime during the Yayoi period. As a result, miscegenation was rife in the island regions of Kyūshū, Shikoku, and Honshū, but did not prevail in the outlying islands of Okinawa and Hokkaidō. Here, the Ryukyuan and Ainu people continued to dominate, as suggested by studies of human bone and teeth development and comparative analyses of mitochondrial DNA between Jōmon people and medieval Ainu.
Masatoshi Nei opposed the "dual structure model" and alleged that the genetic distance data show that the Japanese people originated in northeast Asia, moving to Japan perhaps more than thirty thousand years ago.
The estimated population in the late Jﾨﾭmon period was about one hundred thousand, compared to about three million by the Nara period. Taking the growth rates of hunting and agricultural societies into account, it is calculated that about one and half million immigrants moved to Japan in the period.

Paleolithic era
Archaeological evidence indicates that Stone Age people lived in the Japanese Archipelago during the Paleolithic period between 39,000 and 21,000 years ago. Japan was then connected to mainland Asia by at least one land bridge, and nomadic hunter-gatherers crossed to Japan from East Asia, Siberia, and possibly Kamchatka. Flint tools and bony implements of this era have been excavated in Japan.


 Incipient Jōmon pottery


Jomon and Ainu people
The world's oldest known pottery was developed by the Jﾨﾭmon people in the Upper Paleolithic period, 14th millennium BCE. The name, "Jōmon" (縄文 Jōmon), which means "cord-impressed pattern", comes from the characteristic markings found on the pottery. The Jﾨﾭmon people were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, though at least one middle to late Jōmon site (Minami Mosote (南溝手), ca. 1200-1000 BCE) had a primitive rice-growing agriculture. They relied primarily on fish for protein. It is believed that the Jōmon had very likely migrated from North Asia or Central Asia and became the Ainu of today. Research suggests that the Ainu retain a certain degree of uniqueness in their genetic make-up, while having some affinities with different regional populations in Japan as well as the Nivkhs of the Russian Far East. Based on more than a dozen genetic markers on a variety of chromosomes and from archaeological data showing habitation of the Japanese Archipelago dating back 30,000 years, it is argued that the Jōmon actually came from northeastern Asia and settled on the islands far earlier than some have proposed.

Yayoi people
Around 400-300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter the Japanese islands, intermingling with the Jōmon. The Yayoi brought wet-rice farming and advanced bronze and iron technology to Japan. Although the islands were already abundant with resources for hunting and dry-rice farming, Yayoi farmers created more productive wet-rice paddy field systems. This allowed the communities to support larger populations and spread over time, in turn becoming the basis for more advanced institutions and heralding the new civilization of the succeeding Kofun Period.

Origin of Jomon and Yayoi
Currently, the most well-regarded theory is that present-day Japanese are descendants of both the indigenous Jōmon people and the immigrant Yayoi people. The origins of the Jōmon and Yayoi peoples have often been a subject of dispute, but it is now generally accepted that the Jōmon people were similar to the modern Ainu of northern Japan; the path of their migration may have been from the southwest of China to Mongolia to today's southeastern Russia and then to northeastern Japan, and they probably have lived in Japan since the time of the last glacial age. They brought with them the origins of Japanese culture and religion. Han Chinese and ethnic Korean groups are thought to be the origin of the Yayoi group which entered Japan from the southwest, bringing a more advanced civilization than the native Jōmon people. However, a clear consensus has not been reached.


Japanese colonialism
 Location of Japan
During the Japanese colonial period of 1895 to 1945, the phrase "Japanese people" was used to refer not only to residents of the Japanese archipelago, but also to people from occupied territories who held Japanese citizenship, such as Taiwanese people and Korean people. The official term used to refer to ethnic Japanese during this period was "inland people" (内地人 naichijin). Such linguistic distinctions facilitated forced assimilation of colonized ethnic identities into a single Imperial Japanese identity.
After World War II, many Nivkh people and Orok people from southern Sakhalin who held Japanese citizenship were forced to repatriate to Hokkaidō by the Soviet Union. However, many Sakhalin Koreans who had held Japanese citizenship until the end of the war were left stateless by the Soviet occupation.

Japanese diaspora
The term nikkeijin (日系人) is used to refer to Japanese people who emigrated from Japan and their descendants.
Emigration from Japan was recorded as early as the 12th century to the Philippines, but did not become a mass phenomenon until the Meiji Era, when Japanese began to go to the United States, Canada, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina. There was also significant emigration to the territories of the Empire of Japan during the colonial period; however, most such emigrants repatriated to Japan after the end of World War II in Asia.
According to the Association of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad, there are about 2.5 million nikkeijin living in their adopted countries. The largest of these foreign communities are in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Paraná. There are also significant cohesive Japanese communities in the Philippines, Peru, Argentina, and the American states of Hawaii, California, and Washington. Separately, the number of Japanese citizens living abroad is over one million according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There is also a small group of Japanese descendants living in Caribbean countries such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic, where hundreds of these immigrants were brought in by Rafael L. Trujillo in the 1930s.

Yōkai (Ghost or Demon) Part 2/2

Obake

          Obake (お化け) and bakemono (化け物) (sometimes obakemono) are a class of yokai in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean a thing that changes, referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting.
These words are often translated as ghost, but primarily they refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and these bakemono are distinct from the spirits of the dead. However, as a secondary usage, the term obake can be a synonym for yūrei, the ghost of a deceased human being.
          A bakemono's true form may be an animal such as a fox (kitsune), a raccoon dog (tanuki), a badger (mujina), a transforming cat (bakeneko), the spirit of a plant — such as a kodama, or an inanimate object which may possess a soul in Shinto and other animistic traditions. Obake derived from household objects are often called tsukumogami.
          A bakemono usually either disguises itself as a human or appears in a strange or terrifying form such as a hitotsume-kozō, an ōnyūdō, or a noppera-bō. In common usage, any bizarre apparition can be referred to as a bakemono or an obake whether or not it is believed to have some other form, making the terms roughly synonymous with yōkai.

Yurei

          Yūrei (幽霊) are figures in Japanese folklore, analogous to Western legends of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, 幽 (yū), meaning "faint" or "dim" and 霊 (rei), meaning "soul" or "spirit." Alternative names include 亡霊 (Bōrei) meaning ruined or departed spirit, 死霊 (Shiryō) meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing 妖怪 (Yōkai) or お化け (Obake).

Like their Chinese and Western counterparts, they are thought to be spirits kept from a peaceful afterlife.

Japanese afterlife

          According to traditional Japanese beliefs, all humans have a spirit or soul called a 霊魂 (reikon). When a person dies, the reikon leaves the body and enters a form of purgatory, where it waits for the proper funeral and post-funeral rites to be performed, so that it may join its ancestors. If this is done correctly, the reikon is believed to be a protector of the living family and to return yearly in August during the Obon Festival to receive thanks.

          However, if the person dies in a sudden or violent manner such as murder or suicide, if the proper rites have not been performed, or if they are influenced by powerful emotions such as a desire for revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow, the reikon is thought to transform into a yūrei, which can then bridge the gap back to the physical world.

          The yūrei then exists on Earth until it can be laid to rest, either by performing the missing rituals, or resolving the emotional conflict that still ties it to the physical plane. If the rituals are not completed or the conflict left unresolved, the yūrei will persist in its haunting.

Appearance

In the late 17th century, a game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular, and kaidan increasingly became a subject for theater, literature and other arts. At this time, they began to gain certain attributes to distinguish themselves from living humans, making it easier to spot yūrei characters.

Ukiyo-e artist Maruyama Ōkyo created the first known example of the now-traditional yūrei, in his painting The Ghost of Oyuki.

Today, the appearance of yūrei is somewhat uniform, instantly signalling the ghostly nature of the figure, and assuring that it is culturally authentic.

White clothing - Yūrei are usually dressed in white, signifying the white burial kimono used in Edo period funeral rituals. In Shinto, white is a color of ritual purity, traditionally reserved for priests and the dead. This kimono can either be a katabira (a plain, white, unlined kimono) or a kyokatabira (a white katabira inscribed with Buddhist sutras). They sometimes have a hitaikakushi (lit., "forehead cover"),[dubious – discuss] which is a small white triangular piece of cloth tied around the head.

Black hair - Hair of a yūrei is often long, black and disheveled, which some believe to be a trademark carried over from Kabuki Theater, where wigs are used for all actors. However, this is a misconception. Japanese women traditionally grew their hair long and wore it pinned up, and it was let down for the funeral and burial.

Hands and feet - A yūrei's hands dangle lifelessly from the wrists, which are held outstretched with the elbows near the body. They typically lack legs and feet, floating in the air. These features originated in Edo period ukiyo-e prints, but were quickly copied over to kabuki. In kabuki, this lack of legs and feet is often represented by the use of a very long kimono, or even hoisting the actor into the air by a series of ropes and pulleys.

Hitodama - Yūrei are frequently depicted as being accompanied by a pair of floating flames or will o' the wisps (Hitodama in Japanese) in eerie colors such as blue, green, or purple. These ghostly flames are separate parts of the ghost rather than independent spirits.

Classifications

Yurei

          While all Japanese ghosts are called yūrei, within that category there are several specific types of phantom, classified mainly by the manner they died or their reason for returning to Earth.

• Onryō - Vengeful ghosts who come back from purgatory for a wrong done to them during their lifetime.
• Ubume - A mother ghost who died in childbirth, or died leaving young children behind. This yūrei returns to care for her children, often bringing them sweets.
• Goryō - Vengeful ghosts of the aristocratic class, especially those who were martyred.
• Funayūrei - The ghosts of those who died at sea. These ghosts are sometimes depicted as scaly fish-like humanoids and some may even have a form similar to that of a mermaid or merman.
• Zashiki-warashi - The ghosts of children, often mischievous rather than dangerous.
• Samurai Ghosts - Veterans of the Genpei War who fell in battle. Warrior Ghosts almost exclusively appear in Noh Theater. Unlike most other yūrei, these ghosts are usually shown with legs.
• Seductress Ghosts - The ghost of a woman or man who initiates a post-death love affair with a living human.

Buddhist Ghosts

          There are two types of ghosts specific to Buddhism, both being examples of unfullfilled earthly hungers being carried on after death. They are different from other classifications of yūrei due to their wholly religious nature.

• Gaki
• Jikininki

Ikiryo

          In Japanese folklore, not only the dead are able to manifest their reikon for a haunting. Living creatures possessed by extraordinary jealousy or rage can release their spirit as an ikiryō 生き霊, a living ghost that can enact its will while still alive.

The most famous example of an ikiryo is Rokujo no Miyasundokoro, from the novel The Tale of Genji.

Obake

          Yūrei often fall under the general umbrella term of obake, derived from the verb bakeru, meaning "to change"; thus obake are preternatural beings who have undergone some sort of change, from the natural realm to the supernatural.

          However, Kunio Yanagita, one of Japan's earliest and foremost folklorists, made a clear distinction between yūrei and obake in his seminal "Yokaidangi (Lectures on Monsters)." He claimed that yūrei haunt a particular person, while obake haunt a particular place.

          When looking at typical kaidan, this does not appear to be true. Yūrei such as Okiku haunt a particular place -in Okiku's case, the well where she died-, and continue to do so long after the person who killed them has died.

Hauntings

          Yūrei do not wander at random, but generally stay near a specific location, such as where they were killed or where their body lies, or follow a specific person, such as their murderer, or a beloved. They usually appear between 2 and 3 a.m, the witching hour for Japan, when the veils between the world of the dead and the world of the living are at their thinnest.

          Yūrei will continue to haunt that particular person or place until their purpose is fulfilled, and they can move on to the afterlife. However, some particularly strong yūrei, specifically onryō who are consumed by vengeance, continue to haunt long after their killers have been brought to justice.

Famous hauntings

          Some famous locations that are said to be haunted by yūrei are the well of Himeji Castle, haunted by the ghost of Okiku, and Aokigahara, the forest at the bottom of Mt. Fuji, which is a popular location for suicide. A particularly powerful onryō, Oiwa, is said to be able to bring vengeance on any actress portraying her part in a theater or film adaptation.

Exorcism

          The easiest way to exorcise a yūrei is to help it fulfill its purpose. When the reason for the strong emotion binding the spirit to Earth is gone, the yūrei is satisfied and can move on. Traditionally, this is accomplished by family members enacting revenge upon the yūrei's slayer, or when the ghost consummates its passion/love with its intended lover, or when its remains are discovered and given a proper burial with all rites performed.

          The emotions of the onryō are particularly strong, and they are the least likely to be pacified by these methods.

          On occasion, Buddhist priests and mountain ascetics were hired to perform services on those whose unusual or unfortunate deaths could result in their transition into a vengeful ghost, a practice similar to exorcism. Sometimes these ghosts would be deified in order to placate their spirits.

          Like many monsters of Japanese folklore, malicious yūrei are repelled by ofuda (御札), holy Shinto writings containing the name of a kami. The ofuda must generally be placed on the yūrei's forehead to banish the spirit, although they can be attached to a house's entry ways to prevent the yūrei from entering.

In popular culture

In ukiyo-e

          Yūrei were a popular subject matter for ukiyo-e artists. Many artists created scenes from ghostly Kabuki plays, or attempted to capture the images of real yūrei in ghost portraits.
          Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's series New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts is typical of Edo period yūrei prints, recreating some of Japan's most famous ghosts.
          In 1830, Katsushika Hokusai included yūrei in his One Hundred Tales (Hyaku monogatari) series.

Yurei-ga gallery at Zenshoan Temple

          Zenshoan(全生庵) Temple in Tokyo, Japan is known for its collection of yūrei paintings, known as the Yūrei-ga gallery. The 50 silk paintings, most of which date back 150 to 200 years, depict a variety of apparitions from the forlorn to the ghastly.
          The scrolls were collected by Sanyu-tei Encho(三遊亭円朝), a famous storyteller (rakugo artist) during the Edo era who studied at Zenshoan. Encho is said to have collected the scrolls as a source of inspiration for the ghostly tales he loved to tell in summer.
          They are open for viewing only in August, the traditional time in Japan for ghost stories.

In fiction

          Yūrei have always been a major part of Japanese fiction, with almost every writer of note[according to whom] turning his hand to kaidan at one time or another. During the Edo period in particular, a game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular. This game lead to a demand for ghost stories and folktales to be gathered from all parts of Japan and China.
          Early popular kaidan, such as Botan Doro, were translated from Chinese folktales and given a Japanese setting. Other yūrei originate in Japan, either as local legends or original stories.

• Otogi Boko (1666) - Asai Ryoi
• Ugetsu Monogatari (1776) - Ueda Akinari
• Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904) - Lafcadio Hearn
• Maya Kakushi no Rei - Kyōka Izumi
• Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro - Shigeru Mizuki
• Ring (1991) - Koji Suzuki

In film

          The first yūrei movies were adaptations of existing kaidan Kabuki plays, such as Botan Doro in 1910, and Yotsuya Kaidan in 1912. New versions of these popular kaidan have been filmed once a decade ever since.
          Yūrei films have changed with the various trends in Japanese cinema over the years, never completely leaving the screens. In recent times of the 1990s and beyond, the J-Horror boom has spread the image of the yūrei beyond Japan and into the popular culture of Western countries.

1. Ring
2. Ju-on
3. Kairo
4. Dark Water
5. Kwaidan
6. One Missed Call
7. Shikoku
8. Ugetsu Monogatari
9. After Life
10. Dreams
11. Rasen
12. Throne of Blood
13. The Grudge
14. Masters of Horror-Dream Cruise
15. Shutter

*Marked in bold are those film that are really popular among all the peoples and country.

Yōkai (Ghost or Demon) Part 1/2

Yokai

          Yōkai (妖怪 literally demon, spirit, or monster) are a class of preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore ranging from the evil oni (ogre) to the mischievous kitsune (fox) or snow woman Yuki-onna. Some possess part animal and part human features (e.g. Kappa and Tengu). Yōkai generally have a sort of spiritual or supernatural power. Yōkai that have the ability to shape-shift are called obake.

          Japanese folklorists and historians use yōkai as "supernatural or unaccountable phenomena to their informants". In the Edo period, many artists, such as Toriyama Sekien, created a lot of yōkai inspired by folklore or their own ideas, and in the present, not a few yōkai created by them (e.g. Kameosa and Amikiri, see below) are wrongly considered as being of legendary origin.

          From the 1960s on, manga artist Shigeru Mizuki popularized many types of yōkai in his works (e.g., the titular one-eyed yōkai protagonist in Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro). Lafcadio Hearn's collection of Japanese ghost stories entitled Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things includes stories of yūrei and yōkai such as Yuki-onna.

Types

          There are a wide variety of yōkai in Japanese folklore. In general, yōkai is a broad term, and can be used to encompass virtually all monsters and supernatural beings, even including creatures from European folklore on occasion (e.g., the English bugbear is often included in Japanese folklore to the point that some mistakenly believe it originates from said folklore).

 

Shapeshifting animals

          A good number of animals that are thought to have magic of their own can be found in Japan. Most of these are henge (変化), shapeshifters, which often imitate humans, mostly women. Some of the better known animal yōkai include the following:

• Tanuki (raccoon dog)
• Kitsune (foxes)
• Hebi (snakes)
• Mujina (badgers)
• Bakeneko (cats)
• Ōkami (wolves)
• Tsuchigumo and jorōgumo (spiders)
• Inugami (dogs)

Oni

          One of the most well-known aspects of Japanese folklore is the oni, which is a sort of mountain-dwelling ogre, usually depicted with red, blue, brown or black skin, two horns on its head, a wide mouth filled with fangs, and wearing nothing but a tigerskin loincloth. It often carries an iron club or a giant sword. Oni are mostly depicted as evil, but can occasionally be the embodiment of an ambivalent natural force. They are, like many obake, associated with the direction northeast.

Tsukumogami

          Tsukumogami are an entire class of yōkai and obake, comprising ordinary household items that have come to life on the one-hundredth anniversary of their birthday. This virtually unlimited classification includes Bakezouri (straw sandals), Karakasa (old umbrellas), Kameosa (old sake jars), and Morinji-no-kama (tea kettles).

Human transformations

          There are a large number of yōkai which were originally ordinary human beings, transformed into something horrific and grotesque usually by some sort of extreme emotional state. Women suffering from intense jealousy, for example, were thought to transform into the female oni represented by hannya masks. Other examples of human transformations or humanoid yōkai are the rokuro-kubi (humans able to elongate their necks during the night), the ohaguro-bettari (a figure, usually female, that turns to reveal a face with only a blackened mouth), futakuchi-onna (a woman with a voracious extra mouth on the back of her head), and dorotabō (the risen corpse of a farmer, who haunts his abused land), among many others.

In popular culture

          Various kinds of yōkai are encountered in folklore and folklore-inspired art and literature, particularly manga and Japanese horror. Shigeru Mizuki, the manga creator of such series as GeGeGe no Kitaro and Kappa no Sanpei, keeps yōkai in the popular imagination, at least in Japan. With the exception of three volumes of GeGeGe no Kitaro, however, Mizuki's works have yet to be translated into English.

          Yōkai have continued to be a common theme in modern works of fiction. They served as the stars in the 1960s Yokai Monsters film series, which was loosely remade in 2005 as Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War. They often play major roles in Japanese animation and comics, including animated films such as Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko, and various series such as InuYasha, Jigoku Shoujo, Rosario+Vampire, Kanokon, Yōkai Ningen Bem, Hell Teacher Nūbē, Karas, Tactics, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, YuYu Hakusho, Saiyuki, Kekkaishi, Nurarihyon no Mago, Shonen Onmyouji, Natsume Yuujinchou, Yozakura Quartet, Amatsuki, Otome Yōkai Zakuro and xxxHolic. They also appear commonly in video games, such as Darkstalkers, Ōkami, Touhou, Harukanaru Toki no Naka De and Pocky & Rocky, as well as tokusatsu series like Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and Kamen Rider Hibiki

Some of these sources, including Inuyasha, feature the child of a yōkai and a human. This child is referred to as a 'hanyou' or 'hanyō,' in Inuyasha. This may derive from folkloric tradition - some folklore also deals with the child of a yōkai and a human, which may have supernatural powers.

Foreign works

          In the English-speaking world, knowledge of yōkai is slowly, but surely, developing a dedicated following. Hawaiian folklorist Glen Grant was known for his "Obake Files", a series of reports he developed about supernatural incidents in Hawaii; the grand bulk of these incidents and reports were of Japanese origin, though in retelling have been much modified from their original forms in Japanese folklore. Another cultural reference is in the Oriental Adventures Dungeons and Dragons rulebook where one of the playable races is the hengeyokai, shapeshifters that can assume a human form, an animal form, and a hybrid bipedal animalistic form.

As a location

          In more modern works, yōkai (妖界, note the different kanji) and makai (魔界) are used synonymously as the supernatural world where yōkai live. Works which have included one or the other include the manga series Tokimeki Tonight and the young adult fiction series Yōkai Navi Luna (妖界ナビ・ルナ).

Cherry Blossom/Sakura Hana

 Cherry Blossom

        A cherry blossom is the name for the flower of cherry trees known as Sakura (Japanese kanji : 桜 or 櫻; hiragana: さくら) in Japanese. In English, the word "sakura" is equivalent to the Prunus serrulata,Japanese flowering cherry. Cherry fruit (known in Japanese as 桜んぼ sakuranbo) comes from another species of tree.

Sakura at Fukushima

Flower Viewing

        The practice of hanami is many centuries old. The custom is said to have started during the Nara Period (710–794) when it was ume blossoms that people admired in the beginning. But by the Heian Period (794–1185), sakura came to attract more attention and hanami was synonymous with sakura. From then on, in tanka and haiku, "flowers" meant "sakura." The custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court, but soon spread to samurai society and, by the Edo period, to the common people as well. Tokugawa Yoshimune planted areas of cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.

        Every year the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the public track the sakura zensen (cherry-blossom front) as it moves northward up the archipelago with the approach of warmer weather via nightly forecasts following the weather segment of news programs. The blossoming begins in Okinawa in January and typically reaches Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April. It proceeds into areas at the higher altitudes and northward, arriving in Hokkaidō a few weeks later. Japanese pay close attention to these forecasts and turn out in large numbers at parks, shrines, and temples with family and friends to hold flower-viewing parties. Hanami festivals celebrate the beauty of the cherry blossom and for many are a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful view. The custom of hanami dates back many centuries in Japan: the eighth-century chronicle Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) records hanami festivals being held as early as the third century CE.

        Most Japanese schools and public buildings have cherry blossom trees outside of them. Since the fiscal and school year both begin in April, in many parts of Honshū, the first day of work or school coincides with the cherry blossom season.

Sakura at Tokyo Imperial Palace

Sakura within a field of Phlox subulata at Yachounomori Garden in Tatebayashi, Gunma

At Himeji Castle Japan

Symbolism

        In Japan cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence, and which is embodied in the concept of mono no aware. The association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga. The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality; for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in Japanese art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect. The band Kagrra, which is associated with the visual kei movement, is an example of this latter phenomenon. There is at least one popular folk song, originally meant for the shakuhachi (bamboo flute), titled "Sakura", and several pop songs. The flower is also represented on all manner of consumer goods in Japan, including kimono, stationery, and dishware.

       Cherry blossom is an omen of good fortune and is also an emblem of love, affection and represents spring. Cherry blossoms are an enduring metaphor for the fleeting nature of life, and as such are frequently depicted in art.

       During World War II, the cherry blossom was used to motivate the Japanese people, to stoke nationalism and militarism among the populace. Japanese pilots would paint them on the sides of their planes before embarking on a suicide mission, or even take branches of the trees with them on their missions. A cherry blossom painted on the side of the bomber symbolized the intensity and ephemerality of life; in this way, the aesthetic association was altered such that falling cherry petals came to represent the sacrifice of youth in suicide missions to honor the emperor. The government even encouraged the people to believe that the souls of downed warriors were reincarnated in the blossoms.

       In its colonial enterprises, imperial Japan often planted cherry trees as a means of "claiming occupied territory as Japanese space".

Woodblock print of Mount Fuji and cherry blossom from 36 Views of Mount Fuji by Hiroshige.

A 100 yen coin depicting Cherry Blossom

Varieties and blooming

       The most popular variety of sakura in Japan is the Somei Yoshino. Its flowers are nearly pure white, tinged with the palest pink, especially near the stem. They bloom and usually fall within a week, before the leaves come out. Therefore, the trees look nearly white from top to bottom. The variety takes its name from the village of Somei (now part of Toshima in Tokyo). It was developed in the mid- to late-19th century at the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji period. The Somei Yoshino is so widely associated with cherry blossoms that jidaigeki and other works of fiction often depict the variety in the Edo period or earlier; such depictions are anachronisms.

Winter sakura (fuyuzakura/Prunus subhirtella autumnalis) begins to bloom in the fall and continues blooming sporadically throughout the winter. It is said to be a cross between Tokyo Higan cherry (edohiganzakura/P. incisa) andMamezakura/P. pendula.

       Other categories include yamazakura, yaezakura, and shidarezakura. The yaezakura have large flowers, thick with rich pink petals. The shidarezakura, or weeping cherry, has branches that fall like those of a weeping willow, bearing cascades of pink flowers.

Culinary use

       Cherry blossoms and leaves are edible and both are used as food ingredients in Japan. The blossoms are pickled in salt and umezu and used for coaxing out flavor in wagashi or anpan. Salt-pickled blossoms in hot water is called sakurayu and drunk at festive events like weddings in place of green tea. Leaves, mostly Ōshima cherry because of the softness, are also pickled in salted water and used for sakuramochi. Since the leaves contain coumarin, however, it is not recommend to eat them in great quantity.

Pickled blossoms

A cup of Sakurayu

Cherry blossoms in other countries

Canada

Germany

Philippines

South Korea

Turkey

United Kingdoms

United States