yet mo' yokai

With the fires in Northern California we have had very high levels of pollution. This has dramatically slowed me down, fortunately I drafted these entries when I was in Montreal so I was able to complete them this weekend.

Kara-kasa (umbrella yōkai) 唐傘

Konaki Jiji (old man who cries like a baby) 児啼爺

Nopperabō (faceless yōkai) のっぺら坊 or のっぺらぼう

I'll probably pick easy entries for the next batch as the air will probably continue to be bad for a week.

Mo' yokai yokai yokai!

My aunt has a a small LAN at her place so I am able to post this while away from home.

This week I have three more yôkai entries thanks to a new book that will be out in North America in October.

Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide by Yoda Hiroko and Matt Alt, published by Kodansha International.

akai-kami-aoi-kami (red paper blue paper) 赤紙青紙

akamanto (red mantle) 赤マント

futakuchi-onna (two mouthed woman) 二口女

The book is already out in Japan, however it looks like the publisher wants to wait for the Halloween season before releasing it here. I will have a review in a forthcoming issue of Otaku USA magazine. For now I will say that I recommend getting this when it comes out.

Montreal bound

I'll be visiting family for a few days in Montreal and will probably not be able to upload the new Anime Companion Supplement entries this coming weekend.

However I will be able to do so on Wednesday after I get back so check back then or on Thursday.

Of food, oaths and deceptive weapons

I have plenty of interesting stray items laying about in my notes. This week I added three which will be familiar to many fans of anime and manga.

furikake (rice topping) 振り掛け or ふりかけ

keppan (blood seal) 血判

shikomi shakujō (deceptive monk's staff) 仕込錫杖

Torimono sandôgu

This week I add entries for three older police weapons collectively known as the torimono sandôgu.

sasumata (spear fork) 刺股

sodegarami (sleeve entangler) 袖搦

tsukubo (push pole) 突棒

When I did the first volume of the Anime Companion such older weapons were almost never seen in anime and manga as there were less than ten titles which took place before World War Two. With the large number of titles since there there are a considerable number set in that time period, mainly before 1900.

Weapons and monks

The usual three this month.

Hidden and deceptive weapons show up in several titles so I am expanding the entries related to them. Also the monk's staff gets an entry due to it also being common in many titles.

kakushibuki (hidden weapon) 隠し武器

shakujô (monk's staff) 錫杖

shikomibuki (deceptive weapon) 仕込武器